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Female state legislators in the United States

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Percentage of state legislature that is female.[1]

Women have served in state legislatures in the United States since 1895. Their ranks have increased with the advent of nationwide women's suffrage after 1920. Although the number of women serving in state legislatures has more than quintupled since 1971,[2] they remain underrepresented. In 2023, women held less than half of the seats in state legislatures across the majority of states.[3] Specifically, seven states —Oklahoma (19.2%), Louisiana (19.4%), Alabama (17.4%), South Carolina (14.8%), Mississippi (14.5%), Tennessee (14.4%), and West Virginia (11.9%)— had legislatures where women occupied less than 20% of the seats.[3]

Table. US states and Washington, DC. 2023

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  • Rank is by overall percent. D.C. is not ranked. Duplicate ranks if same overall percent.
  • D is Democrat. R is Republican. Ind is Independent. NP is non-partisan.
  • Location links are for "Politics of LOCATION" or "Government of LOCATION" links.
Women in state legislatures in 2023. Party affiliations. Female/male ratios by branch. Overall ratio and percent.[1]
Location Rank Senate Senate ratio House House ratio Overall ratio Overall percent
 Alabama 46 3D, 1R 4/35 10D, 10R 20/105 24/140 17.1
 Alaska 25 2D, 3R 5/20 7D, 6R, 2Ind 15/40 20/60 33.3
 Arizona 2 11D, 5R 16/30 20D, 9R 29/60 45/90 50.0
 Arkansas 43 2D, 3R 5/35 10D, 16R 26/100 31/135 23.0
 California 11 15D, 3R 18/40 27D, 5R 32/80 50/120 41.7
 Colorado 3 11D, 2R 13/35 30D, 5R 35/65 48/100 48.0
 Connecticut 16 10D, 2R 12/36 39D, 19R 58/151 70/187 37.4
 Delaware 20 8D, 0R 8/21 14D, 0R 14/41 22/62 35.5
 Florida 12 7D, 9R 16/40 25D, 15R 50/120 66/160 41.3
 Georgia 21 14D, 2R 16/56 46D, 19R 65/180 81/236 34.3
 Hawaii 18 8D, 0R 8/25 18D, 2R 20/51 28/76 36.8
 Idaho 30 4D, 7R 11/35 5D, 16R 21/70 32/105 30.5
 Illinois 10 20D, 5R 25/59 43D, 6R 49/118 74/177 41.8
 Indiana 38 3D, 7R 10/50 15D, 16R 31/100 41/150 27.3
 Iowa 35 8D, 7R 15/50 16D, 13R 29/100 44/150 29.3
 Kansas 32 7D, 10R 17/40 17D, 16R 33/125 50/165 30.3
 Kentucky 31 4D, 5R 9/38 15D, 18R 33/100 42/138 30.4
 Louisiana 42 2D, 3R 5/39 11D, 18R 29/105 34/144 23.6
 Maine 7 11D, 3R 14/35 48D, 19R 67/151 81/186 43.5
 Maryland 9 14D, 1R 15/47 57D, 7R 64/141 79/188 42.0
 Massa­chusetts 29 11D, 0R 11/40 46D, 4R, 1Ind 51/160 62/200 31.0
 Michigan 14 12D, 3R 15/38 31D, 12R 43/110 58/148 39.2
 Minnesota 17 19D, 3R 22/67 36D, 17R 53/134 75/201 37.3
 Mississippi 47 2D, 7R 9/52 7D, 9R, 2Ind 18/122 27/174 15.5
 Missouri 36 5D, 7R 12/34 28D, 17R 45/163 57/197 28.9
 Montana 26 10D, 4R 14/50 15D, 19R 34/100 48/150 32.0
 Nebraska 19 18NP 18/49 n/a uni­cameral 18/49 36.7
 Nevada 1 9D, 4R 13/21 20D, 5R 25/42 38/63 60.3
 New Hampshire 15 7D, 5R 12/24 101D, 49R 150/400 162/424 38.2
 New Jersey 24 8D, 2R 10/40 25D, 6R 31/80 41/120 34.2
 New Mexico 6 10D, 1R 11/42 31D, 7R 38/70 49/112 43.8
 New York 21 17D, 3R 20/63 50D, 3R 53/150 73/213 34.3
 North Carolina 34 13D, 4R 17/50 24D, 9R 33/120 50/170 29.4
 North Dakota 41 1D, 7R 8/47 9D, 18R 27/94 35/141 24.8
 Ohio 37 3D, 5R 8/33 13D, 17R 30/99 38/132 28.8
 Oklahoma 45 5D, 5R 10/48 10D, 9R 19/101 29/149 19.5
 Oregon 13 7D, 2R 9/30 18D, 10R 28/60 37/90 41.1
 Pennsylvania 26 8D, 9R 17/50 37D, 27R 64/203 81/253 32.0
 Rhode Island 8 14D, 2R 16/38 30D, 3R 33/75 49/113 43.4
 South Carolina 49 1D, 3R, 1Ind 5/46 8D, 12R 20/124 25/170 14.7
 South Dakota 39 2D, 5R 7/35 4D, 17R 21/70 28/105 26.7
 Tennessee 48 5D, 3R 8/33 3D, 9R 12/99 20/132 15.2
 Texas 33 4D, 4R 8/31 32D, 14R 46/150 54/181 29.8
 Utah 40 5D, 2R 7/29 8D, 12R 20/75 27/104 26.0
 Vermont 5 12D, 0R 12/30 58D, 9R, 2Ind 69/150 81/180 45.0
 Virginia 21 11D, 3R 14/40 27D, 7R 34/100 48/140 34.3
 Washington 4 15D, 5R 20/49 35D, 12R 47/98 67/147 45.6
 Washington, D.C. N/A 4D, 1Ind 5/13 n/a uni­cameral 5/13 38.5
 West Virginia 50 0D, 4R 4/34 2D, 11R 13/100 17/134 12.7
 Wisconsin 28 5D, 3R 8/33 20D, 13R 33/99 41/132 31.1
 Wyoming 44 0D, 7R 7/31 3D, 10R 13/62 20/93 21.5

