# Female state legislators in the United States

Women have served in state legislatures in the United States since 1895. Their ranks have increased with the advent of nationwide women's suffrage after 1920. Although the number of women serving in state legislatures has more than quintupled since 1971, they remain underrepresented. In 2023, women held less than half of the seats in state legislatures across the majority of states. Specifically, seven states —Oklahoma (19.2%), Louisiana (19.4%), Alabama (17.4%), South Carolina (14.8%), Mississippi (14.5%), Tennessee (14.4%), and West Virginia (11.9%)— had legislatures where women occupied less than 20% of the seats.

## Table. US states and Washington, DC. 2023

* Rank is by overall percent. D.C. is not ranked. Duplicate ranks if same overall percent.
* D is Democrat. R is Republican. Ind is Independent. NP is non-partisan.
* Location links are for "Politics of LOCATION" or "Government of LOCATION" links.
Women in state legislatures in 2023. Party affiliations. Female/male ratios by branch. Overall ratio and percent. :
| Location | Rank | Senate | Senate ratio | House | House ratio | Overall ratio | Overall percent |
| Alabama | 46 | 3D, 1R | 4/35 | 10D, 10R | 20/105 | 24/140 | 17.1 |
| Alaska | 25 | 2D, 3R | 5/20 | 7D, 6R, 2Ind | 15/40 | 20/60 | 33.3 |
| Arizona | 2 | 11D, 5R | 16/30 | 20D, 9R | 29/60 | 45/90 | 50.0 |
| Arkansas | 43 | 2D, 3R | 5/35 | 10D, 16R | 26/100 | 31/135 | 23.0 |
| California | 11 | 15D, 3R | 18/40 | 27D, 5R | 32/80 | 50/120 | 41.7 |
| Colorado | 3 | 11D, 2R | 13/35 | 30D, 5R | 35/65 | 48/100 | 48.0 |
| Connecticut | 16 | 10D, 2R | 12/36 | 39D, 19R | 58/151 | 70/187 | 37.4 |
| Delaware | 20 | 8D, 0R | 8/21 | 14D, 0R | 14/41 | 22/62 | 35.5 |
| Florida | 12 | 7D, 9R | 16/40 | 25D, 15R | 50/120 | 66/160 | 41.3 |
| Georgia | 21 | 14D, 2R | 16/56 | 46D, 19R | 65/180 | 81/236 | 34.3 |
| Hawaii | 18 | 8D, 0R | 8/25 | 18D, 2R | 20/51 | 28/76 | 36.8 |
| Idaho | 30 | 4D, 7R | 11/35 | 5D, 16R | 21/70 | 32/105 | 30.5 |
| Illinois | 10 | 20D, 5R | 25/59 | 43D, 6R | 49/118 | 74/177 | 41.8 |
| Indiana | 38 | 3D, 7R | 10/50 | 15D, 16R | 31/100 | 41/150 | 27.3 |
| Iowa | 35 | 8D, 7R | 15/50 | 16D, 13R | 29/100 | 44/150 | 29.3 |
| Kansas | 32 | 7D, 10R | 17/40 | 17D, 16R | 33/125 | 50/165 | 30.3 |
| Kentucky | 31 | 4D, 5R | 9/38 | 15D, 18R | 33/100 | 42/138 | 30.4 |
| Louisiana | 42 | 2D, 3R | 5/39 | 11D, 18R | 29/105 | 34/144 | 23.6 |
| Maine | 7 | 11D, 3R | 14/35 | 48D, 19R | 67/151 | 81/186 | 43.5 |
| Maryland | 9 | 14D, 1R | 15/47 | 57D, 7R | 64/141 | 79/188 | 42.0 |
| Massa­chusetts | 29 | 11D, 0R | 11/40 | 46D, 4R, 1Ind | 51/160 | 62/200 | 31.0 |
| Michigan | 14 | 12D, 3R | 15/38 | 31D, 12R | 43/110 | 58/148 | 39.2 |
| Minnesota | 17 | 19D, 3R | 22/67 | 36D, 17R | 53/134 | 75/201 | 37.3 |
| Mississippi | 47 | 2D, 7R | 9/52 | 7D, 9R, 2Ind | 18/122 | 27/174 | 15.5 |
| Missouri | 36 | 5D, 7R | 12/34 | 28D, 17R | 45/163 | 57/197 | 28.9 |
| Montana | 26 | 10D, 4R | 14/50 | 15D, 19R | 34/100 | 48/150 | 32.0 |
| Nebraska | 19 | 18NP | 18/49 | n/a | uni­cameral | 18/49 | 36.7 |
| Nevada | 1 | 9D, 4R | 13/21 | 20D, 5R | 25/42 | 38/63 | 60.3 |
| New Hampshire | 15 | 7D, 5R | 12/24 | 101D, 49R | 150/400 | 162/424 | 38.2 |
| New Jersey | 24 | 8D, 2R | 10/40 | 25D, 6R | 31/80 | 41/120 | 34.2 |
| New Mexico | 6 | 10D, 1R | 11/42 | 31D, 7R | 38/70 | 49/112 | 43.8 |
| New York | 21 | 17D, 3R | 20/63 | 50D, 3R | 53/150 | 73/213 | 34.3 |
| North Carolina | 34 | 13D, 4R | 17/50 | 24D, 9R | 33/120 | 50/170 | 29.4 |
| North Dakota | 41 | 1D, 7R | 8/47 | 9D, 18R | 27/94 | 35/141 | 24.8 |
| Ohio | 37 | 3D, 5R | 8/33 | 13D, 17R | 30/99 | 38/132 | 28.8 |
| Oklahoma | 45 | 5D, 5R | 10/48 | 10D, 9R | 19/101 | 29/149 | 19.5 |
| Oregon | 13 | 7D, 2R | 9/30 | 18D, 10R | 28/60 | 37/90 | 41.1 |
| Pennsylvania | 26 | 8D, 9R | 17/50 | 37D, 27R | 64/203 | 81/253 | 32.0 |
| Rhode Island | 8 | 14D, 2R | 16/38 | 30D, 3R | 33/75 | 49/113 | 43.4 |
| South Carolina | 49 | 1D, 3R, 1Ind | 5/46 | 8D, 12R | 20/124 | 25/170 | 14.7 |
| South Dakota | 39 | 2D, 5R | 7/35 | 4D, 17R | 21/70 | 28/105 | 26.7 |
| Tennessee | 48 | 5D, 3R | 8/33 | 3D, 9R | 12/99 | 20/132 | 15.2 |
| Texas | 33 | 4D, 4R | 8/31 | 32D, 14R | 46/150 | 54/181 | 29.8 |
| Utah | 40 | 5D, 2R | 7/29 | 8D, 12R | 20/75 | 27/104 | 26.0 |
| Vermont | 5 | 12D, 0R | 12/30 | 58D, 9R, 2Ind | 69/150 | 81/180 | 45.0 |
| Virginia | 21 | 11D, 3R | 14/40 | 27D, 7R | 34/100 | 48/140 | 34.3 |
| Washington | 4 | 15D, 5R | 20/49 | 35D, 12R | 47/98 | 67/147 | 45.6 |
| Washington, D.C. | N/A | 4D, 1Ind | 5/13 | n/a | uni­cameral | 5/13 | 38.5 |
| West Virginia | 50 | 0D, 4R | 4/34 | 2D, 11R | 13/100 | 17/134 | 12.7 |
| Wisconsin | 28 | 5D, 3R | 8/33 | 20D, 13R | 33/99 | 41/132 | 31.1 |
| Wyoming | 44 | 0D, 7R | 7/31 | 3D, 10R | 13/62 | 20/93 | 21.5 |

