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 11 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 | |
| Kate Brown | D | 2015-2022 | Oregon | Brown was appointed in 2015. |
| Sila Calderon | D | 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 | 1933-1934 | Texas | |
| 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. |
| 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 | |
| Nancy P. Hollister | R | 1998-1999 | Ohio | Hollister served as governor for 11 days when her predecessor took U.S. Senate seat and the successor had not yet been sworn in. |
| Sarah Huckabee Sanders | R | 2023-present | Arkansas | |
| Jane Dee Hull | R | 1997-2002 | Arizona | |
| Kay E. Ivey | R | 2017-present | Alabama | Ivey succeeded a govenor 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 | |
| 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 became governor when her predecessor resigned; she was elected to a full term in 2006. |
| Kimberly Reynolds | R | 2017-present | Iowa | Reynolds was appointed to fill a vacancy. |
| 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 was a state senator and had been chosen as senate president; she served as governor after the incumbent died until a new 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 was appointed in 2001. |
| Wanda Vazquez Garced | 2019-2020 | Puerto Rico | Former Secretary of Justice, succeeded governor who resigned. | |
| Olene S. Walker | R | 2003-2004 | Utah | Walker was appointed in 2003. |
| 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 |