Table. US territories. 2023

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Note: 24 female legislators overall in Puerto Rico. Affiliations: 8 PNP, 11 PPD, 5 Third Party.[1]

US territorial legislatures in 2023. Party affiliations. Female/male ratios by branch. Overall ratio and percent.[1]
Location Rank Senate Senate ratio House House ratio Overall ratio Overall percent
 American Samoa 5 1Ind 1/18 1 1/21 2/39 5.1
 Guam 1 4D, 2R 6/15 n/a uni­cameral 6/15 40.0
 Northern Mariana Islands 4 2D, 1Ind 3/9 1D, 2I 3/20 6/29 20.7
 Puerto Rico 3 13Ind 13/27 n/a 11Ind 24/78 30.8
 U.S. Virgin Islands 2 4D, 1Ind 5/16 n/a uni­cameral 5/16 31.3

History

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This article is part of a series on the
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The first women to serve in any state legislature were Clara Cressingham, Carrie C. Holly and Frances S. Klock, who were all elected in 1894 to the Colorado State House of Representatives.[4] All three were elected the year after women in Colorado obtained the right to vote through popular election in 1893.[5] As Secretary of the House Republican Caucus, Cressingham was the first woman to fill a leadership position in an American legislature.[6] In 1896, Martha Hughes Cannon became the first woman elected to an upper body of a state legislature when she defeated her own husband, Angus M. Cannon, for a seat in the Utah State Senate.[7][8]

The 50th state to see the debut of female state legislators in their lower house was Hawaii in 1959, who elected Dorothy Devereux and Eureka Forbes to their House of Representatives upon admittance to statehood. Alabama's Senate was the 50th upper house to welcome women when Ann Bedsole and Frances Strong joined the Senate in 1983.[9]

