Statewide Elective Executive Office

Governor

As of April 2025, 12 (8D, 4R) women serve as governors, holding 24% of all seats. To date, 51 (31D, 20R) women have served as governors in 32 states.

The number of women governors changed multiple times between Election Day 2024 and January 25, 2025. On January 7, 2025, Delaware Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long ascended to the governorship after the incumbent governor left office to become mayor of Wilmington, Delaware. Hall-Long served as governor until the new governor was sworn in on January 21, 2025. Former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) – the only woman to win a gubernatorial contest in 2024 – was sworn in on January 9, 2025, briefly increasing the number of sitting women governors to a record 14 (9D, 5R). This record high held until January 21, when Hall-Long left office. Four days later, on January 25, 2025, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R-SD) left office to become secretary of Homeland Security in the Trump administration. With Noem’s departure, the number of women governors returned to 12 (8D, 4R), the same number that held office on Election Day 2024.

In April 2025, women are 14.8% of Republican and 34.8% of Democratic governors, matching women’s representation among governors of both parties on Election Day 2024.

None of the 12 (8D, 4R) incumbent women governors holding office in 2024 were up for election in 2024. But 17 (10D, 7R) women filed as candidates for governor in 2024, when 11 gubernatorial offices were up for election. Five (4D, 1R) went on to become general election gubernatorial nominees.

Women were 20.2% of all gubernatorial candidates, including 30.3% of Democratic and 13.7% of Republican candidates for governor in 2024. Women were a slightly larger proportion – 22.7% – of all gubernatorial nominees in 2024, representing a larger share of Democratic (36.4%) than Republican (9.1%) nominees. While Republican women’s representation among Republican gubernatorial candidates and nominees was nearly identical in 2020 – a year with the same number of contests – and 2024, Democratic women made up a larger share of their party’s candidates and nominees for governor in 2024 than four years earlier. The sole woman winner of a 2024 gubernatorial election (Ayotte) was one of eight non-incumbent gubernatorial winners and one of five new Republican governors elected in 2024.

New Hampshire’s 2024 gubernatorial election featured the only woman v. woman general election gubernatorial contest in 2024, pitting former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) against Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig (D-NH). Ayotte defeated Craig by ten points in November 2024 to become New Hampshire’s fourth woman governor. Notably, three of four women governors from New Hampshire have also served in the U.S. Senate.

Racial/Ethnic Diversity

Of the 12 (8D, 4R) women governors serving in March 2025, all but one is white; Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) is one of just two (1D, 1R) Latina/Hispanic women that have ever served as governor. Of the 51 (31D, 20R) women who have ever served as governors, 48 (30D, 18R) are white, 2 (1D, 1R) are Latina/Hispanic, and 1 (1R) is Asian American. The first Latina/Hispanic and Asian American women governors – Susana Martinez (R-NM) and Nikki Haley (R-SC) – were elected in 2010. No Black, Middle Eastern/North African, or Native American/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian women have ever served as governor.

Of the 17 (10D, 7R) women gubernatorial candidates in 2024, 5 (4D, 1R) were Black, 1 (1R) was Latina/Hispanic, 1 (1R) was Asian American/Pacific Islander, 1 (1R) was Native American, and 11 (6D, 5R) were white. All but one of 5 (4D, 1R) women gubernatorial nominees in 2024 were white. Esther Charlestin, who identifies as Black, was the Democratic nominee in Vermont’s gubernatorial election. She was defeated by incumbent Republican governor Phil Scott by over fifty points.

Statewide Elective Executive Offices (including Governor)

In addition to 50 governorships, there are 260 other statewide elective executive offices nationwide. Of these 310 total statewide elective executive offices, 73 positions were in contention in the 2024 election. As of April 2025, 95 (52D, 41R, 2NP) women serve as statewide elective executives, holding 30.6% of all offices. This falls below the 99 (54D, 43R, 2NP) women holding statewide elective offices on Election Day 2024 and the record 100 (54D, 44R, 2NP) women serving as statewide elective executives by the end of 2024.

Seven states have no women representing them in statewide elective executive office as of April 2025: Florida, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.1 All seven states have previously had women in statewide elective executive offices.

The number of women statewide elective executives decreased as a result of Election 2024. First, 11 (6D, 5R) women incumbents departed office due to retirement, term limits, running for another office, or election loss. Another 2 (2R) women left their statewide offices to serve in the federal government as a result of appointments in the new presidential administration.2 Only 9 (4D, 5R) non-incumbent women won statewide elective executive offices in the fall election.3 They include two women who made history in their respective states: State Auditor Tina Cannon (R-UT) is the first woman to serve as auditor of Utah and State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner (D-OR) is the first woman to serve as treasurer of Oregon.

In 2024, 87 (44D, 42R, 1NP) women filed as candidates for statewide elective executive office. They were 26.1% of all statewide executive candidates, including 33.3% of Democrats and 21.8% of Republicans. Forty-five (27D, 17R, 1NP) women were statewide elective nominees. At the general election stage, women were a larger proportion – 30.8% – of all statewide executive nominees in 2024, representing a larger share of Democratic (39.1%) and Republican (23.3%) nominees. While women were a slightly larger proportion of statewide executive candidates – overall and within both major political parties – in 2024 than in 2020, they were a smaller share of general election nominees.

Nine (4D, 5R) non-incumbent women won statewide executive elections in 2024. They represent less than one quarter (23.1%) of all non-incumbent winners of statewide elective executive offices, a proportion smaller than in 2020. Women were 30.8% of Democratic and 19.2% of Republican non-incumbent winners.

