List of female governors in the United States

As of January 2021, 43 women have served or are serving as the governor of a U.S. state (two acting governors due to vacancies) and three women have served or are serving as the governor of an unincorporated U.S. territory. Two women have served or are serving as Mayor of the District of Columbia. Currently, nine women are serving as governors of U.S. states, along with the Mayor of the District of Columbia Muriel Bowser and territorial governor Lou Leon Guerrero of Guam.

Incumbent U.S. governors by sex:

  female

  male

Number of female governors by U.S. state or territory (past and present):

  0

  1

  2

  3

  4 or more

History

The first woman to act as governor was Carolyn B. Shelton, who served as Acting Governor of Oregon for one weekend – 9 a.m. Saturday, February 27, through 10 a.m. Monday, March 1, 1909. The outgoing governor, George Earle Chamberlain, had been elected to the U.S. Senate and had to leave for Washington, D.C. before his term was over; the incoming governor, Frank W. Benson, had gotten sick and could not assume office early. Chamberlain left Shelton, his secretary, in charge for the weekend.[1] It was another three and a half years before women were allowed to vote in Oregon.[2][lower-alpha 1]

The first woman to be acting governor to be entrusted with substantial duties while in office was Soledad Chávez de Chacón, who held the powers and duties of Governor of New Mexico for two weeks in 1924 while Governor James F. Hinkle attended the Democratic Convention in New York. Lieutenant Governor José A. Baca had died unexpectedly in May, so Chacón, the Secretary of State, filled the position. Chacón said she believed that her 1924 elevation was the first time in the U.S. that a woman had been called on to assume the responsibilities of governor.[4]

The first woman to assume office as governor pursuant to a special election was Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming (widow of late Governor William B. Ross, served January 1923 to October 1924), who was elected on November 4, 1924, and sworn in on January 5, 1925.[5] Wyoming was the first state to provide women's suffrage[6] after New Jersey had abolished it in 1807. Elected on the November 3, 1924 general election, and sworn in on January 20, 1925, was Miriam A. Ferguson of Texas, whose husband, Governor James Edward Ferguson, had previously held the office but been impeached and removed from office in 1917.[7] The first woman elected governor without being the wife or widow of a past state governor was Ella T. Grasso of Connecticut, elected in 1974 and sworn in on January 8, 1975.[8]

To date, no woman has ever changed parties during her gubernatorial term, been elected as a third party member or an independent, or, after resigning from the governorship, been appointed to the United States Senate by her successor.

Demographics

Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut and New Mexico are the only four states to have elected women as governors from both major parties. Arizona was the first state where a woman followed another woman as governor (they were from different parties). Arizona also has had the most with a total of four, and is the first state to have three women in a row serve as governor.

A record nine out of 50 state governorships have been held by women since Kristi Noem was inaugurated as governor of South Dakota on January 5, 2019. This ties a record previously met on two occasions: first, between December 4, 2006, when Sarah Palin was inaugurated as governor of Alaska, and January 14, 2008, when Kathleen Blanco left office as governor of Louisiana, and second, between January 10, 2009, when Beverly Perdue was inaugurated as governor of North Carolina, and January 20, 2009, when Ruth Ann Minner retired as governor of Delaware. Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, though not states, have also had woman as chief executives: Sila María Calderón and Wanda Vázquez Garced of Puerto Rico and Sharon Pratt Kelly and Muriel Bowser of DC. Additionally, Lou Leon Guerrero has served as the governor of Guam since January 2019.

As of 2021, a total of 20 states have never had a woman as governor. Those states are: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Six states (Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Tennessee and Utah) have never seen a major party nominate a woman in a gubernatorial election, although nine consecutive lieutenant governors have been women in Minnesota, from 1983 to the present day.[9]

Three women of color has been state governors: Susana Martinez and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico (both Hispanic) and Nikki Haley of South Carolina (Asian American). Martinez and Haley are both Republican; Lujan Grisham is a Democrat. Additionally, all five women who governed an insular area have been of an ethnic minority group: Sharon Pratt and Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C. (both African American), Sila María Calderón and Wanda Vázquez Garced of Puerto Rico (both Hispanic) and Lou Leon Guerrero of Guam (Pacific Islander), all Democratic, with the exception of Vázquez Garced, who is a Republican.

