Record Number of Women Nominated for Governor and U.S. House in 2018

Records were broken last night following primaries in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University. For the first time, 11 women have been nominated for gubernatorial races in a single election year, while at least 185 women have won nominations in U.S. House races.

The previous record of women nominees for governor nationwide, first set in 1994, was 10 nominations; with primary wins last night from Democrats Laura Kelly in Kansas and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, that number now stands at 11. In U.S. House races, as of Wednesday afternoon, 23 primary wins (17D, 6R) across four states thus far have pushed the new record number of women House nominees to 185, up from the previous record of 167, which was set in 2016. These figures are accurate as of the afternoon of Wednesday, August 8^th. For the most up to date information, see CAWP’s Election Watch candidate summary site.

"Tonight's results are a reminder that women have to be in it to win it," says CAWP's director Debbie Walsh. The number of women who filed as gubernatorial candidates in 2018 is almost double the previous record (1994), while the number of women candidates who filed for the U.S House this year is 60% greater than the previous record (2012). Walsh says, "This has been an election season of records for women candidates and tonight continues that story."

These figures will continue to change. Two U.S. House primary races last night featuring women candidates remain undecided as of this release. In addition, there are still 17 women running for governor and 94 in U.S. House races in states that have not yet held primaries, so we can expect additional growth in the magnitude by which previous records will be surpassed in 2018.

CAWP will continue tracking milestones throughout the election season, including the record for U.S. Senate nominations. With three incumbents advancing last night, this record will be surpassed if 7 more women secure nominations this year. We're also tracking, of course, whether we'll beat the most important record of all this year: the number of women serving.

Stay tuned to CAWP's Election Watch summary for the latest numbers of women candidates and nominees, and seer a full analysis of tonight's results from Gender Watch 2018, a project of CAWP and the Barbara Lee Family Foundation.