Female state legislators in the United States explained

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,[1] they remain underrepresented. In 2023, women held less than half of the seats in state legislatures across the majority of states.[2] 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.

Table. US states and Washington, DC. 2023

Women in state legislatures in 2023. Party affiliations. Female/male ratios by branch. Overall ratio and percent.[3]
LocationRankSenateSenate ratioHouseHouse ratioOverall ratioOverall percent
46 3D, 1R 4/35 10D, 10R 20/105 24/140 17.1
25 2D, 3R 5/20 7D, 6R, 2Ind 15/40 20/60 33.3
2 11D, 5R 16/30 20D, 9R 29/60 45/90 50.0
43 2D, 3R 5/35 10D, 16R 26/100 31/135 23.0
11 15D, 3R 18/40 27D, 5R 32/80 50/120 41.7
3 11D, 2R 13/35 30D, 5R 35/65 48/100 48.0
16 10D, 2R 12/36 39D, 19R 58/151 70/187 37.4
20 8D, 0R 8/21 14D, 0R 14/41 22/62 35.5
12 7D, 9R 16/40 25D, 15R 50/120 66/160 41.3
21 14D, 2R 16/56 46D, 19R 65/180 81/236 34.3
18 8D, 0R 8/25 18D, 2R 20/51 28/76 36.8
30 4D, 7R 11/35 5D, 16R 21/70 32/105 30.5
10 20D, 5R 25/59 43D, 6R 49/118 74/177 41.8
38 3D, 7R 10/50 15D, 16R 31/100 41/150 27.3
35 8D, 7R 15/50 16D, 13R 29/100 44/150 29.3
32 7D, 10R 17/40 17D, 16R 33/125 50/165 30.3
31 4D, 5R 9/38 15D, 18R 33/100 42/138 30.4
42 2D, 3R 5/39 11D, 18R 29/105 34/144 23.6
7 11D, 3R 14/35 48D, 19R 67/151 81/186 43.5
9 14D, 1R 15/47 57D, 7R 64/141 79/188 42.0
29 11D, 0R 11/40 46D, 4R, 1Ind 51/160 62/200 31.0
14 12D, 3R 15/38 31D, 12R 43/110 58/148 39.2
17 19D, 3R 22/67 36D, 17R 53/134 75/201 37.3
47 2D, 7R 9/52 7D, 9R, 2Ind 18/122 27/174 15.5
36 5D, 7R 12/34 28D, 17R 45/163 57/197 28.9
26 10D, 4R 14/50 15D, 19R 34/100 48/150 32.0
19 18NP 18/49 n/a unicameral 18/49 36.7
1 9D, 4R 13/21 20D, 5R 25/42 38/63 60.3
15 7D, 5R 12/24 101D, 49R 150/400 162/424 38.2
24 8D, 2R 10/40 25D, 6R 31/80 41/120 34.2
6 10D, 1R 11/42 31D, 7R 38/70 49/112 43.8
21 17D, 3R 20/63 50D, 3R 53/150 73/213 34.3
34 13D, 4R 17/50 24D, 9R 33/120 50/170 29.4
41 1D, 7R 8/47 9D, 18R 27/94 35/141 24.8
37 3D, 5R 8/33 13D, 17R 30/99 38/132 28.8
45 5D, 5R 10/48 10D, 9R 19/101 29/149 19.5
13 7D, 2R 9/30 18D, 10R 28/60 37/90 41.1
26 8D, 9R 17/50 37D, 27R 64/203 81/253 32.0
8 14D, 2R 16/38 30D, 3R 33/75 49/113 43.4
49 1D, 3R, 1Ind 5/46 8D, 12R 20/124 25/170 14.7
39 2D, 5R 7/35 4D, 17R 21/70 28/105 26.7
48 5D, 3R 8/33 3D, 9R 12/99 20/132 15.2
33 4D, 4R 8/31 32D, 14R 46/150 54/181 29.8
40 5D, 2R 7/29 8D, 12R 20/75 27/104 26.0
5 12D, 0R 12/30 58D, 9R, 2Ind 69/150 81/180 45.0
21 11D, 3R 14/40 27D, 7R 34/100 48/140 34.3
4 15D, 5R 20/49 35D, 12R 47/98 67/147 45.6
, D.C.N/A 4D, 1Ind 5/13 n/a unicameral 5/13 38.5
50 0D, 4R 4/34 2D, 11R 13/100 17/134 12.7
28 5D, 3R 8/33 20D, 13R 33/99 41/132 31.1
44 0D, 7R 7/31 3D, 10R 13/62 20/93 21.5