In 2016, the highest shares of female members of a state legislature - at least 35% per state legislature - were in Colorado (30/65 in the House, 12/35 in the Senate), Vermont (65/150 in the House, 9/30 in the Senate), and Arizona (19/60 in the House, 13/30 in the Senate).[10] The shares in Colorado and Vermont decreased to below 40% in 2017, while Arizona, Illinois, Nevada and Washington all saw their numbers increase up to between 35% and 39%. Altogether in 2017, women constitute 24.8% of all state legislators in the United States,[11] a ratio that has increased by less than 4 percentage points since 1994.

Only four chambers have reached a near or absolute majority of women:

List of first women to serve in state and territorial legislatures

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List of first women to serve in state and territorial legislatures
Location Year House Year Senate
 Alabama 1923 Hattie Hooker Wilkins 1983 Ann Bedsole
Frances Strong
 Alaska (state) 1959 Helen Fischer
Dora Sweeney 		1959 Irene Ryan
 Alaska (territory) 1937 Nell Scott 1949 Anita Garnick
 Arizona 1915 Rachel Emma Berry 1915 Frances Willard Munds
 Arkansas 1922 Frances Hunt 1964 Dorathy Allen
 California 1919 Esto Broughton
Grace S. Dorris
Elizabeth Hughes
Anna Saylor 		1977 Rose Ann Vuich
 Colorado 1895 Clara Cressingham
Carrie Clyde Holly
Frances Klock 		1913 Helen Robinson
 Connecticut 1921 Emily Sophie Brown[14]
Rev. Grace Edwards[15]
Lillian Frink[16]
Mary Hooker[17]
Helen Jewett[15][18] 		1925 Alice Merritt[19][20]
 Delaware 1925 Florence Hanby 1947 Vera Gilbride Davis
 Florida 1929 Edna Giles Fuller 1963 Beth Johnson
 Georgia 1923 Bessie Kempton
Viola Ross Napier 		1925 Margaret Johnson
 Hawaii (state) 1959 Dorothy L. Devereux
Eureka Forbes 		1963 Patsy Mink
 Hawaii (territory) 1925 Rosalie Keliʻinoi 1933 Elsie Hart Wilcox
 Idaho 1898 Clara Campbell
Hattie Noble
Mary Allen Wright 		1935 Margaret Bognet Pike
 Illinois 1923 Lottie Holman O’Neill 1925 Florence Fifer Bohrer
 Indiana 1921 Julia D. Nelson 1943 Arcada Balz
 Iowa 1929 Carolyn Campbell Pendray 1933 Carolyn Campbell Pendray
 Kansas 1919 Minnie J. Grinstead 1929 Patricia Solander
 Kentucky 1922 Mary Elliott Flanery 1950 Carolyn Moore
 Louisiana 1940 Doris Lindsey Holland
Beatrice Hawthorne Moore 		1936 Doris Lindsey Holland
 Maine 1923 Dora Pinkham 1927 Katharine Allen
Claire Carter
Dora Pinkham
