49
(30D, 19R)
women have served as governor in 32 states. In addition, two women have served as governor in Puerto Rico and one currently serves as governor in Guam.
Arizona is the first state where a woman succeeded another woman as governor, and the first state to have had five women governors.
Of the 49 women governors, 34 were first elected in their own right; 3 replaced their husbands, and 12 became governor by constitutional succession, seven of whom subsequently won full terms.
The record number of women serving simultaneously, achieved in 2023, is 12.
| Name | Party | Year(s) Served | State | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kathleen B. Blanco | D | 2004-2007 | Louisiana | |
| Jan Brewer | R | 2009-2014 | Arizona | Brewer succeeded a governor who resigned and took office on 1/21/09. |
| Kate Brown | D | 2015-2022 | Oregon | Brown succeeded a governor who resigned and took office on 2/18/15. |
| Sila Calderon | 2001-2004 | Puerto Rico | Former mayor of San Juan, first woman governor of Puerto Rico. | |
| Martha Layne Collins | D | 1984-1987 | Kentucky | |
| Mary Fallin | R | 2011-2018 | Oklahoma | |
| Miriam Ferguson | D | 1925-1927 | Texas | Ferguson was elected twice as a surrogate for her husband who could not run for re-election. She was seated fifteen days after Nellie Tayloe Ross (D-WY) who was the first woman to be sworn in as a governor. |
| Miriam Ferguson | D | 1933-1934 | Texas | |
| Joan Finney | D | 1991-1994 | Kansas | Finney was the first woman to defeat an incumbent governor. |
| Jennifer Granholm | D | 2003-2010 | Michigan | |
| Ella T. Grasso | D | 1975-1980 | Connecticut | Grasso was the first woman governor to be elected in her own right. |
| Christine O. Gregoire | D | 2005-2012 | Washington | |
| Nikki R. Haley | R | 2011-2017 | South Carolina | |
| Maggie Hassan | D | 2013-2016 | New Hampshire | |
| Maura Healey | D | 2023-present | Massachusetts | |
| Katie Hobbs | D | 2023-present | Arizona | |
| Kathy C. Hochul | D | 2021-present | New York | Hochul succeeded a governor who resigned and took office on 8/24/21. |
| Nancy P. Hollister | R | 1998-1999 | Ohio | Hollister succeeded a governor who resigned and took office on 1/5/99. She served until the newly elected governor was sworn in. |
| Sarah Huckabee Sanders | R | 2023-present | Arkansas | |
| Jane Dee Hull | R | 1997-2002 | Arizona | Hull succeeded a governor who resigned and took office on 9/5/97. |
| Kay E. Ivey | R | 2017-present | Alabama | Ivey succeeded a governor who resigned and took office on 4/10/17. |
| Laura J. Kelly | D | 2019-present | Kansas | |
| Tina Kotek | D | 2023-present | Oregon | |
| Madeleine M. Kunin | D | 1985-1990 | Vermont | Kunin was the first woman to have been elected to serve three terms as governor. |
| Lou A. Leon Guerrero | D | 2019-present | Guam | |
| Linda Crocket Lingle | R | 2003-2010 | Hawaii | |
| Michelle Lujan Grisham | D | 2019-present | New Mexico | |
| Susana Martinez | R | 2011-2018 | New Mexico | |
| Judy Martz | R | 2001-2004 | Montana | |
| Janet T. Mills | D | 2019-present | Maine | |
| Ruth Ann Minner | D | 2001-2008 | Delaware | |
| Rose Mofford | D | 1988-1991 | Arizona | Mofford succeeded a governor who was impeached and removed and took office on 4/4/88. |
| Janet Napolitano | D | 2003-2008 | Arizona | |
| Kristi Noem | R | 2019-present | South Dakota | |
| Kay A. Orr | R | 1987-1990 | Nebraska | Orr was the first Republican woman to be elected governor in any state and the first woman to run against another woman for a gubernatorial post. |
| Sarah H. Palin | R | 2007-2009 | Alaska | |
| Beverly M. Perdue | D | 2009-2012 | North Carolina | |
| Gina M. Raimondo | D | 2015-2021 | Rhode Island | |
| Dixy Lee Ray | D | 1977-1980 | Washington | |
| M. Jodi Rell | R | 2004-2010 | Connecticut | Rell succeeded a governor who resigned and took office on 7/1/04. |
| Kimberly Reynolds | R | 2017-present | Iowa | Reynolds succeeded a governor who resigned and took office on 4/24/17 |
| Ann Richards | D | 1991-1994 | Texas | |
| Barbara Roberts | D | 1991-1994 | Oregon | |
| Nellie Tayloe Ross | D | 1925-1926 | Wyoming | Ross won a special election to fill a vacancy caused by the death of her husband. Inaugurated fifteen days before Miriam Ferguson (D-TX), Ross was the first woman sworn in as a governor. |
| Vesta Roy | R | 1982-1983 | New Hampshire | Roy succeeded a governor who died and took office on 12/29/82. She served until the newly elected governor was sworn in. |
| Kathleen Sebelius | D | 2003-2009 | Kansas | |
| Jeanne Shaheen | D | 1997-2002 | New Hampshire | |
| Jane Maria Swift | R | 2001-2002 | Massachusetts | Swift succeeded a governor who resigned and took office on 4/10/01. |
| Wanda Vazquez Garced | 2019-2020 | Puerto Rico | Former Secretary of Justice, succeeded governor who resigned. | |
| Olene S. Walker | R | 2003-2004 | Utah | Walker succeeded a governor who resigned and took office on 11/5/03. |
| Lurleen Wallace | D | 1967-1968 | Alabama | Wallace was elected as a surrogate for her husband who could not run for re-election; she later died while serving in office. |
| Christine Todd Whitman | R | 1994-2001 | New Jersey | |
| Gretchen E. Whitmer | D | 2019-present | Michigan |