While non-incumbent women nominees for statewide elective executive office won primary contests at slightly higher rates than non-incumbent men in the 2024 election, non-incumbent men performed slightly better than non-incumbent women nominees in general election contests. This disparity is not consistent across party, however. Among Republican non-incumbents – who fared better than Democrats overall – women fared slightly better than men in the general election.

Racial/Ethnic Diversity

The underrepresentation of women of color as both candidates and officeholders has been historically stark at the statewide executive level. Of the 621 women who have served as statewide elective executives to date, 552 – or 88.9% of all officeholders – are white, 12 are Asian American/Pacific Islander, 25 are Black, 29 are Latina/Hispanic, 4 are Native American/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian, and 1 identified as multiracial alone.4 No self-identified Middle Eastern/North African women have served in statewide elective executive office to date, based on our knowledge.5

Of the 95 (52D, 41R, 2NP) women serving as statewide elective executives in April 2025, 4 (3D, 1R) are Asian American/Pacific Islander, 10 (9D, 1R) are Black, 6 (5D, 1R) are Latina/Hispanic, 1 (1D) is Native American/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian, and 75 (35D, 38R, 2NP) are white.6 These counts include 1 (1D) woman – Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos (D) – who identifies as Afro-Latina and is included in counts for Black and Latina/Hispanic women officeholders. Only Asian American/Pacific Islander women (4) are currently at a record level of statewide elective executive representation.

Of the 87 (44D, 42R, 1NP) women statewide elective executive candidates in 2024, 3 (1D, 2R) were Asian American/Pacific Islander, 13 (12D, 1R) were Black, 6 (1D, 5R) were Latina/Hispanic, 4 (2D, 2R) were Native American, and 62 (27D, 34R, 1NP) were white.7 Of the 45 (27D, 17R, 1NP) women statewide elective nominees, 1 (1R) was Asian American/Pacific Islander, 3 (3D) were Black, 3 (1D, 2R) were Latina/Hispanic, 1 (1D) was Native American, and 37 (22D, 14R, 1NP) were white.

Looking Ahead

Fewer statewide elective executive offices were up for election in 2024 than two years ago. As a result, last year’s election marked fewer milestones for women as candidates, nominees, or winners at this level of office. Moreover, and consistent with trends at other levels of office, the number of women statewide elective executive officeholders dropped from 2024 to 2025. A combination of factors – including term limits, election outcomes, and incumbent departures in early 2025 – contributed to the decline in women statewide executives.

Between Election Day 2024 and January 2025, the number of women governors did reach a record high of 14. But this milestone held for just two weeks. By February 2025, the number of women governors returned to 12, the same number of women governors on Election Day 2024. Today, women still hold just 24% of all gubernatorial offices nationwide and 18 states have still never had a woman governor.

Women are viable contenders in both gubernatorial contests being held in 2025. U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) is running in a competitive primary for the Democratic nomination for governor in New Jersey. In Virginia, former U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears (R-VA) will compete in an all-woman contest to become the first woman governor of Virginia. Sears, if successful, would also be the first Black woman governor in the U.S.

Women’s gubernatorial representation matters for the future growth of women’s political leadership. In addition to the impact their representation has on policy agendas and outcomes, these women have the opportunity to disrupt gendered norms of political leadership, especially at the executive level, and inspire other women to see themselves as potential political leaders. They are also now among the elected leaders most likely to be considered as potential presidential contenders, increasing their political capital through their statewide leadership and success.

The dearth of racial/ethnic diversity among women officeholders persists across all statewide elective executive women, including governors, and this underrepresentation has serious implications for policy and politics.8 Statewide elective executive officeholders are among the most powerful political leaders in the U.S., responsible for key functions of government — from the execution and oversight of elections to upholding the law and managing states’ treasuries. As we anticipate further delegation of key policy decisions to the states, the power of statewide executives will continue to grow. While these offices often receive less attention in discussions of women’s political representation, they should be more central to efforts to promote women’s political power, including efforts to diversify the women who both run for and win high-level political offices.

The 2026 elections will provide more robust opportunity for women to increase their representation – overall and by race/ethnicity – in statewide elective executive offices. That year, at least 36 gubernatorial and around 200 other statewide executive offices will be up for election.

Footnotes

  1. Tennessee has just one statewide elective executive office: governor.
  2. In February 2025, Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez stepped down from her statewide office. This is not included in these counts, as the vacancy was not related to the 2024 election, but it affects the current number of women in statewide elective executive office.
  3. In addition, Chris Cournoyer was appointed lieutenant governor in Iowa on December 16, 2024.
  4. Women who identify with more than one race/ethnicity are included in counts for each group. However, all white women who have served in statewide elective executive office are white alone. CAWP added Alaska Native as a category of self-identification in our data collection starting in 2019 and Native Hawaiian as a category for self-identification in our data collecting starting in 2021, limiting our ability to report historical information about these specific groups of women. Additionally, CAWP’s collection of officeholders’ racial/ethnic self-identification began within the past 30 years. CAWP identification for officeholders prior to this time period is made based on public records and materials.
  5. CAWP began including MENA as category in 2018. Prior to this, we are reliant on historical records and public identification by women officeholders.
  6. Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll (D) is counted as white in these data, though she also identifies as West Indian/Caribbean.
  7. Racial identification is unavailable for one statewide executive candidate.
  8. Sanbonmatsu, Kira. 2015. “Why Not a Woman of Color? The Candidacies of U.S. Women of Color for Statewide Executive Office.” In Oxford Handbook Topics in Politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.