 Maryland 1922 Mary Risteau 1935 Mary Risteau
 Massachusetts 1923 Sylvia Donaldson
Susan Fitzgerald 		1937 Sybil Holmes
 Michigan 1925 Cora Reynolds Anderson 1921 Eva McCall Hamilton
 Minnesota 1923 Myrtle Cain
Sue Metzger Dickey Hough
Hannah Jensen Kempfer
Mabeth Hurd Paige 		1927 Laura Emelia Naplin
 Mississippi 1924 Nellie Nugent Somerville 1924 Carrie Belle Kearney
 Missouri 1923 Mellcene Smith
Sarah Lucille Turner 		1973 Mary Gant
 Montana 1917 Maggie Smith Hathaway
Emma Ingalls 		1945 Ellenore Bridenstine
 Nebraska 1925* Mabel Gillespie
Clara Humphrey
Sarah Muir 		1945 Nell Krause
 Nevada 1919 Sadie Hurst 1935 Frances Friedhoff
 New Hampshire 1921 Jessie Doe
Dr. Mary Farnum 		1931 E. Maude Ferguson
 New Jersey 1921 Margaret Laird
Jennie Van Ness 		1966 Mildred Barry Hughes
 New Mexico 1923 Bertha M. Paxton 1925 Louise Holland Coe
 New York 1919 Mary Lilly
Ida Sammis 		1935 Rhoda Fox Graves
 North Carolina 1921 Lillian Clement 1931 Gertrude Dills McKee
 North Dakota 1923 Minnie Craig
Nellie Doughterty 		1951 Agnes Kjorlie Geelan
 Ohio 1923 Nettie Clapp
Lulu Gleason
Adelaide Ott
May Van Wye 		1923 Nettie Loughead
Maude Waitt
 Oklahoma 1921 Bessie S. McColgin 1921 Lamar Looney
 Oregon 1915 Marian Towne 1915 Kathryn Clarke
 Pennsylvania 1923 Alice Bentley
Rosa DeYoung
Sarah McCune Gallaher
Helen Grimes
Sarah Gertrude MacKinney
Lillie Pitts
Martha Speiser
Martha Thomas 		1925 Flora M. Vare
 Rhode Island 1923 Isabelle Ahearn O'Neill 1929 Lulu Mowry Schlesinger
 South Carolina 1945 Harriet Johnson 1929 Mary Gordon Ellis
 South Dakota 1923 Gladys Pyle 1937 Jessie Sanders
 Tennessee 1923 Marian Scudder Griffin 1921 Anna Lee Worley
 Texas 1923 Edith Wilmans 1927 Margie Neal
 Utah 1897 Sarah E. Anderson
Eurithe LaBarthe 		1896 Martha Hughes Cannon
 Vermont 1921 Edna Beard 1923 Edna Beard
 Virginia 1924 Sarah Lee Fain
Helen Henderson 		1980 Eva Mae Scott
 Washington 1913 Frances Axtell
Nena Jolidon Croake 		1923 Reba Hurn
 West Virginia 1923 Anna Johnson Gates 1934 Hazel Edna Hyre
 Wisconsin 1925 Mildred Barber
Hellen Brooks
Helen Thompson 		1975 Kathryn Morrison
 Wyoming 1911 Mary Bellamy 1931 Dora McGrath
Territories
 American Samoa 1953 Zilpher Jennings
Mabel Reid
 Guam 1955 Cynthia Torres
Lagrimas Untalan 		– Unicameral
 Puerto Rico 1933 María Luisa Arcelay De La Rosa 1937 María Martinez De Pérez Almiroty
 U.S. Virgin Islands 1953 Ann Christian Abramson – Unicameral