Table. US territories. 2023

Note: 24 female legislators overall in Puerto Rico. Affiliations: 8 PNP, 11 PPD, 5 Third Party.[3]

US territorial legislatures in 2023. Party affiliations. Female/male ratios by branch. Overall ratio and percent.
LocationRankSenateSenate ratioHouseHouse ratioOverall ratioOverall percent
5 1Ind 1/18 1 1/21 2/39 5.1
1 4D, 2R 6/15 n/a unicameral 6/15 40.0
4 2D, 1Ind 3/9 1D, 2I 3/20 6/29 20.7
3 13Ind 13/27 n/a 11Ind 24/78 30.8
2 4D, 1Ind 5/16 n/a unicameral 5/16 31.3

History

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

List of first women to serve in state and territorial legislatures!Location!Year!House!Year!Senate
1923Hattie Hooker Wilkins1983Ann Bedsole
Frances Strong
(state)1959Helen Fischer
Dora Sweeney		1959Irene Ryan
1937Nell Scott1949Anita Garnick
1915Rachel Emma Berry1915Frances Willard Munds
1922Frances Hunt1964Dorathy Allen
1919Esto Broughton
Grace Dorris
Elizabeth Hughes
Anna Saylor		1977Rose Ann Vuich
1895Clara Cressingham
Carrie Clyde Holly
Frances Klock		1913Helen Robinson
1921Emily Sophie Brown[14]
Rev. Grace Edwards[15]
Lillian Frink[16]
Mary Hooker[17]
Helen Jewett[18] 		1925Alice Merritt[19] [20] "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."
1925Florence Hanby1947Vera Gilbride Davis
1929Edna Giles Fuller1963Beth Johnson
1923Bessie Kempton
Viola Ross Napier		1925Margaret Johnson
(state)1959Dorothy L. Devereux
Eureka Forbes		1963Patsy Mink
1925Rosalie Keliʻinoi1933Elsie Hart Wilcox
1898Clara Campbell
Hattie Noble
Mary Allen Wright		1935Margaret Bognet Pike
1923Lottie Holman O’Neill1925Florence Fifer Bohrer
1921Julia D. Nelson1943Arcada Balz
1929Carolyn Campbell Pendray1933Carolyn Campbell Pendray
1919Minnie J. Grinstead1929Patricia Solander
1922Mary Elliott Flanery1950Carolyn Moore
1940Doris Lindsey Holland
Beatrice Hawthorne Moore		1936Doris Lindsey Holland
1923Dora Pinkham1927Katharine Allen
Claire Carter
Dora Pinkham
1922Mary Risteau1935Mary Risteau
1923Sylvia Donaldson
Susan Fitzgerald		1937Sybil Holmes
1925Cora Reynolds Anderson1921Eva McCall Hamilton
1923Myrtle Cain
Sue Metzger Dickey Hough
Hannah Jensen Kempfer
Mabeth Hurd Paige		1927Laura Emelia Naplin
1924Nellie Nugent Somerville1924Carrie Belle Kearney
1923Mellcene Smith
Sarah Lucille Turner		1973Mary Gant
1917Maggie Smith Hathaway
Emma Ingalls		1945Ellenore Bridenstine
1925*Mabel Gillespie
Clara Humphrey
Sarah Muir		1945Nell Krause
1919Sadie Hurst1935Frances Friedhoff
1921Jessie Doe
Dr. Mary Farnum		1931E. Maude Ferguson
1921Margaret Laird
Jennie Van Ness		1966Mildred Barry Hughes
1923Bertha M. Paxton1925Louise Holland Coe
1919Mary Lilly
Ida Sammis		1935Rhoda Fox Graves
1921Lillian Clement1931Gertrude Dills McKee
1923Minnie Craig
Nellie Doughterty		1951Agnes Kjorlie Geelan
1923Nettie Clapp
Lulu Gleason
Adelaide Ott
May Van Wye		1923Nettie Loughead
Maude Waitt
19211921Lamar Looney
1915Marian Towne1915Kathryn Clarke
1923Alice Bentley
Rosa DeYoung
Sarah McCune Gallaher
Helen Grimes
Sarah Gertrude MacKinney
Lillie Pitts
Martha Speiser
Martha Thomas		1925Flora M. Vare
1923Isabelle Ahearn O'Neill1929Lulu Mowry Schlesinger
1945Harriet Johnson1929Mary Gordon Ellis
1923Gladys Pyle1937Jessie Sanders
1923Marian Scudder Griffin1921Anna Lee Worley
1923Edith Wilmans1927Margie Neal
1897Sarah E. Anderson
Eurithe LaBarthe		1896Martha Hughes Cannon
1921Edna Beard1923Edna Beard
1924Sarah Lee Fain
Helen Henderson		1980Eva Mae Scott
1913Frances Axtell
Nena Jolidon Croake		1923Reba Hurn
1923Anna Johnson Gates1934Hazel Edna Hyre
1925Mildred Barber
Hellen Brooks
Helen Thompson		1975Kathryn Morrison
1911Mary Bellamy1931Dora McGrath
Territories
1953Zilpher Jennings
Mabel Reid
1955Cynthia Torres
Lagrimas Untalan		–Unicameral
1933María Luisa Arcelay De La Rosa1937María Martinez De Pérez Almiroty
1953Ann Christian Abramson–Unicameral

