Election 2020: Potential Notable Firsts

The Center for American Women and Politcs, a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, has compiled a list of potential notable firsts for women candidates that could result from 2020 election contests at the congressional and statewide elected executive levels. This list may update between now and Election Day.

• AK
  • Alyse Galvin (D, AK at-large): First woman to serve in the U.S. House from Alaska. First Democratic woman to serve in the U.S. Congress from Alaska.
• AR
  • Joyce Elliott (D, AR-2): First woman of color and first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Arkansas. First woman to represent Arkansas in Congress since 2011 and in the U.S. House since 1997.
• AZ
  • Hiral Vyas Tipirneni (D, AZ-6): First woman of color and first API (Asian or Pacific Islander) woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Arizona.
  • Anna Tovar (D, Corporation Commissioner): First Democratic Latina to serve as Arizona corporation commissioner.
• CA
  • Georgette Gómez (D, CA-53): First openly LGBTQ Latina to serve in the U.S. Congress.
  • Young Kim (R, CA-39): First API Republican woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. First Korean-American Republican woman in the U.S. Congress.
• FL
  • Vennia Francois (R, FL-10), Carla Spalding (R, FL-23), and/or Lavern Spicer (R, FL-24): First Black Republican woman to represent Florida in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House.
  • Kimberly Walker (D, FL-12): First openly LGBTQ person to serve in the U.S. Congress from Florida.
• DE
  • Lauren Witzke (R, U.S. Senate): First woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from Delaware. First Republican woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from Delaware.
• GA
  • Kelly Loeffler (R, U.S. Senate): First woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Georgia. Loeffler currently represents Georgia in the Senate, and Rebecca Latimer Felton, the first woman to serve in the Senate, was appointed and served a single day in 1922.
  • Johsie Cruz (R, GA-4): First Latina to serve in the U.S. Congress from Georgia.
• ID
  • Paulette Jordan (D, U.S. Senate): First Native American woman to serve in the U.S. Senate. First woman, first woman of color, and first Native American woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from Idaho.
• IL
  • Valerie Ramirez Mukherjee (R, IL-10): First Latina to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Illinois.
• IN
  • Christina Hale (D, IN-5): First Latina to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Indiana.
  • Susan Smith (R, IN-7): First Black Republican woman and woman of color to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Indiana.
  • Pat Hackett (D, IN-2): First openly LGBTQ person to serve in the U.S Congress and U.S. House from Indiana.
• IA
  • Theresa Greenfield (D, U.S. Senate): First Democratic woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from Iowa.
  • Ashley Hinson (R, IA-1) and/or Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R, IA-2): First Republican woman to serve in the U.S. House from Iowa.
• KS
  • Barbara Bollier (D, U.S. Senate): First Democratic woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from Kansas.
  • Michelle De La Isla (D, KS-2): First Latina and first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Kansas.
• KY
  • Amy McGrath (D, U.S. Senate): First woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from Kentucky. First Democratic woman to serve in the U.S. Congress from Kentucky. First woman to represent Kentucky in the U.S. Congress since 2007.
• MA
  • Caroline Colarusso (R, MA-5): First Latina to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Massachusetts. First Republican woman of color to serve in the U.S. Congress from Massachusetts.
• ME
  • If Sara Gideon (D) wins in her contest with Susan Collins (R), Maine will become the first state in history to send four different women to the U.S. Senate. Those women are Margaret Chase Smith (R), Olympia Snowe (R), Susan Collins (R), and Sara Gideon (D).
  • Sara Gideon (D, US Senate): First Democratic woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from Maine. First woman of color elected statewide and first woman of color to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate from Maine.
• MD
  • Kim Klacik (R, MD-7): First Republican woman of color and Black woman to serve in U.S. House from Maryland.
  • Mia Mason (D, MD-1): First openly transgender member of Congress.
• MN
  • Michelle Fischbach (R, MN-7): First Republican woman to represent Minnesota in the U.S. House since 2015.
• MO
  • Nicole Galloway (D, Governor): First woman governor of Missouri.
  • Cori Bush (D, MO-1) and/or Gena Ross (D, MO-6): First woman of color and first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Missouri.
  • Teresa Montseny (D, MO-7): First woman of color and first multiracial woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Missouri.
• MS
  • Antonia Eliason (D, MS-1): First woman to serve in the U.S. House from Mississippi.
  • Dorothy “Dot” Benford (D, MS-3): First woman, first woman of color, and first Black woman to serve in the U.S. House from Mississippi.
• MT
  • Kathleen Williams (D, MT at-large): First woman to serve in the U.S. Congress from Montana since Jeanette Rankin, the first woman in Congress. Rankin served from 1917-1919 and again from 1941-1943. First Democratic woman to serve in the U.S. Congress from Montana.
  • Christi Jacobsen (R, Secretary of State): First Republican woman to serve as Secretary of State of Montana.
• NE
  • Kara Eastman (D, NE-2) and/or Kate Bolz (D, NE-1): First Democratic woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Nebraska.
• NC
  • Yvonne Lewis Holley (D, Lt. Gov.): First woman of color and first Black woman to serve in statewide elected executive office in North Carolina.
  • Jessica Holmes (D, Labor Commissioner): First woman of color and first Black woman to serve in statewide elected executive office in North Carolina. First Democratic woman to serve as Labor Commissioner in North Carolina.
