State legislative elections were held in New Jersey – including both House and Senate – and Virginia – House alone – on November 2, 2021. This off-year election gives us a chance to identify gender trends before the bulk of states hold state and federal elections in 2022. 1. Were more women on the ballot in 2021? The charts below show recent trends in the...

Listen to Black women, they say. Support Black women, they tweet. The praise of Black women in recent years is evident in words, but public statements and hashtags must translate into action. And that action should include efforts to elect Black women. Seven years ago, our organizations joined forces to spotlight the status of Black women in American...

Last Update: December 3, 2021 11:17am ET The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, releases results for women in this year’s election contests. Large City Mayoral Races Atlanta, GA: Felicia Moore (D) advanced out of the initial round of voting in the city’s mayoral election. She...

Women set new records as general election candidates in New Jersey and Virginia state legislative races following the June 8th primaries, according to preliminary data from the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. While Virginia did not select one of the two Black women competing...

In this blog post, we interview experts about the gender gap in American politics as it relates to public opinion and policy issues. This post is a curated conversation, moderated by CAWP Research Associate Claire Gothreau, with gender and politics experts intended to illuminate gender differences across a variety of policy attitudes. The interview has been...

Dr. Mirya Holman is associate professor of political science at Tulane University. Among her many publications on gender and American politics, she is the author of Women in Politics in the American City (Temple University Press, 2014), which examines the effect of female mayors and city council members on urban politics. We asked Dr. Holman to share...

Many people are compelled to become political officeholders due to some higher calling. Whether it be a civic duty, love of country, or some pull to power. Black women are no different. However, their civic duty and love of country may look quite different than their white male and female counterparts. When Black women speak of doing the work of their...

In the weeks and months leading up the 2020 presidential election, many political pundits and observers speculated that the gender gap wouldn’t be a gap so much as a gender canyon. The “gender gap” typically refers to differences between women and men in vote choice but can also refer to gender differences in turnout, political attitudes, and engagement...

Within the next two years, 38 states will hold gubernatorial elections, including two states - Virginia and New Jersey – who will hold gubernatorial elections in November 2021. These elections provide multiple opportunities for women. Nine women currently serve as governor and just 44 women have ever served in gubernatorial office in U.S. history. Candidates...

Despite a historic year for women in politics that featured the election of the first woman vice president and a new record for women in Congress, 2020 did not see any new women elected governor. Just nine women serve as governors across the fifty states. And in 2018, which also saw records for women winning seats in Congress and state legislatures, there...