• Home
  • News
  • Fortune 500
  • Tech
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
NewslettersMPW Daily

Election 2024: Abortion is on the ballot in 10 states and other downballot races to watch for women

By
Emma Hinchliffe
Emma Hinchliffe
and
Nina Ajemian
Nina Ajemian
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Emma Hinchliffe
Emma Hinchliffe
and
Nina Ajemian
Nina Ajemian
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 5, 2024, 9:01 AM ET
Kamala Harris won't be the only woman on the ballot today.
Kamala Harris won't be the only woman on the ballot today. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Good morning! A member of the Dimon family goes door-to-door for the Kamala Harris campaign, Linda Rendle’s Clorox recovered from a cyberattack, and stay grounded this Election Day!

– GOTV. Happy Election Day! Voters are heading to the polls, with the chance to elect the United States’ first female president. We could be in for a long week, with much more coverage of election results to come; in 2020, you may remember we didn’t know who won until Saturday. While we wait for the biggest news about the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, these are some downballot races and ballot propositions to keep an eye on tonight:

Recommended Video

—Abortion is on the ballot in 10 states. In Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, and New York, voters have the chance to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitutions.

—In Florida, Missouri, and South Dakota, voters could override state abortion bans that have been enacted post-Roe.

—In Nebraska, dueling ballot measures would either enshrine abortion restrictions in the state constitution or “establish a right to abortion until fetal viability,” generally between 22 and 24 weeks. If both ballot measures are approved, the highest vote-getter becomes law.

—Nine female incumbents are running for reelection to the Senate, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Six women are running for open Senate seats—five Democrats and one Republican.

—Four women are running for open governor seats: Democrats Jennifer McCormick in Indiana, Crystal Quade in Missouri, and Joyce Craig in New Hampshire, who is facing off against Republican Kelly Ayotte.

—Across all categories, women’s representation among candidates is below records set in 2018, 2020, and 2022. In the House of Representatives this year, 258 women are running as party nominees, compared to a 2020 record of 298 (down 13%). Across state legislatures, 3,511 women are nominees compared to a record of 3,621 in 2022 (down 3%).

—Some experts say this dropoff can be attributed to the presidential contest overpowering Senate and House races in 2024; fewer districts are in play and numbers of men running are also down.

—It’s not just the White House; there are a host of “firsts” to watch out for. Delaware has two notable (and likely) ones: Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester would be the first Black woman to represent the state in the U.S. Senate and Democrat Sarah McBride would be the first openly transgender person to serve in the U.S. Congress. The Center for American Women and Politics kindly keeps a running list of all possible “firsts;” you can peruse the rest here.

Stay tuned—we’ll see you with more news tomorrow.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

– You’re invited. Network with the world’s top business and policy leaders in New York City Nov. 11-12 at the Fortune Global Forum. Confirmed attendees include CEOs of PayPal, Dow, Nasdaq, Siemens USA, Indeed, Yum China, and AT&T. Request your invite here.

The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

- Knock knock. Judy Dimon, wife of JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, went door-to-door canvassing in Michigan for Vice President Kamala Harris. While her husband has not publicly endorsed a candidate, she has donated over $250,000 to the DNC and Harris campaign.Fortune

- Cyberattack aftermath. Clorox CEO Linda Rendle shared that last year’s cyberattack on the company severely hurt business, costing the company around a third of its distribution and market share. Now, though, Clorox is recovering, and has fully restored its distribution and supply, as well as most of its market share according to Rendle.CNBC

- No place like home. Around 20% of homebuyers are single women according to data from the National Association of Realtors; in comparison, 8% are single men. Also, the number of single female first-time homebuyers jumped up 5% from last year.Bloomberg

- Funding footwear. Michele Kang’s organization Kynisca led a $2 million seed funding round in IDA Sports, a footwear brand for female athletes. Kang, founder of tech company Cognosante and owner of multiple women’s soccer teams, said, “For too long, female players have been sidelined with subpar equipment, and IDA is breaking that mold.”Sports Illustrated

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

KiddeFenwal, a fire suppression systems developer, named Rekha Agrawa CEO. Most recently, she was an operating partner at Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.

