List of female governors in the United States
As of January 2020, forty-four women have served or are serving as the governor of a U.S. state, three women have served or are serving as the governor of an unincorporated U.S. territory. Two women have served or are serving as mayors 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 governors Lou Leon Guerrero of Guam and Wanda Vázquez Garced of Puerto Rico.
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 Senate and had to leave for Washington, D.C., before his term was over, and the incoming governor, Frank W. Benson, had gotten sick and couldn't assume office early. Chamberlain left Shelton, his secretary, in charge for the weekend. It was another three and a half years before women were allowed to vote in Oregon.The first female 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 2 weeks in 1924 while Governor James F. Hinkle attended the Democratic Convention in New York. Lieutenant Governor Jose 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.
The first woman to assume office as governor pursuant to a special election was Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming, who was elected on November 4, 1924, and sworn in on January 5, 1925. Wyoming was the first state to provide women's suffrage 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. The first female governor elected 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.
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
, Arizona, Alabama, and New Mexico are the only four states to have elected female governors from both major parties. Arizona was the first state where a woman followed another woman as governor. Arizona also has had the most female governors 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 the first female 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. The U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, though not states, have also had female chief executives: Governors Sila María Calderón and Wanda Vázquez Garced, and Mayors Sharon Pratt Kelly and Muriel Bowser, respectively. Additionally, Lou Leon Guerrero has served as the governor of Guam since January 2019.
As of 2019, a total of 20 states have never had a female 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 have never even seen a major party nominate a female candidate in a gubernatorial election, although nine consecutive female lieutenant governors have served in Minnesota, from 1983 to the present day.
There have only been three ethnic minority female governors of states: Susana Martinez and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico and Nikki Haley of South Carolina. Martinez and Haley are both Republican; Lujan Grisham is a Democrat. All five territorial female governors have been ethnic minority: Sharon Pratt and Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C., Sila María Calderón and Wanda Vázquez Garced of Puerto Rico, and Lou Leon Guerrero of Guam, all Democratic, with the exception of Vázquez Garced, who is a Republican.
List of female state governors and acting governors
| Picture | Name | State | Term start | Term end | Party | Notes | Departure | Ref |
 Wyoming | 5 1 1925 | 3 1 1927 | Widow of Governor William B. Ross. First, and to date, only female Governor of Wyoming. First woman elected in a special election. | Lost reelection | ||||
 Texas | 20 1 1925 | 17 1 1927 | Wife of Governor James E. Ferguson. First female Governor of Texas. First woman elected in a general election. | Retired | ||||
| Texas | 17 1 1933 | 15 1 1935 | Wife of Governor James E. Ferguson. First female Governor of Texas. First woman elected in a general election. | Retired | ||||
 Alabama | 16 1 1967 | 7 5 1968 | Wife of Governor George Wallace. First female Governor of Alabama. First, and to date, only female governor to die in office. | Died in office | ||||
 Connecticut | 8 1 1975 | 31 12 1980 | First female governor not a wife or widow of a previous governor. First female Governor of Connecticut First female governor to resign, due to terminal ovarian cancer. | Resigned | ||||
 Washington | 12 1 1977 | 14 1 1981 | First female Governor of Washington. | |||||
 Kentucky | 13 12 1983 | 8 12 1987 | First and to date, only female Governor of Kentucky. | At that time, KY Constitution did not allow consecutive terms. | ||||
