Press Release

Covering Women in the 2025 Elections

Resources from the Center for American Women and Politics

October 28, 2025
Daniel De Simone
760.703.0948

Next Tuesday, elections for statewide elective executive and state legislative offices will be held in New Jersey and Virginia, as well as mayoral elections around the country that could yield historic firsts for women’s representation. The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, is tracking women candidates in the 2025 elections. Here are key resources and potential milestones for women in next week’s elections.

Currently, 12 (8D, 4R) women serve as state governors. The record for women serving in these offices is 14, reached very briefly at the beginning of this year; this record could be reached again as a result of this year’s elections. Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears and former U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger are in an all-woman race for Virginia governor; should U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill win the New Jersey gubernatorial race, 14 women will serve in governor’s offices next year. Women have served as governor in 32 states; that is all but guaranteed to increase to 33 states after this year’s election, as either Earle-Sears or Spanberger would be the first woman governor of Virginia. In total, 51 (31D, 20R) women have served as governor in American history.
 

New Jersey

  • Potential Milestones:
    • Should Representative Mikie Sherrill win the governor’s race, she would be the first Democratic woman governor of New Jersey.
    • Sherrill would also be the first woman military veteran to serve as an American governor. (A distinction she could potentially share with Virginia’s Winsome Earle-Sears.)
    • If either Sherrill or her opponent Jack Ciattarelli wins, New Jersey will elect its first male lieutenant governor in history. Since this office was first filled in 2010, all New Jersey lieutenant governors have been women; the running mates of Sherrill (Dale Caldwell) and Ciattarelli (Jim Gannon) are both men.
  • By the numbers:
    • In 2025, only New Jersey’s lower house, the General Assembly, has elections.
    • Women currently hold 31 (25D, 6R) of 80 seats in the New Jersey General Assembly.
    • Women are 55 of 155 (35.5%) major-party nominees selected for Assembly in New Jersey, including 34 of 80 (42.5%) Democrats and 21 of 75 (28.0%) Republicans. This is not a record high.
      • Of these, 27 (21D, 6R) are incumbents, 26 (12D, 14R) are running as challengers, and 2 (1D, 1R) are running for open seats.
    • The record number of women winners in Assembly races is 31, set in 2023.
    • 40 (32D, 8R) women currently serve in the New Jersey Legislature (Assembly and Senate combined); 9 (7D, 2R) women serve in the Senate. The record for women serving is 43, set in 2023.
    • New Jersey currently ranks 27th in CAWP’s rankings of states by women’s representation in state legislatures.


Virginia

  • Potential Milestones:
    • Either Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears or former Representative Abigail Spanberger would be the first woman governor of Virginia.
    • Earle-Sears would be the first Black woman to serve as governor in American history.
    • Earle-Sears would be the first woman military veteran to serve as an American governor. (A distinction she could potentially share with New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill.)
    • State Senator Ghazala Hashmi, who is running for Virginia lieutenant governor, would be the first Asian American/Pacific Islander woman to serve as Virginia lieutenant governor and in statewide elective executive office in Virginia. She would also be the first Democratic woman to serve as Virginia lieutenant governor.
  • By the numbers:
    • In 2025, only Virginia’s lower house, the House of Delegates, has elections.
    • Women currently hold 34 (27D, 7R) of 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates.
    • Women are a record 75 of 184 (40.8%) major-party nominees for the House of Delegates in Virginia, including 56 of 99 (56.6%) Democrats and 19 of 85 (22.4%) Republicans. This beats the record of 72 set in election 2021.
      • Of these, 34 (27D, 7R) are incumbents, 37 (26D, 11R) are running as challengers, and 4 (3D, 1R) are running for open seats.
    • The record number of women winners in House of Delegates races is 35, set in 2021.
    • A record 49 (38D, 11R) women currently serve in the Virginia General Assembly (House and Senate combined); 15 (11D, 4R) women serve in the Senate, including Ghazala Hashmi, who is running for lieutenant governor.
    • Virginia currently ranks 23rd in CAWP’s rankings of states by women’s representation in state legislatures.


Potential Mayoral Milestones

Women are in general election contests next week for mayor in 13 of the top 100 most populous cities. Among these races are the following potential milestones: 

  • Mayling Armijo could be the first woman and first Latina elected mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
  • Laverne Gore could be the first Black woman elected mayor of Cleveland, Ohio.
  • Mary Sheffield could be the first woman and first Black woman elected mayor of Detroit, Michigan.
  • Either Christina Freeman or Joyce Watterman could be the first Black woman elected mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey.
  • Laura Anderson, Alyssa Crocker, Eileen Higgins, or June Savage could be the first woman mayor of Miami, Florida. Crocker would also be the first Black woman mayor of the city.
  • Kaohly Her could be the first woman and first AAPI woman elected mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota.


Resources