## Table. US territories. 2023

Note: 24 female legislators overall in Puerto Rico. Affiliations: 8 PNP, 11 PPD, 5 Third Party.
US territorial legislatures in 2023. Party affiliations. Female/male ratios by branch. Overall ratio and percent. :
| Location | Rank | Senate | Senate ratio | House | House ratio | Overall ratio | Overall percent |
| American Samoa | 5 | 1Ind | 1/18 | 1 | 1/21 | 2/39 | 5.1 |
| Guam | 1 | 4D, 2R | 6/15 | n/a | uni­cameral | 6/15 | 40.0 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 4 | 2D, 1Ind | 3/9 | 1D, 2I | 3/20 | 6/29 | 20.7 |
| Puerto Rico | 3 | 13Ind | 13/27 | n/a | 11Ind | 24/78 | 30.8 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 2 | 4D, 1Ind | 5/16 | n/a | uni­cameral | 5/16 | 31.3 |

## History

The first women to serve in any state legislature were Clara Cressingham, Carrie C. Holly and Frances S. Klock, who were all elected in 1894 to the Colorado State House of Representatives. All three were elected the year after women in Colorado obtained the right to vote through popular election in 1893. As Secretary of the House Republican Caucus, Cressingham was the first woman to fill a leadership position in an American legislature. In 1896, Martha Hughes Cannon became the first woman elected to an upper body of a state legislature when she defeated her own husband, Angus M. Cannon, for a seat in the Utah State Senate.
The 50th state to see the debut of female state legislators in their lower house was Hawaii in 1959, who elected Dorothy Devereux and Eureka Forbes to their House of Representatives upon admittance to statehood. Alabama's Senate was the 50th upper house to welcome women when Ann Bedsole and Frances Strong joined the Senate in 1983.
In 2016, the highest shares of female members of a state legislature - at least 35% per state legislature - were in Colorado (30/65 in the House, 12/35 in the Senate), Vermont (65/150 in the House, 9/30 in the Senate), and Arizona (19/60 in the House, 13/30 in the Senate). The shares in Colorado and Vermont decreased to below 40% in 2017, while Arizona, Illinois, Nevada and Washington all saw their numbers increase up to between 35% and 39%. Altogether in 2017, women constitute 24.8% of all state legislators in the United States, a ratio that has increased by less than 4 percentage points since 1994.
Only four chambers have reached a near or absolute majority of women:
* New Hampshire Senate (2009-2010, 13/24 women)
* Nevada Assembly (2019, 23/42 women)
* Colorado House of Representatives(2019, 32/65 women)
* Oregon House of Representatives (2020, 30/60 women)

## List of first women to serve in state and territorial legislatures

List of first women to serve in state and territorial legislatures :
| Location | Year | House | Year | Senate |
| Alabama | 1923 | Hattie Hooker Wilkins | 1983 | Ann Bedsole Frances Strong |
| Alaska (state) | 1959 | Helen Fischer Dora Sweeney | 1959 | Irene Ryan |
| Alaska (territory) | 1937 | Nell Scott | 1949 | Anita Garnick |
| Arizona | 1915 | Rachel Emma Berry | 1915 | Frances Willard Munds |
| Arkansas | 1922 | Frances Hunt | 1964 | Dorathy Allen |
| California | 1919 | Esto Broughton Grace S. Dorris Elizabeth Hughes Anna Saylor | 1977 | Rose Ann Vuich |
| Colorado | 1895 | Clara Cressingham Carrie Clyde Holly Frances Klock | 1913 | Helen Robinson |
| Connecticut | 1921 | Emily Sophie Brown Rev. Grace Edwards Lillian Frink Mary Hooker Helen Jewett | 1925 | Alice Merritt |
| Delaware | 1925 | Florence Hanby | 1947 | Vera Gilbride Davis |
| Florida | 1929 | Edna Giles Fuller | 1963 | Beth Johnson |
