This November, voters in 36 states will pick their governors, and in a year where state leaders have been in the spotlight for addressing some of the most important problems, such as COVID-19 and abortion, a record number of women are running for the position. In the coming weeks, as the primary season comes to a close, a record number of women are gaining their party’s nomination.
In 2022, 69 women filed to run for governor, shattering the previous record of 61 established in 2018. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, which records women candidates, 23 have won their primary thus far. In 2018, 16 women won their primaries, tying the previous high achieved in 2018.
Currently, nine women serve as governors in the United States, tying the record set in 2004, and this year may surpass it.
Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics, stated that there is the possibility of 11 or 12, or even 13 women sitting as governor at any given moment. You have the capacity to surpass the mysterious nine number at which we have been stuck for so long.
The increase in the number of women winning governor’s primary is occurring in both major parties. At least 15 Democratic women have been nominated for governor, exceeding the 2018 record of 12 women. This year, Republican voters have nominated eight women for governor, breaking the previous record of five women achieved in 1986, 2006, and 2010.
Walsh noted recent Supreme Court decisions, particularly the rejection of the landmark abortion law Roe v. Wade, as evidence of a transfer in authority back to the states.
Attorney General candidate and former Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell, left, and Attorney General of Massachusetts and gubernatorial candidate Maura Healey address supporters at a canvassing start in the Mattapan neighborhood on August 6, 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts. Craig F. Walker/Boston Globe via Getty
On the campaign trail, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey unequivocally observes a heightened awareness and emphasis on state leadership. Healey is unchallenged for the Democratic nomination for governor in a state that Cook Political Report ranks as strongly Democratic. The primary election is held in September. Massachusetts has never elected a woman as governor, and current Republican governor Charlie Baker is not running for re-election.
“I believe that representation counts,” said Healey, who would not only be the first woman elected governor of the state, but also the nation’s first lesbian governor. “We will have more effective laws, regulations, and administration when people elected to serve reflect the diversity of our population more accurately.”
She remarked that women make the majority of economic decisions for their families. In light of this, she is running on a platform that emphasizes affordable housing, transportation, and childcare. As attorney general of Massachusetts, Healey was the first to implement paid parental leave.
“As a woman, I bring a unique perspective to the table to help shape policies that assist families,” added Healey. “I also contribute a perspective of understanding to the experience of exclusion.”
Similarly, Republican women are seeking to increase their presence in state government.
SEDALIA, CO – JUNE 28: Heidi Ganahl celebrates her victory in the Republican gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, June 28, 2022, during a watch party. via Getty Images: Aaron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post
Heidi Ganahl, the Republican nominee for governor in Colorado, said, “All my experience led me to the point where I had to decide how far I was willing to go to save what I believe is a country in trouble right now and the futures of our children. I didn’t want to wake up in five or ten years and regret not having done something.” “I figured, OK, I’ll run, and if they think I’m a good candidate, they’ll elect me.”
Ganahl stated that she is running as a mother concerned for her children. Despite facing incumbent Democratic Gov. Jared Polis in a race rated “solid D” by Cook Political Report, if elected, she would be the first woman to serve as Colorado’s governor.
This year not only has a record number of women running for governor, but also a record number of women running against other women at the top of the ticket. Four times in history, both major party nominees were women. This year, there are five campaigns for governor where both major party nominees are women.
It implies that in Alabama, Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, and Oregon, regardless of who wins in November, the governor will be a woman. In four of these contests, the incumbent governor is a female. Two women have been nominated to replace the vacant seat in Arizona.
Women’s presence in statewide office is increasing, but there is still a long way to go. Even if a record 13 women are elected governor in November, parity will not be reached.
Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders talks at the America First Policy Institute Agenda Summit on July 26, 2022 in Washington, DC. MANDEL NGAN/AFP courtesy of Getty Images
Throughout history, just 45 female governors have served. Nineteen states have yet to have a female governor. In Arkansas, where the Cook Political Report assesses the race as solidly Republican, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Republican nominee, is set to change that.
In Georgia, Democrat Stacey Abrams is running against Republican Governor Brian Kemp for a second time, having lost the 2018 election. Abrams remarked last week that, should she win the election in a state where Democrats won two tight Senate victories in 2021, she would not only be the first woman elected governor in Georgia, but also the first Black woman elected governor in the United States.
She tweeted, “I’m running to make history and become the first African-American woman governor in our nation’s history.” Deidre DeJear won the Democratic primary for governor in Iowa.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES – JULY 20: Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams addresses the press in Atlanta, Georgia, United States on July 20, 2022, after a judge reinstated Georgia’s abortion prohibition. Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency through the Getty Images network
“When one goes out and says, ‘This is what I want to do,’ there is a domino effect,” said Stefanie Brown James, founder of Collective PAC, an organization whose mission is to increase the number of blacks in government. “Sometimes you must see it to believe it, and then you must believe that you can accomplish it.”
Brown James believes that exposure has benefited in recent years, despite the fact that Black women face several obstacles while running for government, including racism, sexism, and a larger lack of resources, such as finance. This year, a record number of Black women filed to run for governor and for Congress.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds talks at a news conference at Iowa Spring Manufacturing on October 20, 2021 in Adel, Iowa. Charlie Neibergall / AP
Abrams’s governmental experience began in the Georgia House of Representatives. Women make up approximately 30% of state legislatures despite constituting more than half of the population. However, a number of Democratic and Republican women governors, including some incumbents running for re-election such as Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Kim Reynolds of Iowa, began their political careers there.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – AUGUST 02: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (left) interacts with volunteers during a canvass start event on the day of the Michigan Primary Election in Grand Rapids, Michigan on August 2, 2022. Bill Pugliano / Getty Images
After a substantial increase in the number of women serving in state legislatures in 2018, many more women are poised to compete for higher office.
Walsh stated, “I think that has contributed to the rise and placement of women in state legislatures and other statewide elected offices, which then positions them to make these campaigns, and I believe that is significant.”
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