BlytzPay, a payment platform, appointed Alison Andreozzi as president and CFO. Previously, she was CFO at CrossFit.

PinkDx, a women’s health early-stage diagnostics company, named Marra Francis chief medical officer.

Presidio, a technology services and solutions provider, appointed Lynne Doherty to its board of directors. She is president of field operations at Sonar.

ON MY RADAR

How a 178-year-old magazine stays relevant, one Instagram post at a timeNew York Times

25-year-old spent $300 on a sewing machine in high school—now her seven-figure denim brand is worn by Taylor SwiftCNBC

They’re on their way to cancel their husband’s vote. Will it make a difference come Election Day?The 19th

PARTING WORDS

“A strong and healthy democracy just means that we all have the freedom and ability to show up, to vote and choose the people who lead us, instead of having our leaders choose who can vote.”

— Andrea Hailey, CEO of Vote.org, on the importance of voting

This is the web version of MPW Daily, a daily newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.
About the Authors
Emma Hinchliffe
By Emma HinchliffeMost Powerful Women Editor
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Emma Hinchliffe is Fortune’s Most Powerful Women editor, overseeing editorial for the longstanding franchise. As a senior writer at Fortune, Emma has covered women in business and gender-lens news across business, politics, and culture. She is the lead author of the Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter (formerly the Broadsheet), Fortune’s daily missive for and about the women leading the business world.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
By Nina AjemianNewsletter Curation Fellow

Nina Ajemian is the newsletter curation fellow at Fortune and works on the Term Sheet and MPW Daily newsletters.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Newsletters

NewslettersMPW Daily
Female exec moves to watch this week, from Binance to Supergoop
By Emma HinchliffeDecember 5, 2025
3 days ago
NewslettersCFO Daily
Gen Z fears AI will upend careers. Can leaders change the narrative?
By Sheryl EstradaDecember 5, 2025
3 days ago
NewslettersTerm Sheet
Four key questions about OpenAI vs Google—the high-stakes tech matchup of 2026
By Alexei OreskovicDecember 5, 2025
3 days ago
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg adjusts an avatar of himself during a company event in New York City on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. (Photo: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Meta may unwind metaverse initiatives with layoffs
By Andrew NuscaDecember 5, 2025
3 days ago
Shuntaro Furukawa, president of Nintendo Co., speaks during a news conference in Osaka, Japan, on Thursday, April 25, 2019. Nintendo gave a double dose of disappointment by posting earnings below analyst estimates and signaled that it would not introduce a highly anticipated new model of the Switch game console at a June trade show. Photographer: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
NewslettersCEO Daily
Nintendo’s 98% staff retention rate means the average employee has been there 15 years
By Nicholas GordonDecember 5, 2025
3 days ago
AIEye on AI
Companies are increasingly falling victim to AI impersonation scams. This startup just raised $28M to stop deepfakes in real time
By Sharon GoldmanDecember 4, 2025
4 days ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Real Estate
The 'Great Housing Reset' is coming: Income growth will outpace home-price growth in 2026, Redfin forecasts
By Nino PaoliDecember 6, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
AI
Nvidia CEO says data centers take about 3 years to construct in the U.S., while in China 'they can build a hospital in a weekend'
By Nino PaoliDecember 6, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
The most likely solution to the U.S. debt crisis is severe austerity triggered by a fiscal calamity, former White House economic adviser says
By Jason MaDecember 6, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says Europe has a 'real problem’
By Katherine Chiglinsky and BloombergDecember 6, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Big Tech
Mark Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook for the metaverse. Four years and $70 billion in losses later, he’s moving on
By Eva RoytburgDecember 5, 2025
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
Politics
Supreme Court to reconsider a 90-year-old unanimous ruling that limits presidential power on removing heads of independent agencies
By Mark Sherman and The Associated PressDecember 7, 2025
16 hours ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.