State Legislative Leadership

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Leadership positions at the state legislatures include senate presidents, presidents pro tempore, house speakers, majority and minority leaders of the senate and house. In 2023, women held leadership positions in 35 state senates and in 32 state houses, which corresponds to 26% of 350 positions.[21] 44 women (34D, 10R) serve in these leadership roles at State Senates and 47 (36D, 11R) serve at the State Houses.[21] Nine states (AL, IN, KY, MS, NE, SC, SD, TX, WY) have no women in leadership positions.

Current Women Speakers of State Houses

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There are 10 (9D, 1R) women currently serving as the speakers of State Houses.[22]

Cathy Tilton (R-AK)

Julie McCluskie (D-CO)

Valerie Longhurst (D-DE)

Adrienne A. Jones (D-MD)

Rachel Talbot Ross (D-ME)

Melissa Hortman (D-MN)

Julie Fahey (D-OR)

Joanna McClinton (D-PA)

Jill Krowinski (D-VT)

Laurie Jinkins (D-WA)

Current Women Presidents or Presidents Pro Tem of Senates

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There are 15 (11D, 4R) women currently serving as Presidents or Presidents Pro Tem of State Senates.[22]

Kathleen Passidomo (R-FL)

Michelle Kidani (D-HI)

Amy Sinclair (R-IA)

Regina Ashford Barrow (D-LA)

Karen Spilka (D-MA)

Ann H. Rest (D-MN)

Shirley Turner (D-NJ)

Mimi Stewart (D-NM)

Pat Spearman (D-NV)

Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-NY)

Kim L. Ward (R-PA)

Hanna M. Gallo (D-RI)

Louise Lucas (D-VA)

Karen Keiser (D-WA)

Donna J. Boley (R-WV)

Female State Legislators by Race and Ethnicity

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According to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP),[23] 99 representatives identify as Asian American/Pacific Islander, 383 identify as Black, 192 identify as Latina, 14 identify as Middle Eastern/North African, 36 identify as Native American/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian, 3 identify as Multiracial Alone, and 1735 identify as white.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Women in State Legislatures 2024. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University–New Brunswick.
  2. ^ "Women in State Legislatures 2024". cawp.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  3. ^ a b Hawes, Jennifer Berry (2024-01-11). "How Many of Your State's Lawmakers Are Women? If You Live in the Southeast, It Could Be Just 1 in 5". ProPublica. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  4. ^ "First Women to Serve in State and Territorial Legislatures". National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved 10 March 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ "House Bill 118". State of Colorado. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  6. ^ Kopel, Jerry. "Colorado Women First to Reach Statehouse". The Colorado Statesman. Archived from the original on 25 March 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  7. ^ "Education & Resources - National Women's History Museum - NWHM". www.nwhm.org. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  8. ^ Katz, Elizabeth D. (2021-07-30). "Sex, Suffrage, and State Constitutional Law: Women's Legal Right to Hold Public Office". Rochester, NY. SSRN 3896499. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ Legislatures, National Conference of State. "First Women to Serve in State and Territorial Legislatures". Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  10. ^ Legislatures, National Conference of State. "Women in State Legislatures for 2016". Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  11. ^ Legislatures, National Conference of State. "Women in State Legislatures for 2017". Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  12. ^ Women Dominate New Hampshire State Senate, NPR, November 9, 2008, 4:00 PM ET
  13. ^ "With latest appointment, women represent 50% of Oregon House". 15 June 2020.
  14. ^ "Emily Sophie Brown".
  15. ^ a b Nichols, Carole (2013-04-15). Votes and More for Women: Suffrage and After in Connecticut. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-81800-5.
  16. ^ "MRS. Lillian Mae Frink". The New York Times. 16 March 1974.
  17. ^ "Who is Mary Hooker? | Mary Hooker Magnet School".
  18. ^ Weatherford, Doris (2012-01-20). Women in American Politics: History and Milestones. SAGE. ISBN 978-1-60871-007-2.
  19. ^ https://cslib.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/singleitem/image/p15019coll2/14/default.jpg?highlightTerms=Alice Merritt [bare URL image file]
  20. ^ Women in American Politics: History and Milestones, by Doris Weatherford | "New England's first female senator was Alice Virginia Merritt of Connecticut. A Republican, she lived in the capital city, Hartford, where her husband, Joseph Merritt, founded a still extant firm specializing in blueprints. She had served as a volunteer in the Red Cross Motor Corps during World War I, meaning she was independent enough to drive at a time when most women did not. Connecticut had two-year senate terms, and Merritt was reelected in 1926. She lived until 1950."
  21. ^ a b "Women in State Legislative Leadership 2023". cawp.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
  22. ^ a b "Women in State Legislatures 2024". cawp.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  23. ^ "Women Officeholders by Race and Ethnicity". cawp.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
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