How Common is it for Women Lieutenant Governors to Become Governor?

At least four women lieutenant governors are running for governor in 2025 or 2026. In 2025, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears is the Republican nominee for governor. Already, three current lieutenant governors - Nancy Dahlstrom (R-AK), Pamela Evette (R-SC), and Sara Rodriguez (D-WI) - have announced their bids for governor in the 2026 cycle. Their candidacies raise the question: how common is this path to the governor’s office? 

Of the 96 former women lieutenant governors, just 15 have gone on to become governors. Put differently: of the 51 women who have been U.S. governors, 15 (29.4%) previously served as lieutenant governor.

Seven former women lieutenant governors became governor via election. They represent seven of 30 (23.3%) former women lieutenant governors who ran for gubernatorial office after serving as lieutenant governor. Eight former women lieutenant governors became governor via succession. Of these women governors, four (50%) went on to win a full term via election.

Of the seven women lieutenant governors that first became governor via election, six (85.6%) had run for and won lieutenant gubernatorial office independently. This means they did not run on a ticket with the gubernatorial nominee. Of the women lieutenant governors running for governor in 2025 and 2026:

• Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears (R), the 2025 Republican nominee for Virginia governor, won her current office independently.
• Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom (R), a candidate for the 2026 Republican nomination for Alaska governor, was elected to her current office as part of a gubernatorial ticket.
• Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette (R), a candidate for the 2026 Republican nomination for South Carolina governor, was elected to her current office as part of a gubernatorial ticket.
• Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez (D), a candidate for the 2026 Democratic nomination for Wisconsin governor, was elected to her current office as part of a gubernatorial ticket after winning the Democratic primary independently.

Governor is not the only elective office that women lieutenant governors have gone on too hold. After their time as lieutenant governor, women have become U.S. senators (3), U.S. representatives (2), state representatives (2), state senator (1), state treasurer (1), state supreme court justice (1), public service commissioner (1), and city school board member (1). 

Four more current lieutenant governors have already announced bids for statewide elective offices (other than governor or lieutenant governor) in 2026:

• Lieutenant Governor Julianna Stratton (D-IL) is running for the U.S. Senate.
• Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan (D-MN) is running for the U.S. Senate.
• Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis (D-CA) is running for state treasurer.
• Lieutenant Governor Chris Cournoyer (R-IA) is running for state auditor.

For more information on women lieutenant governors and women gubernatorial candidates, visit CAWP's resources on women in statewide elective executive office.

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