Results: Women Candidates in the 2020 Elections

Last Update: December 7th at 3:30pm ET
For most current numbers visit our Election 2020 Results Tracker

According to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, at least 141 (105D, 36R) women will serve in the 117th Congress. This is a new record. There are 2 congressional races featuring women candidates that remain too close to call and one race that will be decided by a runoff election on January 5th. The information on this page will be updated as outcomes are determined; these updates will include both the latest numbers and additional notable milestones that may be achieved by newly-determined results. Find the most current data on women in the 2020 elections, along with interactive data visualizations and historical comparisons, at our Election 2020 Results Tracker. CAWP will also send periodic media advisories with updated data and information.

• At least 117 (89D, 28R) women will serve in the U.S. House (previous record: 102 set in 2019), including 48 (43D, 5R) women of color. Women will be at least 26.9% of all members of the U.S. House. Women are currently 23.2% of House members in 2020.
• 24 (16D, 8R) women will serve in the U.S. Senate (current record: 26 set in 2020), including 3 (3D) women of color. Women will at least be 24% of all members of the Senate. Women are currently 26% of all members of the Senate. This does not include Senator Kamala Harris, who will ascend to the Vice Presidency. Senator Kelly Loeffler (R) has advanced to a runoff in the special election for the seat she was previously appointed to that will take place after the new Congress is sworn in.
• 48 (43D, 5R) women of color will serve in the U.S. House (current record: 44 set in 2019).

The freshman class of women in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2021 will include at least 26 (9D, 17R) non-incumbent women. The record high for new women House members is 36 (35D, 1R), set in 2019. Republican women have already set a new record for non-incumbent U.S. House winners, with 17 women elected in 2020 race so far, surpassing the previous record of 9, set in 2010. As of now, there are 2 undecided House races featuring a non-incumbent Republican woman candidate and one undecided House race featuring a non-incumbent Democratic woman candidate.

“Following the record-setting 2018 midterm elections, we’ve been cautiously optimistic that we were seeing the emergence of a new normal, rather than a one-time surge. With record levels of candidates and nominees in 2020, that optimism seems justified. Early indications are that we are also likely to surpass records for officeholders.” said CAWP Director Debbie Walsh. “But successes like these don’t just happen. They require the dedicated attention of parties, donors, activists, and voters, as is particularly evident from the expanded number of Republican women candidates this year. It takes hard work. And the work continues.”

 94 (51D, 41R, 2NP) women will serve in statewide elected executive office, including governor, in 2021. This includes 17 (14D, 3R) women of color. Women will be 30.3% of all statewide elected executive officials. Women currently hold 28.9% of these positions in 2020.

No new women governors were elected in 2020, and none of the 9 (6D, 3R) incumbent women governors were up for re-election this year. As a result, 9 (6D, 3R) women will serve as governors in 2021, including 1 (1D) woman of color.

U.S. Senate

In 2020, 7 (2D, 5R) women have won races for the U.S. Senate. Because Senator Kamala Harris (D) will leave the Senate to ascend to the Vice Presidency, there are 17 incumbent senators that did not face re-election in 2020 in the 117th Congress. When combined with those 17 incumbent women senators, 24 women, including 16 Democrats and 8 Republicans, will serve in the Senate in the 117th Congress. The current record for women serving in the U.S. Senate is 26, set in 2019. Senator Kelly Loeffler (R) has advanced to a runoff in the special election for the seat she was previously appointed to that will take place after the new Congress is sworn in.

• 6 (2D, 4R) incumbent women Senators won re-election this year. One (1R) incumbent woman Senator has been defeated: Martha McSally (R-AZ).
• 1 (1R) non-incumbent woman was elected to the U.S. Senate, Cynthia Lummis, R-WY. No women unseated Senate incumbents this year.

No women of color have won election to the U.S. Senate in the 2020 elections. All four of the women of color serving in the Senate were not up for re-election this year: Tammy Duckworth, Kamala Harris, Mazie Hirono, and Catherine Cortez Masto. With Senator Kamala Harris leaving the Senate, there will be three returning women of color senators in 2021.

One state will send their first woman to the U.S. Senate in 2021: Wyoming (Lummis), bringing the number of states that have never had a woman senator down to 17.