  • Catherine Truitt (R, Superintendent of Public Instruction): First Republican woman to serve as Superintendent of Public Instruction in North Carolina.
• ND
  • Shelley Lenz (D, Governor): First woman to serve as governor of North Dakota.
  • Travisia Martin (D, Insurance Commissioner): First woman to serve as North Dakota Insurance Commissioner. First Black woman and first Native American woman to serve in statewide elected executive office in North Dakota.
• NM
  • If Xochitl Torres Small (D, NM-2) wins, New Mexico will have the largest all woman-of-color delegation to the U.S. House in history. In New Mexico’s other two congressional districts, all major-party nominees are women of color.
  • Michelle Garcia Holmes (R, NM-1) and/or Alexis Johnson (R, NM-3): First Republican woman of color and first Latina to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from New Mexico.
• NV
  • Joyce Bentley (R, NV-1): First woman of color and first API woman to serve in the U.S. House from Nevada.
• NY
  • Nicole Malliotakis (R, NY-11): First Republican woman of color and first Latina to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from New York.
  • Lovelynn Gwinn (R, NY-13): First MENA (Middle Eastern or North African) woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from New York.
• OK
  • Mauree Turner (OK House District 88): First Muslim legislator in Oklahoma.
  • Stephanie Bice (R, OK-5): First Republican woman to represent Oklahoma in the U.S. Congress since 2011.
  • Danyell Lanier (D, OK-2): First woman of color, first Black woman, and first Native American woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Oklahoma.
  • Abby Broyles (D, U.S. Senate): First woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from Oklahoma.
• OR
  • Amy Ryan Courser (R, OR-5): First woman of color and Native American woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Oregon.
  • Jo Rae Perkins (R, OR U.S. Senate): First Republican woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from Oregon. First woman to represent Oregon in the U.S. Senate since 1967.
• PA
  • Kathy Barnette (R, PA-4): First woman of color and first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Pennsylvania.
  • Nina Ahmad (D, State Auditor): First woman of color and first API woman to serve in statewide elected executive office in Pennsylvania.
  • Heather Heidelbaugh (R, Attorney General): First Republican woman elected Attorney General in Pennsylvania. Linda Kelly (R) was appointed Attorney General of Pennsylvania in 2011 and served until 2012.
  • Stacy Garrity (R, Treasurer): First Republican woman to serve as Pennsylvania State Treasurer.
• SC
  • Nancy Mace (R, SC-1): First Republican woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from South Carolina. First woman to represent South Carolina in Congress since 1993.
  • Melissa Watson (D, SC-7): First woman of color and first Black woman to serve in the U.S Congress and U.S. House from South Carolina.
• TN
  • Marquita Bradshaw (D, U.S. Senate): First woman of color and first Black woman elected statewide, to the U.S. Congress, and to the U.S. Senate from Tennessee. Third Black woman to ever serve in the U.S. Senate. First Democratic woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from Tennessee.
  • Renee Hoyos (D, TN-2): First woman of color and first Latina to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Tennessee.
  • Erika Stotts Pearson (D, TN-8): First woman of color and first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Tennessee.
  • Charlotte Bergmann (R, TN-9): First woman of color and first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Tennessee.
• TX
  • MJ Hegar (D, TX U.S. Senate): First Democratic woman to serve in U.S. Senate from Texas.
  • Candace Valenzuela (D, TX-24): First Afro-Latina to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House.
  • Gina Ortiz Jones (D, TX-23): First API woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Texas.
  • Sima Ladjevardian (D, TX-2) and/or Lulu Seikaly (D, TX-3): First MENA woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Texas.
  • Donna Imam (D, TX-31): First API woman to serve in the U.S Congress and U.S. House from Texas.
• UT
  • Karina Brown (D, Lieutenant Governor): First Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Utah.
• VA
  • Manga Anantatmula (R, VA-11): First woman of color and first API woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from VA.
• VT
  • Miriam Berry (R, VT at-large): First woman to serve in the U.S. Congress from Vermont.
  • Carolyn Branagan (R, State Treasurer): First Republican woman to serve as Vermont State Treasurer.
• WA
  • Marilyn Strickland (D, WA-10): First Black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Washington. Strickland identifies as Black and Korean American.
  • Maia Espinoza (NP, Superintendent of Public Instruction): First woman of color and first Latina to serve in statewide elected executive office in Washington.
  • Sue Kuehl Pederson (R, Commissioner of Public Lands): First Republican woman to serve as Washington Commissioner of Public Lands.
  • Beth Doglio (D, WA-10): First openly LGBTQ person to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Washington.
• WI
  • Tricia Zunker (D, WI-7): First Native American woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from Wisconsin.
• WV
  • Mary Ann Claytor (D, State Auditor): First woman of color and first Black woman to serve in statewide elected executive office in West Virginia.
  • Paula Jean Swearingin (D, U.S. Senator): First Democratic woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from West Virginia.
• WY
  • Cynthia Lummis (R, U.S. Senate): First woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from Wyoming.
  • Merav Ben David (D, U.S. Senate): First woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from Wyoming.
  • Lynette Grey Bull (WY at-large): First woman of color and first Native American woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and U.S. House from WY.