| Georgia | 1923 | Bessie Kempton Viola Ross Napier | 1925 | Margaret Johnson |
| Hawaii (state) | 1959 | Dorothy L. Devereux Eureka Forbes | 1963 | Patsy Mink |
| Hawaii (territory) | 1925 | Rosalie Keliʻinoi | 1933 | Elsie Hart Wilcox |
| Idaho | 1898 | Clara Campbell Hattie Noble Mary Allen Wright | 1935 | Margaret Bognet Pike |
| Illinois | 1923 | Lottie Holman O’Neill | 1925 | Florence Fifer Bohrer |
| Indiana | 1921 | Julia D. Nelson | 1943 | Arcada Balz |
| Iowa | 1929 | Carolyn Campbell Pendray | 1933 | Carolyn Campbell Pendray |
| Kansas | 1919 | Minnie J. Grinstead | 1929 | Patricia Solander |
| Kentucky | 1922 | Mary Elliott Flanery | 1950 | Carolyn Moore |
| Louisiana | 1940 | Doris Lindsey Holland Beatrice Hawthorne Moore | 1936 | Doris Lindsey Holland |
| Maine | 1923 | Dora Pinkham | 1927 | Katharine Allen Claire Carter Dora Pinkham |
| Maryland | 1922 | Mary Risteau | 1935 | Mary Risteau |
| Massachusetts | 1923 | Sylvia Donaldson Susan Fitzgerald | 1937 | Sybil Holmes |
| Michigan | 1925 | Cora Reynolds Anderson | 1921 | Eva McCall Hamilton |
| Minnesota | 1923 | Myrtle Cain Sue Metzger Dickey Hough Hannah Jensen Kempfer Mabeth Hurd Paige | 1927 | Laura Emelia Naplin |
| Mississippi | 1924 | Nellie Nugent Somerville | 1924 | Carrie Belle Kearney |
| Missouri | 1923 | Mellcene Smith Sarah Lucille Turner | 1973 | Mary Gant |
| Montana | 1917 | Maggie Smith Hathaway Emma Ingalls | 1945 | Ellenore Bridenstine |
| Nebraska | 1925* | Mabel Gillespie Clara Humphrey Sarah Muir | 1945 | Nell Krause |
| Nevada | 1919 | Sadie Hurst | 1935 | Frances Friedhoff |
| New Hampshire | 1921 | Jessie Doe Dr. Mary Farnum | 1931 | E. Maude Ferguson |
| New Jersey | 1921 | Margaret Laird Jennie Van Ness | 1966 | Mildred Barry Hughes |
| New Mexico | 1923 | Bertha M. Paxton | 1925 | Louise Holland Coe |
| New York | 1919 | Mary Lilly Ida Sammis | 1935 | Rhoda Fox Graves |
| North Carolina | 1921 | Lillian Clement | 1931 | Gertrude Dills McKee |
| North Dakota | 1923 | Minnie Craig Nellie Doughterty | 1951 | Agnes Kjorlie Geelan |
| Ohio | 1923 | Nettie Clapp Lulu Gleason Adelaide Ott May Van Wye | 1923 | Nettie Loughead Maude Waitt |
| Oklahoma | 1921 | Bessie S. McColgin | 1921 | Lamar Looney |
| Oregon | 1915 | Marian Towne | 1915 | Kathryn Clarke |
| Pennsylvania | 1923 | Alice Bentley Rosa DeYoung Sarah McCune Gallaher Helen Grimes Sarah Gertrude MacKinney Lillie Pitts Martha Speiser Martha Thomas | 1925 | Flora M. Vare |
| Rhode Island | 1923 | Isabelle Ahearn O'Neill | 1929 | Lulu Mowry Schlesinger |
| South Carolina | 1945 | Harriet Johnson | 1929 | Mary Gordon Ellis |
| South Dakota | 1923 | Gladys Pyle | 1937 | Jessie Sanders |
| Tennessee | 1923 | Marian Scudder Griffin | 1921 | Anna Lee Worley |
| Texas | 1923 | Edith Wilmans | 1927 | Margie Neal |
| Utah | 1897 | Sarah E. Anderson Eurithe LaBarthe | 1896 | Martha Hughes Cannon |
| Vermont | 1921 | Edna Beard | 1923 | Edna Beard |
| Virginia | 1924 | Sarah Lee Fain Helen Henderson | 1980 | Eva Mae Scott |
| Washington | 1913 | Frances Axtell Nena Jolidon Croake | 1923 | Reba Hurn |
| West Virginia | 1923 | Anna Johnson Gates | 1934 | Hazel Edna Hyre |
| Wisconsin | 1925 | Mildred Barber Hellen Brooks Helen Thompson | 1975 | Kathryn Morrison |
| Wyoming | 1911 | Mary Bellamy | 1931 | Dora McGrath |
| Territories |||||
| American Samoa | 1953 | Zilpher Jennings Mabel Reid | | |
| Guam | 1955 | Cynthia Torres Lagrimas Untalan | – | Unicameral |
| Puerto Rico | 1933 | María Luisa Arcelay De La Rosa | 1937 | María Martinez De Pérez Almiroty |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 1953 | Ann Christian Abramson | – | Unicameral |

