Record Number of Women Running for U.S. House in 2018 After Filing Deadlines in Thirty States

With filing deadlines passed in 30 states, a record number of women have filed as major party candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018. As of April 6^th, 309 women – 231 Democrats and 78 Republicans – have filed for candidacy, surpassing the previous high of 298 set in 2012.

Democratic women have already surpassed their record high for filed U.S. House candidates; 190 women filed as Democratic House candidates in 2012. In 2010, 128 Republican women filed as U.S. House candidates, which currently remains the record high.

“After years of lamenting the lack of significant growth in the number of women candidates, this is a welcome breakthrough,” according to CAWP’s director, Debbie Walsh. “However, the road to seeing an increase in the number of women serving in 2019 is made steeper by the fact that that a large proportion of these candidates are running as challengers. In addition, 13 of the 83 women currently serving in the House are not running for reelection.”

Of the 309 women who have filed for the U.S. House:

• 41 (30D, 11R) are incumbents who have filed for re-election,
• 86 (55D, 31R) are running for open seats in 35 districts in 17 states,
• 158 (135D, 23R) are seeking major party nominations to challenge incumbent representatives,
• 24 (11D, 13R) have filed as primary challengers to incumbents of their own party.

These numbers include all the women who have filed to date, including those who have lost their primary in Texas and Illinois. For a full summary and listing of women candidates in 2018, see CAWP’s Election Watch.

The record number of women who have run as major party nominees for U.S. House is 167, set in 2016.

83 (61D, 22R) women currently serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. A total of 320 (208D, 112R) women have served in the U.S. House of Representatives. For data on women’s representation in the U.S. House over time, see CAWP’s History of Women in Congress.