17 States Haven’t Had a Woman Governor, and 15 Haven’t Had a Woman Senator

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. 17 states have never had a woman governor Number of women governors by state, as of October 2026 Note: Counts include unelected officeholders. Source: Center for American Women and Politics. PEW RESEARCH CENTER 17 states have never had a woman governor Number of women governors by state, as of October 2026 StateFIPSWomen governorsSenatorsRepresentativesAlabama01233Alaska02111Arizona04529Arkansas05124California060450Colorado08007Connecticut09208Delaware10212Florida120224Georgia130210Hawaii15116Idaho16002Illinois170221Indiana18009Iowa19114Kansas20326Kentucky21102Louisiana22133Maine23133Maryland240210Massachusetts25217Michigan262216Minnesota27037Mississippi28010Missouri29028Montana30101Nebraska31131Nevada32025New Hampshire33433New Jersey342010New Mexico35208New York361230North Carolina37129North Dakota38021Ohio391013Oklahoma40104Oregon413110Pennsylvania420012Rhode Island44101South Carolina45117South Dakota46122Tennessee47017Texas482115Utah49105Vermont50101Virginia51109Washington532214West Virginia54013Wisconsin55012Wyoming56114D.C.11——— Note: Counts include unelected officeholders. Source: Center for American Women and Politics. PEW RESEARCH CENTER 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. 15 states have never been represented by a woman in the U.S. Senate Number of women senators by state, as of October 2026 Note: Counts include unelected officeholders. Source: Center for American Women and Politics. PEW RESEARCH CENTER 15 states have never been represented by a woman in the U.S. Senate Number of women senators by state, as of October 2026 StateFIPSGovernorsWomen senatorsRepresentativesAlabama01233Alaska02111Arizona04529Arkansas05124California060450Colorado08007Connecticut09208Delaware10212Florida120224Georgia130210Hawaii15116Idaho16002Illinois170221Indiana18009Iowa19114Kansas20326Kentucky21102Louisiana22133Maine23133Maryland240210Massachusetts25217Michigan262216Minnesota27037Mississippi28010Missouri29028Montana30101Nebraska31131Nevada32025New Hampshire33433New Jersey342010New Mexico35208New York361230North Carolina37129North Dakota38021Ohio391013Oklahoma40104Oregon413110Pennsylvania420012Rhode Island44101South Carolina45117South Dakota46122Tennessee47017Texas482115Utah49105Vermont50101Virginia51109Washington532214West Virginia54013Wisconsin55012Wyoming56114D.C.11——— Note: Counts include unelected officeholders. Source: Center for American Women and Politics. PEW RESEARCH CENTER 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. Related: Most U.S. senators appointed since 1990 have run to keep their seat – and most have won 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. 65 women have been U.S. senators Number of women senators, as of October 2026 Note: Counts include unelected officeholders. Annual totals reflect all women senators who served during that year, though they may not have served concurrently. Source: Center for American Women and Politics. PEW RESEARCH CENTER 65 women have been U.S. senators Number of women senators, as of October 2026 YearWomen senators in officeRunning total192211193112193212193312193412193512193623193724193835193915194015194115194215194315194415194816194917195017195117195217195317195439195519195619195719195819195919196021019612101962210196321019642101965210196621019671101968110196911019701101971110197221119783141979114198011419812151982215198321519842151985215198621519873161988216198911619902161991216199231719937221994822199572319969241997102619988261999927200010272001133120021632200313332004153320051433200613332007163520081635200917382010173820111839201216392013204420142144201520462016194620172250201822522019255620202757202125582022245820232660202425602025266420262765 Note: Counts include unelected officeholders. Annual totals reflect all women senators who served during that year, though they may not have served concurrently. Source: Center for American Women and Politics. PEW RESEARCH CENTER 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. 53 women have been governors Number of women governors, as of October 2026 Note: Counts include unelected officeholders. Annual totals reflect all women governors who served during that year, though they may not have served concurrently. Source: Center for American Women and Politics. PEW RESEARCH CENTER 53 women have been governors Number of women governors, as of October 2026 YearWomen governors in officeRunning total19252219262219271219331219341219671319681319751419761419772519782519792519802519821619831619841719852819862819873919883101989310199031019914131992313199331319944141995114199611419972161998417199951720002172001620200262020037252004927200582820068282007929200882920098312010631201163420126342013535201453520156372016637201773920186392019944202094420211045202294520231249202412492025145120261453 Note: Counts include unelected officeholders. Annual totals reflect all women governors who served during that year, though they may not have served concurrently. Source: Center for American Women and Politics. PEW RESEARCH CENTER 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.