Weekly Media Round Up: May 22, 2026

Gender on the Ballot Team | May 22, 2026

Welcome to the Media Round Up! We’ve collected and shared our favorite gender + politics stories from this week.

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Women Break Records and Stand Out in 7 State Primaries

Seven states conducted primaries in the last week for U.S. House and Senate seats, governors and other statewide offices. With more than 40 states yet to go, it is premature to draw conclusions about women and the 2026 election cycle, however, the Center for American Women & Politics is closely monitoring results in their election analysis.

Alabama delayed more than half their congressional district elections due to redistricting. Only one woman from a major party ran for a U.S. House seat – Amanda Puscek (D), who won the Democratic primary for the 4th Congressional district. Four other women are running for statewide office, including Auditor, Public Service Commissioner, Secretary of State and Treasurer.

In Georgia, six women are running for U.S. House seats, including incumbent Reps. Lucy McBath (D) and Nikema Williams (D). State Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Ph.D. microbiologist, won the primary to represent the 16th District. Six women are running for statewide office in Georgia, including Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) for Governor. Other statewide candidates include incumbent Labor Commissioner Barbara Rivera Holmes (R).

In Idaho, Terri Pickens prevailed in the Democratic primary for governor against 3 other candidates, all women. Other women candidates for statewide office include incumbent Superintendent of Education Debbie Critchfield (R) and incumbent Treasurer Julie Ellsworth (R).

In Kentucky, a record number of women (7) filed as candidates for the U.S. House, and 3 won (2D, 1R). Four women candidates ran for the U.S. Senate from Kentucky – none were successful.

In Louisiana, current Rep. Julia Letlow (R) has advanced to the Republican primary runoff election for U.S. Senate. A woman last served in the U.S. Senate from Louisiana in 2015, and no Republican woman has ever held the role. Primary elections for U.S. House in Louisiana have been postponed in response to changes in the electoral map.

Oregon’s governor’s race, with incumbent Tina Kotek (D) and State Sen. Christine Drazan (R), will be a rematch of the election for governor in 2022. Eight women won the primary for the U.S. House, matching the record high set in 2024.

Pennsylvania will have a record number of women running for the U.S. House in November (11). Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity (R) was unopposed in the Republican primary for Governor of the state.

Citation: Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP). 2026. “Results from the May 16th Primary in Louisiana and May 19th Primaries in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.” New Brunswick, NJ: Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University-New Brunswick. https://cawp.rutgers.edu/blog/results-may-16th-primary-louisiana-and-may-19th-primaries-alabama-georgia-idaho-kentucky (Accessed May 20, 2026)

The word ‘Black’ has disappeared from a set of bills aimed at addressing Black maternal health
The 19th* News, Barbara Rodriguez

A package of bills that have long-been considered Congress’ main effort to address the Black maternal health crisis has almost completely removed the word “Black” from the legislation. The Momnibus Act, filed in mid-March, was previously called the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act in 2023; before that, it was called the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021. References to the word “Black” in the package’s text have also seemingly disappeared: while the 2020 version of the bill contained more than a dozen references to “Black,” the current version only mentions the word once across the entire package. These changes are frustrating advocates who believe Black women are being erased from the policy, concerned that racial disparities won’t be at the forefront of the discussion. Removing the word “Black” from the legislation comes at a time when the Trump administration has sought to eliminate initiatives aimed at diversity, equity, and inclusion.

New Bipartisan Effort to Eliminate Sexual Misconduct in Congress

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) are forming a bipartisan “partnership” between the Republican and Democratic women’s caucuses to combat sexual misconduct in Congress. The move marks one of the clearest signs yet that congressional leadership views the growing misconduct scandal as an institutional crisis. Congress is going through its biggest reckoning over workplace culture and sexual misconduct since the #MeToo movement rocked Capitol Hill in 2017 and 2018.

While the loudest demands for accountability have been coming from three Republican women: Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Nancy Mace (R-SC), Johnson and Jeffries designated the chairs of the two women’s caucuses — Reps. Kat Cammack (R-FL) and Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) — to lead the effort. Proposed reforms from the caucuses will be developed in coordination with the House Administration Committee, which has jurisdiction over congressional workplace policies, member conduct procedures and employment protections for House staff.

In a Rapidly Evolving World, Are Young Men Struggling to Catch Up, or Refusing the Direction It’s Heading?
Public Agenda

New Research from Public Agenda explores how young American men are navigating their identities in a rapidly evolving world. Their research found that many young men are struggling to adapt to changing political and economic realities, while also trying to reconcile more traditional expectations about masculinity with current trends. Four in ten men surveyed report feeling isolated, irrelevant, and disconnected; seven in ten also believe that success for men includes serving as the sole provider and head of the family. Thus, it is unsurprising that more than half of young men believe it is becoming more difficult to succeed; half of young women, and Americans overall, agree with this finding. The report encourages its readers to understand the lenses through which men view the world to better provide opportunities for positive engagement.

Single Gen Z women outpace Gen Z men to homeownership despite overall decline in first-time buyers
Associated Press, Alex Veiga

According to survey data from the National Association of Realtors, single Gen Z women are outpacing their male counterparts in the quest for home ownership. NAR surveyed people who bought a home between July 2024 and June 2025, including homebuyers from several different generations. No other generation had a larger share of single women homebuyers than Gen Z – they accounted for 35 percent of all homebuyers in their cohort. While experts say that there is no “one-size-fits-all” answer as to why single women outnumber single men as homeowners, they might have a stronger desire for homeownership as a means to secure their independence – something they “historically could not easily do alone.”

Why more US women are moving abroad: ‘It’s because of Trump, right? Yes and no’
The Guardian, Ashifa Kassam

A recent Gallup poll found that forty percent of American women aged 15 to 44 said that they would move abroad permanently if they had the chance. Though the sample size of the poll was just 1,000 people, Gallup indicated that their findings were a “striking contrast” to previous versions of the same survey: from 2014 onwards, the number of American women who claimed they wanted to leave the country had increased fourfold. Many women who recently uprooted their lives and moved abroad cited anxieties about gun violence, the search for a better work-life balance, and the “turbulence” of U.S. politics as tipping points for leaving. While some women continue to make strides in the U.S., many feel that things have “moved backward overall,” noting that some of the “loudest voices of influence – without naming names – are very disrespectful.”