State Legislative Leadership

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. Nine states (AL, IN, KY, MS, NE, SC, SD, TX, WY) have no women in leadership positions.

Current Women Speakers of State Houses

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

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

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

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.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Women in State Legislatures 2024 . 2024-04-30 . cawp.rutgers.edu . en.
  2. Web site: 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. . 2024-05-01 . ProPublica . en.
  3. https://cawp.rutgers.edu/facts/levels-office/state-legislature/women-state-legislatures-2024 Women in State Legislatures 2024
  4. Web site: First Women to Serve in State and Territorial Legislatures. National Conference of State Legislatures. 10 March 2013.
  5. Web site: House Bill 118. State of Colorado. 10 March 2013.
  6. Web site: Kopel. Jerry. Colorado Women First to Reach Statehouse. The Colorado Statesman. 10 March 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130325051401/http://coloradostatesman.com/kopel/colorado-women-first-reach-statehouse. 25 March 2013.
  7. Web site: Education & Resources - National Women's History Museum - NWHM. www.nwhm.org. en. 2017-08-11.
  8. Katz. Elizabeth D.. 2021-07-30. Sex, Suffrage, and State Constitutional Law: Women's Legal Right to Hold Public Office. en. Rochester, NY. 3896499.
  9. Web site: First Women to Serve in State and Territorial Legislatures. National Conference of State. Legislatures. 27 February 2017.
  10. Web site: Women in State Legislatures for 2016. Legislatures. National Conference of State. 27 February 2017.
  11. Web site: Women in State Legislatures for 2017. Legislatures. National Conference of State. 27 February 2017.
  12. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96799349 Women Dominate New Hampshire State Senate
  13. Web site: With latest appointment, women represent 50% of Oregon House. 15 June 2020 .
  14. Web site: Emily Sophie Brown.
  15. Book: Nichols, Carole . Votes and More for Women: Suffrage and After in Connecticut . 2013-04-15 . Routledge . 978-1-135-81800-5 . en.
  16. News: MRS. Lillian Mae Frink. The New York Times. 16 March 1974.
  17. Web site: Who is Mary Hooker? | Mary Hooker Magnet School.
  18. Book: Weatherford, Doris . Women in American Politics: History and Milestones . 2012-01-20 . SAGE . 978-1-60871-007-2 . en.
  19. https://cslib.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/singleitem/image/p15019coll2/14/default.jpg?highlightTerms=Alice%20Merritt
  20. Women in American Politics: History and Milestones, by Doris Weatherford
  21. Web site: Women in State Legislative Leadership 2023 . 2024-05-21 . cawp.rutgers.edu . en.
  22. Web site: Women in State Legislatures 2024 . 2024-04-30 . cawp.rutgers.edu . en.
  23. Web site: Women Officeholders by Race and Ethnicity . 2024-04-30 . cawp.rutgers.edu . en.

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