 Vermont | 10 1 1985 | 10 1 1991 | First, and to date, only female Governor of Vermont. First foreign-born female governor of any state. | Retired | ||||
 Nebraska | 9 1 1987 | 9 1 1991 | First Republican woman elected governor. First woman elected governor over another female major party nominee. First, and to date, only female Governor of Nebraska. | Lost reelection | ||||
 Arizona | 4 4 1988 | 6 3 1991 | First female Governor of Arizona. Elevated from Secretary of State when Evan Mecham was impeached and convicted. | Retired | ||||
 Kansas | 14 1 1991 | 9 1 1995 | First female Governor of Kansas. First woman to defeat an incumbent governor in a general election. | Retired | ||||
 Oregon | 14 1 1991 | 9 1 1995 | First woman elected Governor of Oregon. | Retired | ||||
| Texas | 15 1 1991 | 17 1 1995 | Lost reelection | |||||
 New Jersey | 18 1 1994 | 31 1 2001 | First, and to date, only woman elected Governor of New Jersey. First Republican woman to defeat an incumbent governor in a general election. | Resigned to become Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. | ||||
 New Hampshire | 9 1 1997 | 9 1 2003 | First woman elected Governor of New Hampshire. | Retired | ||||
| Arizona | 5 9 1997 | 6 1 2003 | Elevated from Secretary of State when Fife Symington resigned. Later elected in her own right. | Term limited | ||||
 Ohio | 31 12 1998 | 11 1 1999 | First, and to date, only female Governor of Ohio. Elevated from Lieutenant Governor when George Voinovich became U.S. Senator. | Term ended | ||||
 Montana | 1 1 2001 | 3 1 2005 | First, and to date, only female Governor of Montana. | Retired | ||||
 Delaware | 3 1 2001 | 20 1 2009 | First, and to date, only female Governor of Delaware. | Term limited | ||||
 Massachusetts | 10 4 2001 | 2 1 2003 | First female Governor of Massachusetts. First governor to give birth while in office. Youngest female governor to date at age 36. | Retired | ||||
 Hawaii | 2 12 2002 | 6 12 2010 | First, and to date, only female Governor of Hawaii. | Term limited | ||||
 Michigan | 1 1 2003 | 1 1 2011 | First female Governor of Michigan | Term limited | ||||
| Arizona | 6 1 2003 | 21 1 2009 | First woman to succeed another woman as Governor of state | Resigned to become Secretary of Homeland Security | ||||
| Kansas | 13 1 2003 | 28 4 2009 | Resigned to become Secretary of Health and Human Services. | |||||
 Utah | 5 11 2003 | 3 1 2005 | First, and to date, only female Governor of Utah. Elevated from Lieutenant Governor of Utah when Mike Leavitt became Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. | Lost nomination for full term | ||||
 Louisiana | 12 1 2004 | 14 1 2008 | First, and to date, only female Governor of Louisiana | Retired | ||||
| Connecticut | 1 7 2004 | 5 1 2011 | Elevated from Lieutenant Governor when John G. Rowland resigned. Later elected in her own right. | Retired | ||||
| Washington | 12 1 2005 | 16 1 2013 | Retired | |||||
 Alaska | 4 12 2006 | 26 7 2009 | First, and to date, only female Governor of Alaska. First female governor to appear on a major party presidential ticket, as the 2008 nominee for Vice President of the United States. | Resigned | ||||
 North Carolina | 10 1 2009 | 5 1 2013 | First, and to date, only female Governor of North Carolina. | Retired | ||||
| Arizona | 21 1 2009 | 5 1 2015 | Elevated from Secretary of State when Janet Napolitano became Secretary of Homeland Security. Later elected in her own right. | Term limited | ||||
 New Mexico | 1 1 2011 | 1 1 2019 | First female Governor of New Mexico. First Hispanic-American female Governor. | Term-limited | ||||
 Oklahoma | 10 1 2011 | 14 1 2019 | First, and to date, only female Governor of Oklahoma. | Term Limited | ||||
| 12 1 2011 | 24 1 2017 | First, and to date, only female Governor of South Carolina. First Asian-American female governor. | Resigned to become United States Ambassador to the United Nations | |||||
| New Hampshire | 3 1 2013 | 2 1 2017 | Resigned to become U.S. Senator from New Hampshire. | |||||
 Rhode Island | 6 1 2015 | Incumbent | First female Governor of Rhode Island. | Serving | ||||
| Oregon | 18 2 2015 | Incumbent | First bisexual governor and first openly LGBT elected governor. Elevated from Secretary of State when John Kitzhaber resigned. Later elected in her own right. | Serving | ||||
| Alabama | 10 4 2017 | Incumbent | Elevated from Lieutenant Governor when Robert Bentley resigned. Later elected in her own right. | Serving | ||||
