Women Officeholders in 2019

Following the successes of the 2018 midterm elections, 2019 will see record numbers of women serving in the U.S. Congress and state legislatures nationwide. The Center for American Women and Politics, a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, presents those numbers here. You can find this information and more in our fact sheets Women in Elective Office 2019 and Women of Color in Elective Office 2019.

U.S. Congress [FACT SHEETS: Women in the U.S. Senate and Women in the U.S. House 2019]

• 127 (106D, 21R) women will serve in the 116th Congress, holding 23.7% of all seats. Before Election 2018, the record for women in Congress was 107 (78D, 29R) and 20% of seats. Three women – Brenda Jones (MI-13), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-7), and Susan Wild (PA-15) – were sworn in after Election Day to fill vacancies for the remainder of the 115th Congress, setting a new high of 110 (81D, 29R) women serving in 2018 (20.5% of all members).
• 102 (89D, 13R) women will serve in the House, holding 23.4% of all seats. Before Election 2018, the record for women in the House was 85 (63D, 22R) and 19.3% of seats, set in 2016. After Election Day 2018, including the aforementioned swearing-ins, 87 (64D, 23R) women served in the 115^th Congress (20% of all members), setting a new record.
• 25 (17D, 8R) women will serve in the Senate. The previous record of 23 (17D, 6R) was set in 2018.
• 36 (35D, 1R) women are newly elected to the House, the largest freshman class in history and beating a previous record (24) that held for 26 years.
• 3 (2D, 1R) women are newly elected to the Senate, falling short of the record of 5 set in 2012.
• 43 (42D, 1R) women of color will serve in the House. Before Election 2018, the previous record for women of color in the House was 34, set in 2016. Upon the swearing-in of Brenda Jones, that record increased to 35.
• 4 (4D) women of color will serve in the Senate, which is the same number of women of color senators who served in the 115th Congress. 
• The number of House seats held by Republican women will decline by 10 seats in 2019, from 23 to 13.

Statewide Executive [FACT SHEET: Women in Statewide Elected Executive Office 2019]

• 9 (6D, 3R) women will serve as governors in 2019, increasing from the six who held gubernatorial seats in 2018 and matching the record number of women governors serving simultaneously first set in 2004 and again in 2007.
• 77 (40D, 35R, 2NP) will serve in other statewide elected executive offices.
• 14 (11D, 3R) women of color will serve in statewide elected executive offices, including one governor and 13 other executive officeholders. The previous record of women of color in statewide elected executive offices was 11, set in 2011. 

State Legislatures [FACT SHEET: Women in State Legislatures 2019]

• 2,112 (1,431D, 660R, 13NP, 4I, 4P) women will serve in state legislatures around the country, holding 28.6% of all seats. The pre-midterms record of 1,879 (1,144D, 708R, 14NP, 1WFP, 7I, 5PRG) and 25.4% was set in 2018. 
• 503 (324D, 166R, 13NP) will serve in upper chambers. The pre-midterms record of 450 was set in 2018.
• 1,609 (1,107D, 494R, 4I, 4P) will serve in lower chambers. The pre-midterms record of 1,425 was set in 2018.
• The Nevada legislature will become the first majority-women legislature in the nation, with women holding 32 of 63 (50.8%) of seats. However, women will only make up a majority of the Nevada Assembly, holding 23 of 42 seats, while they remain a minority in the Nevada Senate, holding 9 of 21 seats.
• The Colorado House also joins the Nevada Assembly in becoming majority-women, where women will hold 50.8% of seats. Prior to this election, only one state legislative chamber had ever been majority-women, the New Hampshire Senate in 2009-2010.