Women set nominee records in governor and state legislature races, Rutgers data show

Rutgers University's Center for American Women and Politics reported record numbers of women nominated for governor and state legislatures ahead of the November 3 US midterm elections. Its September 29 tally counted 26 women nominated for governor and 3,794 for state legislatures. The figures show who reached the ballot, rather than who will win office.

The governor total surpassed the previous high of 25, set in 2022, by one. CAWP said it had revised its 2026 count down from 27 after Candi English was removed from Alaska's top-four nominees in its nonpartisan primary. The revision matters when comparing a narrow record with earlier elections: the published count is 26.

How the governor nominee record breaks down

Of the 26 women nominated for governor, 19 were Democrats and seven were Republicans, CAWP reported. The Democratic figure surpassed that party's previous record of 16 in 2022. The Republican figure remained below its record of nine, also set in 2022. Across the races CAWP counted, women made up 35.1% of gubernatorial nominees.

The party shares differed sharply. Women accounted for 52.8% of Democratic gubernatorial nominees and 18.4% of Republican nominees. Those percentages describe this year's nominees, not the composition of the governorships after the election. A record number of candidates reaching the general election ballot therefore cannot, by itself, establish a record number of women taking office.

State legislature nominations reached a new high

The figures provide a broader picture than a single high-profile race. They show more women reaching state legislative ballots than in CAWP's earlier comparisons, even as the Republican total remains below its prior peak. Whether that larger group produces more elected lawmakers depends on results that were still ahead when CAWP issued the tally.

Congressional nominee totals tell a different story

The Senate figure was below earlier highs. CAWP counted 19 women among Senate nominees, or 26.8% of the total, compared with 23 in 2018 and 21 in 2024. Ten Democratic women were nominated, below their party record of 15. Nine Republican women matched the Republican record set in 2020.

For the US House, CAWP counted 271 women nominees, representing 31.8% of the total. That was more than the 259 counted in 2024, but fewer than the record 298 in 2020. The 198 Democratic women nominees made up 45.5% of that party's House nominees and remained below its record of 204. The 73 Republican women nominees made up 17.6% of Republican House nominees, below their record of 94.

An August CAWP release measured an earlier stage of the House race: 590 women had filed to run, exceeding the previous filing record of 583 set in 2020 and matched in 2022. The 2024 filing total was 467. Filing to run and becoming a nominee are different steps, so the August figure cannot be read as the number of women who reached the November ballot.

Why nominee records may not translate into seats

In a Deutsche Welle report published October 10, CAWP research director Kelly Dittmar described structural rules, expensive campaigns and access to donor networks as barriers to women entering politics. She said support organizations that recruit, train and fund women candidates are largely Democratic-aligned or nonpartisan, and described support for Republican women as less robust. Those are her explanations of the political landscape; the nominee figures do not measure the causal effect of any one barrier.

CAWP warned that its nominee figures could change before Election Day and directed readers to its candidate data for updates. Its September briefing said most primaries were complete, but Louisiana still had an Election Day House jungle primary. The outstanding nomination process and the November 3 voting leave two separate questions open: whether the final nominee totals change and how many women are ultimately elected.