Women in Statewide Elective Executive Office 2016

Kate Brown (link is external), an Oregon Democrat, became governor in 2015 after the elected governor resigned. She served as secretary of state from 2009 until her succession to governor. She served in the Oregon House of Representatives and Oregon State Senate, becoming senate majority leader.

Mary Fallin (link is external), an Oklahoma Republican, was elected to an open sear to become the state's first woman governor in 2010 and reelected in 2014. She served as U.S. Representative from 2007-2011. She was lieutenant governor from 1995 to 2007 and served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1990 to 1994.

Nikki Haley (link is external), a South Carolina Republican, was elected to an open seat to become the state's first woman governor in 2010 and reelected in 2014. She served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011 and was majority whip from 2007 to 2011. She was assistant executive director, Lexington Medical Center Foundation. She served as a major in the Civil Air Patrol. She owns a business with her family. An Asian American, she was one of the first two women of color to serve as governors.

Maggie Hassan (link is external), a New Hampshire Democrat, won an open election in 2012 and was reelected in 2014. She served in the state senate from 2004-2010; there she was senate majority leader in 2010 and previously assistant Democratic whip and president pro tempore.

Susana Martinez (link is external), a New Mexico Republican, was elected to an open seat to become the state's first woman governor in 2010 and reelected in 2014. She was elected the Dona Ana County District Attorney, serving from 1996 to 2009. A Latina, she was one of the first two women of color to serve as governors.

Gina Ralmondo (link is external), a Rhode Island Democrat, won an open seat to become the state's first woman governor in 2014. She served as general treasurer from 2011-2015.

In addition, one woman has served as governor in Puerto Rico. Arizona is the first state where a woman succeeded another woman as governor, and the first state to have had four women governors. Of the 37 women governors, 25 were first elected in their own right; 3 replaced their husbands, and 9 became governor by constitutional succession, three of whom subsequently won full terms. The record number of women serving simultaneously, achieved in 2004 and again in 2007, is 9.