Data on 2022 Women Candidates by Race and Ethnicity

LAST UPDATED: December 28th at 8:00am ET

The 2022 midterms have led to some new records for women candidates for the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and governor in various race and ethnicity groups, according to an analysis of candidate filings from CAWP. Asian American/Pacific Islander, Black, Latina/Hispanic, and white women have all set new candidacy records this year, though not at all levels of office.

CAWP began collecting data on candidate race in 2004 using a system of self-identification for candidate race and ethnicity determination. Because this data relies primarily on candidate response to CAWP’s self-ID query and our queries occasionally go unanswered, there remain a small number of candidates for whom we were unable to determine racial identification. This is alluded to when we say “at least” preceding a reported figure below. Additionally, because candidates may, for various reasons, exit political races and no longer appear on ballots, these numbers can change slightly moving forward. Note that these counts include all major-party candidates who have filed to run for office and appeared on a ballot. CAWP will provide data on nominees - those candidates who appear on general election ballots - once the primaries have concluded. 

Beginning this year, CAWP no longer reports an aggregate number of “women of color” in our data collections on candidates and officeholders and instead provides disaggregated data for all women by race and ethnicity. This change was guided by our desire to move away from treatment of women as monolithic and challenge the centering of whiteness as a default racial/ethnic category. Of particular note here, because multiracial women are included in counts for each group with which they identify, adding the numbers below will not yield the total number of women of color running for various offices in this year’s midterms.

The numbers reported here reflect total filed major-party candidates, inclusive of women who have already won or lost primaries, as well as those with primaries still to come. They do not include candidates for non-voting positions to the U.S. House.

This page will update as new information becomes available.

• Asian American/Pacific Islander women have set new records as candidates for governor, but not for the U.S. Senate or U.S. House, in 2022.
  • At least 30 (16D, 14R) Asian American/Pacific Islander women are major-party candidates for the U.S. House. This is short of the previous record of 40, set in 2020.
  • At least 2 (1D, 1R) Asian American/Pacific Islander women are major-party candidates for the U.S. Senate. This is short of the previous record of 3.
  • At least 5 (3D, 2R) Asian American/Pacific Islander women are major-party candidates for governor. This is a new record.
• Black women have set new records as candidates for the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and governor in 2022.
  • At least 134 (105D, 29R) Black women are major-party candidates for the U.S. House. This is a new record.
  • At least 22 (16D, 6R) Black women are major-party candidates for the U.S. Senate. This is a new record.
  • At least 12 (11D, 1R) Black women are major-party candidates for governor. This is a new record.
• Latina/Hispanic women have set new records as candidates for the U.S. House and governor, but not for U.S. Senate, in 2022.
  • At least 85 (43D, 42R) Latina/Hispanic women are major-party candidates for the U.S. House. This is a new record.
  • At least 3 (1D, 2R) Latina/Hispanic women are major-party candidates for the U.S. Senate. This matches the previous record of 3, set in 2020.  
  • At least 6 (4D, 2R) Latina/Hispanic women are major-party candidates for governor. This is a new record.
• Middle Eastern/North African women candidates for the U.S. House are lower in 2022 than in 2020. Our data collection on MENA women begins in 2018, limiting our ability to make historical comparisons.
  • At least 7 (3D, 4R) Middle Eastern/North African women are major-party candidates for the U.S. House. This is short of the 16 Middle Eastern/North African women candidates for the U.S. House in 2020.
  • At least 1 (D) Middle Eastern/North African woman is a major-party candidate for the U.S. Senate.
  • No Middle Eastern/North African women are major-party candidates for governor.
• Native American/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian women candidates remain low in 2022, but historical comparisons are difficult due to CAWP’s expansion of coding in this category. 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.
  • At least 17 (11D, 6R) Native American/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian women are major-party candidates for the U.S. House.
    • Note: We are aware that Representative Yvette Herrell is identified elsewhere as being of Native American heritage and as a member of the Cherokee Nation. She has provided her self-identification with us as white alone and, as such, is not counted here.
  • At least 3 (1D, 2R) Native American/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian women are major-party candidates for the U.S. Senate.
  • At least 4 (1D, 3R) Native American/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian women are major-party candidates for governor.
• White women have set new records as candidates for governor, but not for the U.S. Senate or U.S. House, in 2022.
  • At least 321 (155D, 166R) white women are major-party candidates for the U.S. House. This is short of the previous high of 350, set in 2020.
  • At least 39 (13D, 26R) white women are major-party candidates for the U.S. Senate. This is short of the previous high of 42, set in 2020.
  • At least 49 (16D, 33R) white women are major-party candidates for governor. This is a new record.

In addition to these women candidates, 4 (3D, 1R) women candidates for the U.S. House and 1 (1R) woman candidate for the U.S. Senate have self-identified as multiracial alone and are not included in any counts above.