State governors

Portrait	Name (lifespan)	State	Term start	Term end	Party	Notes	Departure	Ref
	Nellie Ross (1876–1977)	Wyoming	January 5, 1925	January 3, 1927	Democratic	Widow of Governor William B. Ross. First and only woman as Governor of Wyoming. First woman elected in a special election.	Lost reelection	[10]
	Miriam A. Ferguson (1875–1961)	Texas	January 20, 1925	January 17, 1927	Democratic	Wife of Governor James E. Ferguson. First woman as Governor of Texas. First woman elected in a general election.	Retired	[11]
			January 17, 1933	January 15, 1935			Retired
	Lurleen Wallace (1926–1968)	Alabama	January 16, 1967	May 7, 1968	Democratic	Wife of Governor George Wallace. First woman as Governor of Alabama. First and only woman to die in office as governor.	Died in office
	Ella T. Grasso (1919–1981)	Connecticut	January 8, 1975	December 31, 1980	Democratic	First woman elected not a wife or widow of a previous governor. First woman as Governor of Connecticut. First woman to resign as governor, due to terminal ovarian cancer.	Resigned	[12]
	Dixy Lee Ray (1914–1994)	Washington	January 12, 1977	January 14, 1981	Democratic	First woman as Governor of Washington.	Lost renomination	[13]
	Martha Collins (born 1936)	Kentucky	December 13, 1983	December 8, 1987	Democratic	First and only woman as Governor of Kentucky.	Term-limited	[14]
	Madeleine Kunin (born 1933)	Vermont	January 10, 1985	January 10, 1991	Democratic	First and only woman as Governor of Vermont. First foreign-born woman as governor	Retired	[15]
	Kay A. Orr (born 1939)	Nebraska	January 9, 1987	January 9, 1991	Republican	First Republican woman elected to a governorship.[lower-alpha 2] First woman elected to a governorship over another woman nominated by a major party. First and only woman as Governor of Nebraska.	Lost reelection	[16]
	Rose Mofford (1922–2016)	Arizona	April 4, 1988	March 6, 1991	Democratic	First woman as Governor of Arizona. Elevated from Secretary of State.	Retired	[17]
	Joan Finney (1925–2001)	Kansas	January 14, 1991	January 9, 1995	Democratic	First woman as Governor of Kansas. First woman to defeat an incumbent governor in a general election.	Retired	[18]
	Barbara Roberts (born 1936)	Oregon	January 14, 1991	January 9, 1995	Democratic	First woman as Governor of Oregon.	Retired
	Ann Richards (1933–2006)	Texas	January 15, 1991	January 17, 1995	Democratic		Lost reelection	[19]
	Christine Todd Whitman (born 1946)	New Jersey	January 18, 1994	January 31, 2001	Republican	First and only woman as Governor of New Jersey. First Republican woman to defeat an incumbent governor in a general election.	Resigned to become EPA Administrator	[20]
	Jeanne Shaheen (born 1947)	New Hampshire	January 9, 1997	January 9, 2003	Democratic	First woman elected Governor of New Hampshire.[lower-alpha 2]	Retired	[22][23]
	Jane Dee Hull (1935–2020)	Arizona	September 5, 1997	January 6, 2003	Republican	Elevated from Secretary of State. Later elected in her own right.	Term-limited
	Nancy Hollister (born 1949)	Ohio	December 31, 1998	January 11, 1999	Republican	First and only woman as Governor of Ohio. Elevated from Lieutenant Governor.	Term ended
	Judy Martz (1943–2017)	Montana	January 1, 2001	January 3, 2005	Republican	First and only woman as Governor of Montana.	Retired
	Ruth Ann Minner (born 1935)	Delaware	January 3, 2001	January 20, 2009	Democratic	First and only woman as Governor of Delaware.	Term-limited
