Women in Elective Office 2020
In 2020, women hold 127, or 23.7%, of the 535 seats in the 116th U.S. Congress - 26, or 26.0%, of the 100 seats in the Senate and 101, or 23.2%, of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the first woman Speaker of the House, holds the highest position in the House and is second in line of presidential succession.
plus 4 (2D, 2R) Delegates
In 2020, 90 women hold statewide elective executive offices across the country; women hold 28.9% of the 311 available positions. Among these women, 48 are Democrats, 40 are Republicans and 2 are non-partisan.
2 non-partisan
| AL | Kay Ivey (R) |
| IA | Kim Reynolds (R) |
| KS | Laura Kelly (D) |
| ME | Janet Mills (D) |
| MI | Gretchen Whitmer (D) |
| NM | Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) |
| OR | Kate Brown (D) |
| RI | Gina Raimondo (D) |
| SD | Kristi Lynn Noem (R) |
| CA | Eleni Kounalakis (D) | KY | Jacqueline Coleman (D) | |
| CO | Dianne Primavera (D) | MA | Karyn Polito (R) | |
| CT | Susan Bysiewicz (D) | MN | Peggy Flanagan (D) | |
| DE | Bethany Hall-Long (D) | NJ | Sheila Oliver (D) | |
| FL | Jeanette Nunez (R) | NV | Kate Marshall (D) | |
| ID | Janice McGeachin (R) | NY | Kathy Hochul (D) | |
| IL | Juliana Stratton (D) | SC | Pamela Evette (R) | |
| IN | Suzanne Crouch (R) |
| Attorney General - 8 (5D, 3R) | Railroad Commissioner - 1R | |
| Secretary of State - 11 (7D, 4R) | Commisioner of Labor - 3 (1D, 2R) | |
| State Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer - 10 (5D, 5R) | Corporation Commissioner - 3 (1D, 2R) | |
| State Comptroller - 3D | Public Service Commissioner - 3R | |
| State Auditor - 10 (6D, 4R) | Public Utilities Commissioner - 1R | |
| Chief State Educational Official - 9 (2D, 6R, 1 non-partisan) | Commissioner of Lands - 2D | |
| Insurance Commissioner - 1R | Agriculture Commissioner - 1D |
In 2020, 2,142 (1,445D, 675R, 14NP*, 4Ind, 4Prg.), or 29.0%, of the 7,383 state legislators in the United States are women. Women hold 513 (329D, 170R, 14NP), or 26.0%, of the 1,972 state senate seats and 1,629 (1,116D, 505R, 4Ind., 4Prg.), or 30.1%, of the 5,411 state house seats. Since 1971, the number of women serving in state legislatures has more than quintupled.
Includes 14 non-partisan, 4 Independent, 4 Progressive
Colorado (45.0%)
Oregon (41.1%)
Washington (40.5%)
Vermont (40.0%)
Arizona (38.9%)
Alaska (38.3%)
Maryland (38.3%)
Maine (37.6%)
Rhode Island (37.2%)
Tennessee (15.2%)
Wyoming (15.6%)
Alabama (16.4%)
South Carolina (16.5%)
Mississippi (16.7%)
Louisiana (18.1%)
Oklahoma (21.5%)
North Dakota (22.0%)
Kentucky (23.2%)
As of September 2019, among the 100 largest cities in the U.S., 27 had women mayors. Seven are Black women (Keisha Lance Bottoms, Atlanta, GA; Muriel Bowser, Washington, DC; London Breed, San Francisco, CA; Sharon Weston Broome, Baton Rouge, LA; LaToya Cantrell, New Orleans, LA; Lori Lightfoot, Chicago, IL; Vi Alexander Lyles, Charlotte, NC); one is Latina (Mary Casillas Salas, Chula Vista, CA); and two are Asian Pacific Islander women (Karen K. Goh, Bakersfield, CA; Lily Mei, Fremont, CA).
As of September 2019, per the U.S. Conference of Mayors, of the 284 mayors of the U.S. cities with populations 100,000 and over, 59, or 20.8%, were women. Of the 1,366 mayors of U.S. cities with populations 30,000 and above, 300, or 22.0%, were women. Full list here.
| City | Mayor | Rank |
|---|---|---|
|
Chicago, IL |
Lori Lightfoot |
3 |
Percentages of Women in Elective Office
| Year |
U.S. Congress |
Statewide Elective |
State Legislatures |
Year |
U.S. Congress |
Statewide Elective |
State Legislatures |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 3% | 7% | N/A | 2001 | 13.6% | 27.6% | 22.4% | |
| 1973 | 3% | 8% | N/A | 2003 | 13.6% | 26.0% | 22.4% | |
| 1975 | 4% | 10% | 8% | 2005 | 15.0% | 25.7% | 22.4% | |
| 1977 | 4% | 10% | 9% | 2007 | 16.1% | 24.1% | 23.5% | |
| 1979 | 3% | 11% | 10% | 2009 | 16.8% | 22.6% | 24.3% | |
| 1981 | 4% | 11% | 12% | 2011 | 16.8% | 22.1% | 23.7% | |
| 1983 | 4% | 11% | 13% | 2012 | 16.8% | 23.4% | 23.7% | |
| 1985 | 5% | 14% | 15% | 2013 | 18.5% | 23.0% | 24.2% | |
| 1987 | 5% | 14% | 16% | 2014 | 18.7% | 23.0% | 24.3% | |
| 1989 | 5% | 14% | 16% | 2015 | 19.4% | 24.8% | 24.6% | |
| 1991 | 6% | 18% | 18% | 2016 | 19.6% | 24.1% | 24.5% | |
| 1993 | 10.1% | 22.2% | 20.5% | 2017 | 19.6% | 22.8% | 25.1% | |
| 1995 | 10.3% | 25.9% | 20.6% | 2018 | 20.6% | 23.8% | 25.4% | |
| 1997 | 11.0% | 25.4% | 21.6% | 2019 | 23.7% | 29.3% | 28.9% | |
| 1999 | 12.1% | 27.6% | 22.4% | 2020 | 23.7% | 28.9% | 29.0% |