## State Legislative Leadership

Leadership positions at the state legislatures include senate presidents, presidents pro tempore, house speakers, majority and minority leaders of the senate and house. In 2023, women held leadership positions in 35 state senates and in 32 state houses, which corresponds to 26% of 350 positions. 44 women (34D, 10R) serve in these leadership roles at State Senates and 47 (36D, 11R) serve at the State Houses. Nine states (AL, IN, KY, MS, NE, SC, SD, TX, WY) have no women in leadership positions.

### Current Women Speakers of State Houses

There are 10 (9D, 1R) women currently serving as the speakers of State Houses.
Cathy Tilton (R-AK)
Julie McCluskie (D-CO)
Valerie Longhurst (D-DE)
Adrienne A. Jones (D-MD)
Rachel Talbot Ross (D-ME)
Melissa Hortman (D-MN)
Julie Fahey (D-OR)
Joanna McClinton (D-PA)
Jill Krowinski (D-VT)
Laurie Jinkins (D-WA)

### Current Women Presidents or Presidents Pro Tem of Senates

There are 15 (11D, 4R) women currently serving as Presidents or Presidents Pro Tem of State Senates.
Kathleen Passidomo (R-FL)
Michelle Kidani (D-HI)
Amy Sinclair (R-IA)
Regina Ashford Barrow (D-LA)
Karen Spilka (D-MA)
Ann H. Rest (D-MN)
Shirley Turner (D-NJ)
Mimi Stewart (D-NM)
Pat Spearman (D-NV)
Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-NY)
Kim L. Ward (R-PA)
Hanna M. Gallo (D-RI)
Louise Lucas (D-VA)
Karen Keiser (D-WA)
Donna J. Boley (R-WV)

## Female State Legislators by Race and Ethnicity

According to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), 99 representatives identify as Asian American/Pacific Islander, 383 identify as Black, 192 identify as Latina, 14 identify as Middle Eastern/North African, 36 identify as Native American/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian, 3 identify as Multiracial Alone, and 1735 identify as white.