	Jane Swift (born 1965)	Massachusetts	April 10, 2001	January 2, 2003	Republican	First and only woman as Governor of Massachusetts. Elevated to acting governor while Lieutenant Governor. First to give birth while in office.[24]	Retired
	Linda Lingle (born 1953)	Hawaii	December 2, 2002	December 6, 2010	Republican	First and only woman as Governor of Hawaii.	Term-limited
	Jennifer Granholm (born 1959)	Michigan	January 1, 2003	January 1, 2011	Democratic	First woman as Governor of Michigan.	Term-limited
	Janet Napolitano (born 1957)	Arizona	January 6, 2003	January 21, 2009	Democratic	First woman to succeed another woman	Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security
	Kathleen Sebelius (born 1948)	Kansas	January 13, 2003	April 28, 2009	Democratic		Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
	Olene Walker (1930–2015)	Utah	November 5, 2003	January 3, 2005	Republican	First and only woman as Governor of Utah. Elevated from Lieutenant Governor.	Lost nomination for full term
	Kathleen Blanco (1942–2019)	Louisiana	January 12, 2004	January 14, 2008	Democratic	First and only woman as Governor of Louisiana.	Retired
	Jodi Rell (born 1946)	Connecticut	July 1, 2004	January 5, 2011	Republican	Elevated from Lieutenant Governor. Later elected in her own right.	Retired
	Christine Gregoire (born 1947)	Washington	January 12, 2005	January 16, 2013	Democratic		Retired
	Sarah Palin (born 1964)	Alaska	December 4, 2006	July 26, 2009	Republican	First and only woman as Governor of Alaska	Resigned
	Bev Perdue (born 1947)	North Carolina	January 10, 2009	January 5, 2013	Democratic	First and only woman as Governor of North Carolina.	Retired
	Jan Brewer (born 1944)	Arizona	January 21, 2009	January 5, 2015	Republican	Elevated from Secretary of State. Later elected in her own right.	Term-limited
	Susana Martinez (born 1959)	New Mexico	January 1, 2011	January 1, 2019	Republican	First woman as Governor of New Mexico.	Term-limited
	Mary Fallin (born 1954)	Oklahoma	January 10, 2011	January 14, 2019	Republican	First and only woman as Governor of Oklahoma.	Term-limited
	Nikki Haley (born 1972)	South Carolina	January 12, 2011	January 24, 2017	Republican	First and only woman as Governor of South Carolina. First Asian American woman serving as governor.	Resigned to become U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
	Maggie Hassan (born 1958)	New Hampshire	January 3, 2013	January 2, 2017	Democratic		Resigned to become a U.S. Senator
	Gina Raimondo (born 1971)	Rhode Island	January 6, 2015	Incumbent	Democratic	First woman as Governor of Rhode Island.	Serving	[25]
	Kate Brown (born 1960)	Oregon	February 18, 2015	Incumbent	Democratic	First openly bisexual governor and first openly LGBT elected governor. Elevated from Secretary of State. Later elected in her own right.	Serving
	Kay Ivey (born 1944)	Alabama	April 10, 2017	Incumbent	Republican	Elevated from Lieutenant Governor. Later elected in her own right.	Serving	[26]
	Kim Reynolds (born 1959)	Iowa	May 24, 2017	Incumbent	Republican	First woman as Governor of Iowa. Elevated from Lieutenant Governor. Later elected in her own right.	Serving	[27]
	Gretchen Whitmer (born 1971)	Michigan	January 1, 2019	Incumbent	Democratic		Serving
	Michelle Lujan Grisham (born 1959)	New Mexico	January 1, 2019	Incumbent	Democratic		Serving
	Janet Mills (born 1947)	Maine	January 2, 2019	Incumbent	Democratic	First woman as Governor of Maine.	Serving
	Kristi Noem (born 1971)	South Dakota	January 5, 2019	Incumbent	Republican	First woman as Governor of South Dakota.	Serving
	Laura Kelly (born 1950)	Kansas	January 14, 2019	Incumbent	Democratic		Serving