U.S. House

Already, a record 117 women won races for the U.S. House and will serve in the 117th Congress. The previous record number of women serving in the House is 102, set in 2019. In this election cycle, 5 (3D, 2R) incumbent women House members did not seek re-election. So far, 89 Democratic women have won House races in the 2020 election (current record is 89). With 28 House wins so far, Republican women have recovered the ground they lost in 2018 and will now break their record of 25 House members, set in 2006. At present, 3 (1D, 2R) women House nominees – including zero incumbents and 3 (1D, 2R) non-incumbents – remain in races that are not yet called. 

• 91 (80D, 11R) women House incumbents won re-election this year; 5 (5D) women House incumbents were defeated: Abby Finkenauer, Kendra Horn, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Donna Shalala, and Xochitl Torres Small. All five are freshman legislators who flipped party control of their districts from Republican to Democrat in the 2018 midterms.
• Of the 26 (9D, 17R) non-incumbent women House winners thus far, 17 (9D, 8R) won open seats and 9 (9R) defeated incumbents. In 2021, at least 17 Republican women will join the incoming class of new House members in the 117th Congress, surpassing the previous record of 9, set in 2010, and greatly improving over 2018, in which a lone Republican non-incumbent joined the House.

*Challengers (nominees who defeated incumbents) are italicized. All other women listed won open seat contests. 

Of the 48 (43D, 5R) women of color selected for House seats, 25 (25D) are Black women, which surpasses the previous record of Black women in the House (22, set in 2019); 13 (10D, 3R) are Latinas, which surpasses the previous record of Latinas in the House (12, set in 2019); 8 (6D, 2R) are Asian or Pacific Islander women, which surpasses the previous record of Asian or Pacific Islander women in the House (7, set in 2017); 2 (2D) are Native American women; and 1 (1D) is a Middle Eastern or North African woman. This includes two multiracial women, including one woman who identifies as both Black and Asian and another woman who identifies as both white and Latina. These women are counted once in the overall number of women of color who have won House seats, but als in each of the totals for women members in each racial/ethnic group. The current record for women of color in the U.S. House is 44. 8 (4D, 4R) new women of color will enter the 117th Congress. The current record for non-incumbent women of color House members is 14 (first set in 2018). The new women of color House members already elected include 3 (3D) Black women (Bush, Williams, Strickland), 3 (1D, 2R) Latinas (Leger Fernandez, Malliotakis, Salazar), and 3 (1D, 2R) Asian or Pacific Islander woman (Kim, Steel, Strickland, repeated). We are aware that numerous media organizations have reported that Representative-elect Yvette Herrell is of Native American heritage and a member of the Cherokee Nation. CAWP relies on self-identification to determine candidate and officeholder race/ethnicity. She has provided her self identification with us as white alone. There are no woman of color House nominees that remain in a race that is not yet called. 

• Missouri will send its first woman of color and first Black woman to the U.S. Congress (Bush).
• Washington state will send its first Black woman to the U.S. Congress (Strickland).
• At least two states will send their first Republican women to the House: Iowa (Hinson) and South Carolina (Mace).

So far, no states have elected their first women to the U.S. House in 2020. Four states still have never sent a woman to the U.S. House: Alaska, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Vermont. None of these states have women candidates in uncalled races

In addition, 4 non-voting delegates from American Samoa, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands were re-elected this year. All of the women delegates serving in the 117th Congress will be women of color.

Statewide Elected Executive Office

94 (51D, 41R, 2NP) women will serve in statewide elected executive office, including governor, in 2021. This includes 17 (14D, 3R) women of color. Women will be 30.3% of all statewide elected executive officials; women currently hold 28.9% of these positions in 2020.  

Governor

No women were elected to gubernatorial offices in 2020. In 2021, nine states will be led by women governors, as 9 (6D, 3R) current incumbent women governors were not up for re-election this year. Twenty states remain that have never had a woman governor.

Other Statewide Elected Executive Offices

Currently, 21 (10D, 10R, 1NP) women have already won statewide elected executive offices other than governor this year. They will join the 64 (35D, 28D, 1NP) women currently serving as statewide elected executive officials other than governor who are not up for re-election this year.