Women in Elective Office 2021
Kamala Harris (D) became the first woman to hold the office of Vice President on January 20, 2021. She is also the first woman of color, the first Black person, and the first South Asian person elected to this office. Previously, Vice President Harris served in the U.S. Senate as well as California’s Attorney General.
In 2021, women hold 143, or 26.7%, of the 535 seats in the 117th U.S. Congress - 24, or 24.0%, of the 100 seats in the Senate and 119, or 27.4%, 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. The record high for women serving in Congress was 144, set between January 3, 2021 and January 18, 2021. The record high for women serving in the U.S. Senate was 26, last set between January 3, 2021 and January 18, 2021. The record high for women serving in the U.S. House is 119 (last set as of June 14, 2021), which is also the current number of women serving in the House.
plus 4 (2D, 2R) Delegates
In 2021, 95 women hold statewide elective executive offices across the country; women hold 30.6% of the 310 available positions. Among these women, 52 are Democrats, 41 are Republicans and 2 are non-partisan. This is a record high for women serving in statewide elective executive office. The record high for women serving as governors is 9, last set between January 14, 2019 and March 2, 2021.
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) |
| SD | Kristi Lynn Noem (R) |
| CA | Eleni Kounalakis (D) | MN | Peggy Flanagan (D) | |
| CO | Dianne Primavera (D) | MT | Kristen Juras (R) | |
| CT | Susan Bysiewicz (D) | NJ | Sheila Oliver (D) | |
| DE | Bethany Hall-Long (D) | NV | Kate Marshall (D) | |
| FL | Jeanette Nunez (R) | NY | Kathy Hochul (D) | |
| ID | Janice McGeachin (R) | RI | Sabina Matos (D) | |
| IL | Juliana Stratton (D) | SC | Pamela Evette (R) | |
| IN | Suzanne Crouch (R) | UT | Deidre Henderson (R) | |
| KY | Jacqueline Coleman (D) | VT | Molly Gray (D) | |
| MA | Karyn Polito (R) |
| Attorney General - 8 (5D, 3R) | Railroad Commissioner - 1R | |
| Secretary of State - 13 (9D, 4R) | Commisioner of Labor - 2 (1R, 1NP) | |
| State Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer - 10 (5D, 5R) | Corporation Commissioner - 4 (2D, 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 2021, 2,287 (1,510D, 756R, 13NP*, 6Ind, 2Prg.), or 31.0%, of the 7,383 state legislators in the United States are women. Women hold 561 (363D, 185R, 13NP), or 28.4%, of the 1,972 state senate seats and 1,727 (1,148D, 571R, 6Ind., 2Prg.), or 31.9%, of the 5,411 state house seats. Since 1971, the number of women serving in state legislatures has more than quintupled. The record high for women serving in state legislatures was 2289, set between June 11, 2021 and June 21, 2021.
Includes 13 non-partisan, 6 Independent, 2 Progressive
Nevada (60.3%)
Rhode Island (45.1%)
Colorado (45.0%)
Arizona (44.4%)
Oregon (44.4%)
New Mexico (43.8%)
Maine (43.5%)
Vermont (42.2%)
Washington (41.5%)
Maryland (41.0%)
West Virginia (11.9%)
Mississippi (15.5%)
Alabama (15.7%)
Tennessee (17.4%)
South Carolina (17.6%)
Wyoming (17.8%)
Louisiana (18.8%)
Oklahoma (20.8%)
North Dakota (22.7%)
Arkansas (23.0%)
As of April 2021, women make up 30.5% of municipal officeholders. Data provided by the Center for American Women and Politics and KnowWho Data Services. Numbers include members and officers of the municipal legislative branch of incorporated cities and towns with populations over 10,000 as per the U.S. Census. These bodies vary by municipality, but include city councils, boards of alderman, city commissions, among others. Mayors and other officials who perform mayoral functions are included in these counts.
As of May 2021, per CAWP data and the U.S. Census, of the 1,621 mayors of U.S. cities with populations of 30,000 and above, 407, or 25.1%, were women. Of those women, 91, or 25.6%, were mayors of the 356 cities with populations of 100,000 or above. Full list here.
As of March 2021, among the 100 largest cities in the U.S., 32 had women mayors. Seven are Black women (Keisha Lance Bottoms, Atlanta, GA; Muriel Bowser, Washington, DC; London Breed, San Francisco, CA; LaToya Cantrell, New Orleans, LA; Kim Janey, Acting Boston, MA; Lori Lightfoot, Chicago, IL; Vi Alexander Lyles, Charlotte, NC); three are Latina (Mary Casillas Salas, Chula Vista, CA; Paulette M. Guajardo, Corpus Christi, TX; Regina Romero, Tucson, AZ); and three are Asian Pacific Islander women (Karen K. Goh, Bakersfield, CA; Farrah Khan, Irvine, CA; Lily Mei, Fremont, CA).
| 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 | 23.6% | 28.9% | 29.3% | |
| 2021 | 26.7% | 30.6% | 31.0% |