Territories and the District of Columbia

Portrait	Name (lifespan)	Jurisdiction	Term start	Term end	Party	Notes	Departure
	Sharon Pratt (born 1944)	District of Columbia	January 2, 1991	January 2, 1995	Democratic	First African American woman elected mayor of a major city. First woman as Mayor of the District of Columbia.	Lost renomination
	Sila Calderón (born 1942)	Puerto Rico	January 2, 2001	January 2, 2005	Popular Democratic/ Democratic	First woman as Governor of Puerto Rico. First Hispanic American woman as governor.	Retired
	Muriel Bowser (born 1972)	District of Columbia	January 2, 2015	Incumbent	Democratic		Serving
	Lou Leon Guerrero (born 1950)	Guam	January 7, 2019	Incumbent	Democratic	First and only woman as Governor of Guam. First Pacific Islander American woman as governor.	Serving
	Wanda Vázquez Garced (born 1960)	Puerto Rico	August 7, 2019	January 2, 2021	New Progressive/ Republican	Elevated from Secretary of Justice when Pedro Pierluisi was removed quo warranto.	Lost renomination

Timeline of women serving as governors

Governors who have been pregnant while in office
Governor	State	Date of delivery	Mother's age	Notes
Jane Swift	Massachusetts	May 14, 2001	36	First sitting governor to give birth while in office. Gave birth to twin girls one month into her term of office[28]
Sarah Palin	Alaska	April 18, 2008	44	Gave birth to son, Trig while in office. [29]

See also

• List of first gentlemen in the United States
• List of female lieutenant governors in the United States

Notes

1. Chamberlain and Shelton married each other 17 years later.[3]
2. Vesta M. Roy served as Acting Governor of New Hampshire from December 29, 1982 to January 6, 1983.[21]

References

1. Long, James Andrew (1994). Oregon Firsts: Past and Present. North Plains, Ore.: Oregon Firsts Media. p. 57. ISBN 1-882635-00-0.
2. Kessler, Lauren (1983). "The Ideas of Woman Suffrage and the Mainstream Press". Oregon Historical Quarterly. 84: 257–76.
3. "Milestones: Jul. 26, 1926". Time. July 26, 1926. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
4. Albuquerque Journal, October 24, 2010, reporting on an article from Albuquerque Morning Journal, June 21, 1924.
5. "Today in History". Library of Congress. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
6. Lasky, Mandy (October 12, 2019). "How Nellie Tayloe Ross became the nation's first female governor". Casper Star-Tribune.
7. "Governors of Texas, 1846–present". Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
8. "Ella Grasso: First Woman Elected State Governor". Essortment. May 16, 1986. Archived from the original on March 28, 2010. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
9. "Minnesota: Where Female Lieutenant Governors Reign | Smart Politics". editions.lib.umn.edu. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
10. Rea, Tom. "The Ambition of Nellie Tayloe Ross". Wyoming State Historical Society. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
11. Huddlston, D. John (June 12, 2010). "Ferguson, Miriam Amanda Wallace [Ma]". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
12. Wald, Matthew L. (February 6, 1981). "Ex-Gov. Grasso of Connecticut Dead of Cancer". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
13. "From Mt. Rainier to the Governorship of Washington, Dixy Lee Ray Was a Climber". American Association of University Women. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
14. Crawford, Allison (March 29, 2016). "Former Kentucky Governor Martha Layne Collins Partners with Baptist Health Paducah". Retrieved January 20, 2017.
15. "Once a Refugee from Nazi Europe, Madeleine Kunin Takes Charge as Vermont's First Woman Governor – Vol. 23 No. 13". People. April 1, 1985. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
16. Hickey, Donald R.; Wunder, Susan A.; Wunder, John R. (January 1, 2007). Nebraska Moments. U of Nebraska Press. p. 340. ISBN 978-0803215726.
17. Bland, Karina; Harris, Craig (September 16, 2016). "Rose Mofford, first woman to serve as Arizona governor, has died". azcentral. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
18. Myers, By Roger (July 29, 2001). "Trailblazer did it her way". cjonline.com. Archived from the original on August 1, 2001. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
19. Ratcliffe, R.G.; Kilday, Ann Marie (September 13, 2006). "Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards dies at 73". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
20. "Governor Christine Todd Whitman Gubernatorial Timeline". Rutgers.edu. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
21. "Vesta Roy, 76, New Hampshire Ex-Governor". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 22, 2002. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
22. "Gov. Jeanne Shaheen". NGA.org. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
23. "Granite State Stories: Jeanne Shaheen is first woman elected governor of New Hampshire". Concord Monitor. September 28, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
24. "Swift's Unusual Ride to the Governor's Office". Boston Globe. April 8, 2001. Retrieved October 3, 2008.
25. Herbst-Bayliss, Sva (November 4, 2014). "Democrat Gina Raimondo becomes Rhode Island's first female governor". Reuters. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
26. NBC, AP. "New Information: Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey sworn in as Alabama's 54th governor". Retrieved April 11, 2017.
27. Noble, Jason (May 24, 2017). "Kim Reynolds becomes Iowa's first female governor". Des Moines Register. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
28. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
29. "Palin confirms baby has Down syndrome (04/21/08): Gov. Sarah Palin family - adn.com". September 20, 2010. Archived from the original on September 20, 2010.

External link

• "History of Women Governors" Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey