AUGUST 2015

THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS

CAPITOL RESEARCH
GOVERNMENT

Women in State Government 2015

Executive Branch
Women currently hold 79 statewide elected executive offices, representing 25.3 percent of the 312
available positionsa significant increase from 1971
when women held only 7 percent of such positions. It
also represents a slight increase from 2013 and 2014
when women represented 23 percent of state elected
offices. It is a decrease, however, from the high point
of 1999-2001 when women held 27.6 percent of such
offices.1
In four states, women currently hold the majority
of statewide elected offices: Indiana (five out of
seven), Massachusetts (four out of six), Minnesota
(three out of five) and Montana (four out of six).
In 2015, women hold none of the available statewide elected offices in 12 states.
Women currently serve as governor in six states,
down from the record of nine women serving as
chief executive simultaneously, which was the case
from December 2006 January 2008 and again in
January 2009.
Women also serve in other high-level state offices:
13 lieutenant governors, nine attorneys general, 14
secretaries of state, seven treasurers, two comptrollers, nine state auditors, nine chief education
officials, one commissioner of insurance, one
commissioner of labor, and one commissioner of
agriculture and commerce.
Since Wyoming voters elected the first female
governor in 1925, 37 women have served in that
role in 27 states.
Twenty-three states have never had a female
governor. In four statesNew Mexico, Oklahoma,
Rhode Island and South Carolinathe current
governor is the first woman to serve in that office
in state history.
Arizona has had the most female governors with
four, and it is the only state to have had three
women in a row to serve as governor.

Legislative Branch
Women currently hold 1,793, or 24.3 percent, of the
7,383 state legislative seats. This includes 439 (22.3
percent) of the 1,972 senate seats and 1,354 (25
percent) of the 5,411 house seats. This percentage
represents no change from 2014 and matches the historical high reached in 2009. The percentage of state
legislative seats held by women has never surpassed
25 percent nationally.2
Vermont (41.1 percent) and Colorado (41 percent)
currently have the highest percentage of women
in their legislatures. They are followed by Arizona
(35.6 percent), Minnesota (33.3 percent), Nevada
(33.3 percent), and Washington (33.3 percent).
Louisiana has the lowest percentage of female
legislators with 11.8 percent.

 Women currently serve as the president of the

senate or president pro tempore in 18 states and
speaker of the house in four.
Women of color represent 21.7 percent of female
legislators and 5.3 percent of total legislators.
There is significant variation in the percentage of
female legislators across the country. On average,
the 13 states that make up CSGs western region
have the highest percentage at 29.4 percent, followed closely by the 11 states that make up the
eastern region with an average of 28.9 percent.
The 11 states of the Midwestern region average 24
percent, while the 15 states of the southern region
average 18 percent.

Judicial Branch
A 2014 survey found that 5,049 women were serving as state court judges, representing 29 percent of
the total 17,156 positions. This is an increase of 528
female judges since 2010, a 12 percent increase.3
Currently, 120 women serve on a state final
appellate jurisdiction court (supreme court or its
equivalent). This represents 36 percent of the 333
total supreme court judges.
Women hold the majority of seats on the state
supreme court or its equivalent in nine states:
Arkansas, California, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Washington and
Wisconsin.
Nineteen women currently hold the office of chief
justice of a state supreme court or its equivalent.

Jennifer Horne, Associate Director of Policy & Special Libraries, jhorne@csg.org

REFERENCES
1 Center for American Women and Politics. Women in Statewide Elective Executive Office 2015.
http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/women-statewide-elective-executive-office-2015. Note: Does not include appointed positions, officials elected to executive
posts by the legislature, or elected members of university Boards of Trustees or Boards of Education.
2 Center for American Women and Politics. Women in State Legislatures 2015. http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/women-state-legislature-2015.
3 National Association of Women Judges. 2014 Representation of United States State Court Women Judges.
http://www.nawj.org/us_state_court_statistics_2014.asp.
TABLE KEY

Key: Supreme Court justices are elected.

TABLE REFERENCES

* States share the same rank if their percentage of female legislators is

equal or round off to be equal.

1. Center for American Women and Politics. Women in Statewide Elective

Executive Office 2015.

** In Maine, the legislature elects the constitutional officers (Attorney

General, Secretary of State, Treasurer,) and one statutory officer (Auditor).
Three of the four officers are women.

Note: Does not include appointed positions, officials elected to executive

posts by the legislature, or elected members of university Boards of
Trustees or Boards of Education.

*** Texas has two courts of last resort: The Supreme Court has jurisdiction
of all civil matters, including juvenile proceedings even if a criminal act is
involved, while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has final jurisdiction of
all criminal matters (excluding juvenile proceedings). The Supreme Court
currently has two female members, while the Court of Criminal Appeals
has 4.

2. Center for American Women in Politics. Women in State Legislatures

2015.

THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS

3. National Association of Women Judges. 2014 Representation of United

States State Court Women Judges.

