Name: 53 women have been governors
Creator: Pew Research Center
Published: 2026-10-28
License: https://www.pewresearch.org/terms-and-conditions/

Democratic Minnesota gubernatorial candidate U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar listens as her opponent, GOP state House Speaker Lisa Demuth, speaks during a debate on Oct. 21, 2026, at the KTTC/KXLT studio in Rochester, Minnesota. The winner of their election will be the state's first woman governor. (Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images) — Democratic Minnesota gubernatorial candidate U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar listens as her opponent, GOP state House Speaker Lisa Demuth, speaks during a debate on Oct. 21, 2026, at the KTTC/KXLT studio in Rochester, Minnesota. The winner of their election will be the state’s first woman governor. (Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)

Two states are all but guaranteed to elect their first women governors in the 2026 midterms.

In Minnesota, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth are the nominees for their respective parties. And in Tennessee, the same is true for Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Democrat Jerri Green, a Memphis City Council member.

The winner of each race will become the first woman governor in her state’s history. And there could be similar firsts elsewhere in the country this fall.

Overall, 17 states have never had a female governor, according to data from Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics. Alongside those in Minnesota and Tennessee, three other gubernatorial races feature a major-party nominee who, if elected, would be the first woman to hold that office:

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia, Democrat Terri Pickens in Idaho and Republican Stacey Garrity in Pennsylvania will each appear in their state’s general election for governor. Bottoms would also be Georgia’s first Black governor and the first Black woman governor nationwide.
Ohio has technically had a female governor – Nancy Hollister, who served on an interim basis for less than two weeks after then-Gov. George Voinovich resigned on New Year’s Eve 1998 following his successful Senate campaign. But this year, Democrat Amy Acton could become the first elected woman governor there.

About this research

This analysis looks at the United States’ history of having women senators and governors ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The midterms may see historic firsts in several states for women in those offices.

Why did we do this?

Pew Research Center does research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand important topics. The analysis builds on our previous work about women leaders and the changing makeup of Congress.

How did we do this?

The data in this analysis comes from Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics and from state and federal historical records. The counts for women candidates in the 2026 midterm elections include only major-party nominees.

In addition, 15 states have never had a woman senator. Two of those states have a woman on the ballot in this year’s general election. Alani Bankhead and N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas are Democratic U.S. Senate nominees in Montana and Oklahoma, respectively.

Four states have not had a woman senator or a woman governor: Colorado, Idaho, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

However, every state has sent at least one woman to Congress — either the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate. The last to do so was Vermont, which elected a woman to Congress for the first time in 2022.

Women in the 119th Senate

Women currently hold a record 27 of the Senate’s 100 seats. Sixteen of these women senators are Democrats, and 11 are Republicans. Women make up a larger share of the chamber’s Democratic caucus (34%) than its Republican conference (21%).

Today’s women senators represent 23 states. In Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire and Washington, both senators are women.
Fourteen current women senators are their state’s first. Their tenures vary in length: Washington Democrat Patty Murray has served in the Senate since 1993, while South Carolina Republican Darline Graham was appointed this summer.

A century in the Senate

Women have served in the Senate for over a century. In 1922, Rebecca Latimer Felton, a suffragist from Georgia, became the first woman senator. She was appointed to a vacant seat at age 87 and served a symbolic term of just one day.

A total of 65 women have represented 35 states in the upper chamber of Congress, mostly in recent decades. More than three-quarters (51, or 78%) first took office after 1980.

Over half of states that have been represented by a woman senator (22) have had more than one. California has sent four women to the Senate, more than any other state. They include two of the longest-tenured women in the chamber’s history: Dianne Feinstein, who held office from 1992 until her death in 2023, and Barbara Boxer, who held office from 1993 to 2017.

Alabama, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska and New Hampshire have each sent three women to the Senate.

Women in the governor’s mansion

Today, women hold the office of governor in 14 of the 50 states. Ten are Democrats and four are Republicans.

Five current women governors are their state’s first: Democrats Janet Mills of Maine, Kathy Hochul of New York and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia; and Republicans Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas and Kim Reynolds of Iowa. Hochul and Sanders are seeking reelection this fall, while Mills (who is term-limited) and Reynolds (who is not seeking reelection) are departing.

Overall, 53 women have held governorships in 33 states since 1925, when two women took the oath of office for the first time.

Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming was nominated in and won a special election following the death of her husband, Gov. William Ross. Miriam “Ma” Ferguson of Texas, the first woman governor ever chosen in a general election, was sworn in just 15 days after her.

Arizona has had five women governors since 1988, by far the most of any state. In fact, three women served consecutively over nearly two decades, from the swearing-in of Republican Jane Hull in 1997 until Republican Jan Brewer left office in 2015.

State	FIPS	Women governors	Senators	Representatives
Alabama	01	2	3	3
Alaska	02	1	1	1
Arizona	04	5	2	9
Arkansas	05	1	2	4
California	06	0	4	50
Colorado	08	0	0	7
Connecticut	09	2	0	8
Delaware	10	2	1	2
Florida	12	0	2	24
Georgia	13	0	2	10
Hawaii	15	1	1	6
Idaho	16	0	0	2
Illinois	17	0	2	21
Indiana	18	0	0	9
Iowa	19	1	1	4
Kansas	20	3	2	6
Kentucky	21	1	0	2
Louisiana	22	1	3	3
Maine	23	1	3	3
Maryland	24	0	2	10
Massachusetts	25	2	1	7
Michigan	26	2	2	16
Minnesota	27	0	3	7
Mississippi	28	0	1	0
Missouri	29	0	2	8
Montana	30	1	0	1
Nebraska	31	1	3	1
Nevada	32	0	2	5
New Hampshire	33	4	3	3
New Jersey	34	2	0	10
New Mexico	35	2	0	8
New York	36	1	2	30
North Carolina	37	1	2	9
North Dakota	38	0	2	1
Ohio	39	1	0	13
Oklahoma	40	1	0	4
Oregon	41	3	1	10
Pennsylvania	42	0	0	12
Rhode Island	44	1	0	1
South Carolina	45	1	1	7
South Dakota	46	1	2	2
Tennessee	47	0	1	7
Texas	48	2	1	15
Utah	49	1	0	5
Vermont	50	1	0	1
Virginia	51	1	0	9
Washington	53	2	2	14
West Virginia	54	0	1	3
Wisconsin	55	0	1	2
Wyoming	56	1	1	4
D.C.	11	—	—	—

State	FIPS	Governors	Women senators	Representatives
Alabama	01	2	3	3
Alaska	02	1	1	1
Arizona	04	5	2	9
Arkansas	05	1	2	4
California	06	0	4	50
Colorado	08	0	0	7
Connecticut	09	2	0	8
Delaware	10	2	1	2
Florida	12	0	2	24
Georgia	13	0	2	10
Hawaii	15	1	1	6
Idaho	16	0	0	2
Illinois	17	0	2	21
Indiana	18	0	0	9
Iowa	19	1	1	4
Kansas	20	3	2	6
Kentucky	21	1	0	2
Louisiana	22	1	3	3
Maine	23	1	3	3
Maryland	24	0	2	10
Massachusetts	25	2	1	7
Michigan	26	2	2	16
Minnesota	27	0	3	7
Mississippi	28	0	1	0
Missouri	29	0	2	8
Montana	30	1	0	1
Nebraska	31	1	3	1
Nevada	32	0	2	5
New Hampshire	33	4	3	3
New Jersey	34	2	0	10
New Mexico	35	2	0	8
New York	36	1	2	30
North Carolina	37	1	2	9
North Dakota	38	0	2	1
Ohio	39	1	0	13
Oklahoma	40	1	0	4
Oregon	41	3	1	10
Pennsylvania	42	0	0	12
Rhode Island	44	1	0	1
South Carolina	45	1	1	7
South Dakota	46	1	2	2
Tennessee	47	0	1	7
Texas	48	2	1	15
Utah	49	1	0	5
Vermont	50	1	0	1
Virginia	51	1	0	9
Washington	53	2	2	14
West Virginia	54	0	1	3
Wisconsin	55	0	1	2
Wyoming	56	1	1	4
D.C.	11	—	—	—

Year	Women senators in office	Running total
1922	1	1
1931	1	2
1932	1	2
1933	1	2
1934	1	2
1935	1	2
1936	2	3
1937	2	4
1938	3	5
1939	1	5
1940	1	5
1941	1	5
1942	1	5
1943	1	5
1944	1	5
1948	1	6
1949	1	7
1950	1	7
1951	1	7
1952	1	7
1953	1	7
1954	3	9
1955	1	9
1956	1	9
1957	1	9
1958	1	9
1959	1	9
1960	2	10
1961	2	10
1962	2	10
1963	2	10
1964	2	10
1965	2	10
1966	2	10
1967	1	10
1968	1	10
1969	1	10
1970	1	10
1971	1	10
1972	2	11
1978	3	14
1979	1	14
1980	1	14
1981	2	15
1982	2	15
1983	2	15
1984	2	15
1985	2	15
1986	2	15
1987	3	16
1988	2	16
1989	1	16
1990	2	16
1991	2	16
1992	3	17
1993	7	22
1994	8	22
1995	7	23
1996	9	24
1997	10	26
1998	8	26
1999	9	27
2000	10	27
2001	13	31
2002	16	32
2003	13	33
2004	15	33
2005	14	33
2006	13	33
2007	16	35
2008	16	35
2009	17	38
2010	17	38
2011	18	39
2012	16	39
2013	20	44
2014	21	44
2015	20	46
2016	19	46
2017	22	50
2018	22	52
2019	25	56
2020	27	57
2021	25	58
2022	24	58
2023	26	60
2024	25	60
2025	26	64
2026	27	65

Year	Women governors in office	Running total
1925	2	2
1926	2	2
1927	1	2
1933	1	2
1934	1	2
1967	1	3
1968	1	3
1975	1	4
1976	1	4
1977	2	5
1978	2	5
1979	2	5
1980	2	5
1982	1	6
1983	1	6
1984	1	7
1985	2	8
1986	2	8
1987	3	9
1988	3	10
1989	3	10
1990	3	10
1991	4	13
1992	3	13
1993	3	13
1994	4	14
1995	1	14
1996	1	14
1997	2	16
1998	4	17
1999	5	17
2000	2	17
2001	6	20
2002	6	20
2003	7	25
2004	9	27
2005	8	28
2006	8	28
2007	9	29
2008	8	29
2009	8	31
2010	6	31
2011	6	34
2012	6	34
2013	5	35
2014	5	35
2015	6	37
2016	6	37
2017	7	39
2018	6	39
2019	9	44
2020	9	44
2021	10	45
2022	9	45
2023	12	49
2024	12	49
2025	14	51
2026	14	53

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