There are more women running for governor across the US than ever before

New data shows more women are running for governor in the 2026 elections than ever before. The number of women seeking a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives might also set a new record.

Experts say there is still work to do for women's overall representation in public office. The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University collected this data. CAWP studies women's roles in politics and aims to increase their involvement.

Women in the Midterms

This year, 85 major-party women are running for governor across 36 states. This is a new record, much higher than the 69 set in 2022. Fifty-one of these women are Democrats, also a record, and 34 are Republicans.

For the U.S. House, 580 major-party women are running. This is just three shy of the 2018 and 2020 record of 583. This record could be broken once Louisiana's filing deadline passes on August 7. The number of Democratic women House candidates has already hit a record high at 387. The other 183 women running are Republicans.

In the Senate, 64 major-party women are running, with an even split of Democrats and Republicans. The record for women Senate candidates was 70 in 2022. To beat this record, more women would need to become candidates in Maine and South Carolina.

Chelsea Hill, CAWP's Director of Data, noted that the overall number of women running for Congress is up from the last election cycle. In 2024, the number of women seeking congressional seats dropped after three cycles of increases. CAWP called this "evidence of stalled progress toward gender parity."

Despite these increases, women's representation is still low compared to all candidates. Women make up 27% of U.S. House candidates and 23.9% of Senate candidates in 2026. About 25% of gubernatorial candidates are women.

Milestones Within Reach

CAWP experts believe women could achieve many milestones in the 2026 election cycle. These include firsts for women in certain government roles and for women of specific racial and ethnic backgrounds.

For example, Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota are both running to be the first women governors of their states. Deb Haaland, a former U.S. Interior Secretary, is running in New Mexico. If she wins, she would be the first Native American woman governor in any state.

At the congressional level, candidates like Melat Kiros, Aisha Wahab, and Denise Powell could break barriers. Kiros could be the first Black woman to represent Colorado. Wahab could be the first Middle Eastern or North African woman to serve from California. Powell could be the first Democratic woman to represent Nebraska in Congress.

Kelly Dittmar, CAWP Scholar and Director of Research, said this data can help study women's political paths. She highlighted Blackburn and Klobuchar's gubernatorial runs. She noted that women becoming state chief executives could be a path to the presidency.

CAWP's data focuses on major party candidates and will be updated as filing deadlines and primary results come in.