WOMEN IN STATE GOVERNMENT (AUGUST 2015)

Executive Branch
State
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon

Governor

Maggie Hassan
Susana Martinez

Mary Fallin
Kate Brown

Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Total:

Legislative Branch

Judicial Branch

All Statewide
Elected Officials1

Women in the
Senate2

Women in
the House2

Percentage of Total
Legislators (Rank)2

2 of 7
0 of 2
3 of 10
2 of 7
4 of 12
0 of 5
3 of 6
1 of 6
1 of 5
0 of 8
0 of 2
1 of 7
3 of 6
5 of 7
2 of 7
0 of 6
2 of 7
0 of 7
0 of 1 **
0 of 4
4 of 6
1 of 5
3 of 5
2 of 8
1 of 6
4 of 6
0 of 6
1 of 6
1 of 1
1 of 2
1 of 7
1 of 4
5 of 10
3 of 13
1 of 6
2 of 11
2 of 5

4 of 35
5 of 20
13 of 30
7 of 35
12 of 40
12 of 35
9 of 36
6 of 21
12 of 40
9 of 56
8 of 25
10 of 35
15 of 59
10 of 50
7 of 50
13 of 40
4 of 38
4 of 39
8 of 35
13 of 47
12 of 40
4 of 38
23 of 67
8 of 52
6 of 34
18 of 50
10 of 49
5 of 21
8 of 24
11 of 40
7 of 42
11 of 63
12 of 50
8 of 47
7 of 33
6 of 48
8 of 30

16 of 105
12 of 40
19 of 60
20 of 100
19 of 80
29 of 65
44 of 151
9 of 41
28 of 120
44 of 180
14 of 51
19 of 70
40 of 118
21 of 100
27 of 100
28 of 125
19 of 100
13 of 105
46 of 151
45 of 141
39 of 160
27 of 110
44 of 134
22 of 122
42 of 163
29 of 100
N/A
16 of 42
114 of 400
25 of 80
23 of 70
41 of 150
26 of 120
19 of 94
26 of 99
14 of 101
20 of 60

14.3% (46)
28.3% (15)*
35.6% (3)
20.0% (36)
25.8% (20)
41.0% (2)
28.3% (15)*
24.20% (28)
25.0% (22)*
22.5% (30)
38.9% (13)
27.6% (17)
31.1% (7)
20.7% (34)
22.7% (29)
24.8% (25)
16.7% (43)
11.8% (50)
29.0% (12)
30.9% (10)
25.5% (21)
20.9% (33)
33.3% (4)*
17.2% (41)
24.4% (26)*
31.3% (8)
20.4% (35)
33.3% (4)*
28.8% (14)
30.0% (11)
26.8% (19)
24.4% (26)*
22.4% (31)
19.1% (38)
25.0% (22)*
13.4% (48)
31.1% (9)

Total Female
State Court
Judges3
75 of 340
17 of 68
68 of 16
27 of 139
540 of 1736
108 of 337
75 of 241
16 of 57
325 of 989
198 of 658
28 of 79
18 of 138
225 of 883
74 of 338
59 of 245
53 of 260
93 of 281
86 of 299
15 of 60
110 of 278
127 of 352
200 of 661
117 of 315
37 of 151
84 of 368
96 of 222
31 of 142
60 of 154
18 of 93
135 of 429
36 of 102
459 of 1495
130 of 430
11 of 48
134 of 466
59 of 271
82 of 188

Percentage
of All
Judges3
22%
25%
31%
19%
31%
32%
31%
28%
33%
30%
35%
13%
29%
22%
24%
20%
33%
29%
25%
40%
36%
30%
37%
25%
23%
43%
22%
39%
19%
31%
35%
31%
30%
23%
29%
22%
43%

Female
Supreme Court
Justices
2 of 9
1 of 5
2 of 5
4 of 7
4 of 7
3 of 7
3 of 7
1 of 5
2 of 7
1 of 7
2 of 5
0 of 5
3 of 7
1 of 5
0 of 7
2 of 7
3 of 7
2 of 7
2 of 7
4 of 7
4 of 7
2 of 7
2 of 7
1 of 9
3 of 7
3 of 7
1 of 7
2 of 7
2 of 5
3 of 7
2 of 5
4 of 7
3 of 7
2 of 5
4 of 7
2 of 9
2 of 7

1 of 5

9 of 50

36 of 203

17.8% (39)

149 of 568

26%

1 of 5

Gina Raimondo
Nikki Haley

1 of 5
1 of 9
2 of 10
0 of 1
1 of 9
0 of 5
1 of 6
0 of 3
1 of 9
1 of 6
1 of 5
2 of 5

10 of 38
1 of 46
7 of 35
6 of 33
7 of 31
6 of 29
9 of 30
8 of 40
18 of 49
1 of 34
11 of 33
1 of 30

21 of 75
22 of 124
15 of 170
17 of 99
28 of 150
10 of 75
65 of 150
16 of 100
31 of 98
19 of 100
22 of 99
11 of 60

27.4% (18)
13.5% (47)
21.0% (32)
17.4% (40)
19.3% (37)
15.4% (44)
41.1% (1)
17.1% (42)
33.3% (4)*
14.9% (45)
25.0% (21)*
13.3% (48)

30 of 80
59 of 156
7 of 46
35 of 181
308 of 1123
27 of 110
32 of 84
93 of 383
122 of 355
28 of 121
50 of 274
10 of 59

38%
38%
15%
19%
27%
25%
38%
24%
36%
23%
18%
17%

1 of 5
2 of 5
2 of 5
3 of 5
6 of 18 ***
2 of 5
2 of 5
3 of 7
6 of 9
2 of 5
4 of 7
2 of 5

79

439 of 1,972

1,353 of 5,411

Average: 24.3%

5,049 of 17,156

Average:
29%

120 of 333
(36%)

THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS