Results for Women State Legislative Candidates in Election 2022
Edit: Between Election Day 2022 and the swearing-in of the Colorado legislature on January 9, 2023, two women legislators resigned their offices, and just one was succeeded by another woman. As a result, Colorado reached, but did not surpass, parity. Its legislature is 50% women.
According to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, at least 2,376 (1,560D, 795R, 18NP, 2Ind, 1Prg) women will serve in state legislatures in 2023. This surpasses the previous record of 2,307 women in state legislative offices (set in 2022). If this count holds, women will hold at least 32.2% of seats in state legislatures. This count includes both women who won election in 2022 and anticipated holdovers not up for re-election this year.
There are still 59 (36D, 23R) women in 2022 election contests that remain too close to call, so these numbers are likely to change. State legislative counts also typically fluctuate between Election Day and January 2023 for other reasons.
Currently, 2,293 (1,513D, 759R, 14NP, 5Ind, 2Prg) women serve in state legislatures nationwide, holding 31.1% of all state legislative offices.
The numbers of women serving in state senates and in state houses in 2023 will also surpass previous records, based on the latest election results. At least 584 (378D, 188R, 18NP) women will serve in state senates, up from the previous record of 564 set in 2022; they will hold at least 29.6% of state senate seats nationwide. At least 1,792 (1,182D, 607R, 2Ind, 1Prg) women will serve in state houses, up from the previous record of 1,747 set in 2022; they will hold at least 33.1% of state house seats nationwide.
At least one more state, Colorado, will join Nevada in becoming a state legislature where women will make up more than 50% of its members. Nevada became the first state to reach this milestone following the 2018 elections. As of Election Day 2022, 58.7% of Nevada state legislators were women, and in 2023 Nevada’s legislature will be 60.3% women. Colorado’s legislature will also be majority-women in 2023, with women holding 51% of state legislative seats.
These results will be updated, with data visualizations, as outcomes are determined on our “Results for Women State Legislative Candidates in Election 2022” page; these updates will include both the latest numbers and additional notable milestones that may be achieved by newly-determined results, as well as state-by-state and historical comparisons.
Additional CAWP resources about women state legislators and candidates:
Contact: Daniel De Simone; 760.703.0948