Record 17 Women Set to Serve as U.S. Governors in 2027
CAWP says at least 17 women will serve as governors in 2027 after 15 wins in the 2026 midterms, a new record; Alaska and Kansas races remain uncalled.
At least 17 women will serve as U.S. governors in 2027 after Tuesday’s midterms, a new record, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, whose Nov. 5 update NBC News also reported.
CAWP said 15 women won gubernatorial contests this cycle — 12 Democrats and 3 Republicans — and two Democratic women governors whose seats were not on the ballot remain in office, bringing the projected total to 17 (14 Democrats and 3 Republicans). That would be 34% of all governors, up from 14 women (10 Democrats and 4 Republicans) serving before the election. The previous high of 14 was set in 2025 and held into 2026, CAWP said. No incumbent woman governor lost in the general election.
Firsts in Georgia, New Mexico and other states
CAWP listed several historic wins. Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, will be the first Black woman and the first woman to serve as governor of Georgia. Deb Haaland, a Democrat, will be the first Native American woman to serve as a U.S. governor, in New Mexico. Amy Acton, a Democrat, is the first woman elected governor of Ohio; Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, will be Minnesota’s first woman governor; Marsha Blackburn, a Republican, will be Tennessee’s first woman governor; and Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat, will be the first Latina to serve as governor of Texas.
NBC News highlighted Acton’s Ohio victory and Hinojosa’s Texas win among Democratic gains in races that had not been viewed as strongly competitive earlier in the cycle. The Republican women projected to hold or take seats include Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte and Tennessee Gov.-elect Blackburn, NBC reported.
Congress and open counts
CAWP separately projected a record of at least 135 women in the U.S. House and at least 158 women in the 120th Congress overall, while saying women’s Senate numbers will fall from 27 to at least 23 even if two remaining contests are resolved. Fourteen states will still never have had a woman governor once the new class takes office, the center said.
Developing: CAWP said two women remain in uncalled gubernatorial races in Alaska and Kansas; final governor totals may change when those counts are resolved.
Sources: Center for American Women and Politics, NBC News
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