State Legislature

Women in State Legislatures 2024

Women in State Legislative Leadership 2024

Women as a Percentage of State Legislative Caucuses

State-by-state data on women as a percentage of Democratic and Republican state legislators.

Representativeness of Women State Legislators by Race/Ethnicity and State

State-by-state data on women’s state legislative representation by race/ethnicity compared to women’s representation in the population by race/ethnicity.  

Fact Sheet Archive on Women in State Legislatures (1977-present)

Women in State Legislative Elections: Historical State-by-State Summary

Historical information on women in State Legislative elections by state.

  • Women’s Election to Office in the Fifty States: Opportunities and Challenges

    by Kira Sanbonmatsu
    Book chapter in Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics,
    Eds. Susan J. Carroll, CAWP, Rutgers University and Richard L. Fox, Union College, New York
    Cambridge University Press, 2013 Third Edition, pp. 265-287.

    Discussion of the barriers and opportunities women face in seeking state legislative and statewide executive office and the differences across states in women's officeholding. Party is a key factor in understanding women's candidacies and women's representation. 

    Book Chapter
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    Political Parties
    Candidates and Campaigns
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    State Legislature
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  • More Women Can Run: Gender and Pathways to the State Legislatures

    by Susan Carroll and Kira Sanbonmatsu
    Oxford University Press, September 2013, 176 pages

    Analyzing nationwide surveys of state legislators conducted by CAWP, More Women Can Run challenges assumptions of a single model of candidate emergence with a relationally embedded model of candidacy. It reorients research on women's election to office and offers strategies for political practitioners concerned about women's political equality. Video of a book talk given by Carroll and Sanbonmatsu available here. 

    Book
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Candidate Recruitment
    State Legislature
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  • Women in State Government: Historical Patterns, Recent Trends, Future Prospects

    by Susan J. Carroll 
    Chapter in The Book of the States, edited by The Council of State Governments, 2013

    The movement of women into state-level offices has slowed in recent years after several decades of gains, and following the 2012 elections, the numbers of women in both state legislative and executive branch offices increased only slightly. Efforts to actively recruit women for elected and appointed positions will be critical in determining what the future holds for women in state government.

    Book Chapter
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    State Legislature
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