 Iowa | 24 5 2017 | Incumbent | Elevated from Lieutenant Governor when Terry Branstad became Ambassador to China. First female Governor of Iowa. Later elected in her own right. | Serving | ||||
| Michigan | 1 1 2019 | Incumbent | Serving | |||||
| New Mexico | 1 1 2019 | Incumbent | Serving | |||||
 Maine | 2 1 2019 | Incumbent | First female Governor of Maine. | Serving | ||||
 South Dakota | 5 1 2019 | Incumbent | First female Governor of South Dakota. | Serving | ||||
| Kansas | 14 1 2019 | Incumbent | Serving |
Territories and the District of Columbia
Timeline of female U.S. Governors
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:12
PlotArea = top:10 bottom:30 right:180 left:20
AlignBars = early
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1925 till:01/10/2020
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1925
Colors =
id:canvas value:rgb
id:DM value:blue
id:GP value:red
Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas
BarData =
barset:Governors
PlotData=
width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift: anchor:till
barset:Governors
from:05/01/1925 till:03/01/1927 color:DM text:"Nellie Ross "
from:20/01/1925 till:17/01/1927 color:DM text:"Miriam A. Ferguson "
from:17/01/1933 till:15/01/1935 color:DM text:"Miriam A. Ferguson "
from:16/01/1967 till:07/05/1968 color:DM text:"Lurleen Wallace "
from:08/01/1975 till:31/12/1980 color:DM text:"Ella T. Grasso "
from:12/01/1977 till:14/01/1981 color:DM text:"Dixy Lee Ray "
from:30/12/1982 till:06/01/1983 color:GP text:"Vesta M. Roy "
from:13/12/1983 till:08/12/1987 color:DM text:"Martha Collins "
from:10/01/1985 till:10/01/1989 color:DM text:"Madeleine Kunin "
from:09/01/1987 till:09/01/1991 color:GP text:"Kay Orr "
from:04/04/1988 till:06/03/1991 color:DM text:"Rose Mofford "
from:02/01/1991 till:02/01/1995 color:DM text:"Sharon Pratt "
from:14/01/1991 till:09/01/1995 color:DM text:"Joan Finney "
from:14/01/1991 till:09/01/1995 color:DM text:"Barbara Roberts "
from:15/01/1991 till:17/01/1995 color:DM text:"Ann Richards "
from:18/01/1994 till:31/01/2001 color:GP text:"Christine Todd-Whitman "
from:09/01/1997 till:09/01/2003 color:DM text:"Jeanne Shaheen "
from:05/09/1997 till:06/01/2003 color:GP text:"Jane Dee Hull "
from:31/12/1998 till:11/01/1999 color:GP text:"Nancy Hollister "
from:01/01/2001 till:03/01/2005 color:GP text:"Judy Martz "
from:02/01/2001 till:02/01/2005 color:DM text:"Sila Calderón "
from:03/01/2001 till:20/01/2009 color:DM text:"Ruth Ann Minner "
from:10/04/2001 till:02/01/2003 color:GP text:"Jane Swift "
from:02/12/2002 till:06/12/2010 color:GP text:"Linda Lingle "
from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2011 color:DM text:"Jennifer Granholm "
from:06/01/2003 till:21/01/2009 color:DM text:"Janet Napolitano "
from:13/01/2003 till:28/04/2009 color:DM text:"Kathleen Sebelius "
from:05/11/2003 till:03/01/2005 color:GP text:"Olene Walker "
from:12/01/2004 till:14/01/2008 color:DM text:"Kathleen Blanco "
from:01/07/2004 till:05/01/2011 color:GP text:"Jodi Rell "
from:12/01/2005 till:12/01/2013 color:DM text:"Christine Gregoire "
from:04/12/2006 till:26/07/2009 color:GP text:"Sarah Palin "
from:10/01/2009 till:05/01/2013 color:DM text:"Bev Perdue "
from:21/01/2009 till:05/01/2015 color:GP text:"Jan Brewer "
from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2019 color:GP text:"Susana Martinez "
from:10/01/2011 till:14/01/2019 color:GP text:"Mary Fallin "
from:12/01/2011 till:24/01/2017 color:GP text:"Nikki Haley "
from:02/01/2013 till:03/01/2017 color:DM text:"Maggie Hassan "
from:02/01/2015 till:01/01/2020 color:DM text:"Muriel Bowser "
from:06/01/2015 till:01/01/2020 color:DM text:"Gina Raimondo "
from:18/02/2015 till:01/01/2020 color:DM text:"Kate Brown "
from:10/04/2017 till:01/01/2020 color:GP text:"Kay Ivey "
from:24/05/2017 till:01/01/2020 color:GP text:"Kim Reynolds "
from:01/01/2019 till:01/01/2020 color:DM text:"Gretchen Whitmer "
from:01/01/2019 till:01/01/2020 color:DM text:"Michelle Lujan Grisham "
from:02/01/2019 till:01/01/2020 color:DM text:"Janet Mills "
from:05/01/2019 till:01/01/2020 color:GP text:"Kristi Noem "
from:07/01/2019 till:01/01/2020 color:DM text:"Lou Leon Guerrero "
from:14/01/2019 till:01/01/2020 color:DM text:"Laura Kelly "
from:07/08/2019 till:01/01/2020 color:GP text:"Wanda Vázquez Garced "
barset:skip