Women
hold 65, or 12 percent, of the 535 seats in the 106th U.S. Congress.
Prior to entering
Congress, 41, or 73 percent, of the 56 women lawmakers held previous elective
offices; 19 of the 41 held more than one post. The positions include: state
legislator (29); county governing board member (7); mayor/council member
(15); municipal judge (4); and school board member (3).
A total of 198
women- 128 Democrats, 70 Republicans- have served in the U.S. Congress
to date: Twenty-seven (16 Democrats, 11 Republicans) in the Senate and
175 (114 Democrats, 61 Republicans) in the House. Five women have served
in both the House and the Senate. In addition, three- two Democrats, one
Republican- have served as Delegates to the House.
Since 1977, the
number of women in the U.S. Congress has tripled from four percent to 12
percent in 1999.
California has
sent more women to Congress than any other state- a total of 24 to date.
Six states- Alaska, Delaware, Iowa, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Vermont-
have never sent a woman to either the Senate or the House.
Senate:
Women hold a
record 9, or 9 percent, of the 100 seats in the Senate. The group is composed
of six Democrats and three Republicans.
To date, a total
of 27 women- 16 Democrats, 11 Republicans- have served in the Senate. Of
these women, 12 served for less than a year and did not complete full terms,
nine completed at least one full term, six have been elected since 1994
and so have not yet had time to complete full terms.
House of Representatives:
Women also hold
an all-time high 56, or 12.9 percent, of the 435 seats in the House of
Representatives. The women represent 24 states in the House of Representatives.
The group is composed of 39 Democrats and 17 Republicans.
Of the 54 women
who served in the House in 1998, four did not seek re-election. One retired
and three sought higher office. All 50 (34D, 16R) who sought re-election
won. In addition, six new women (5D, 1R) were elected.
Two women also
serve as Delegates to the House from the Virgin Islands and Washington,
DC.
Statewide elective executive offices:
Women in statewide
elective executive hold 89, or 27.6 percent, of the 323 available offices,
an all-time high.* The group is composed of 45 Democrats, 41 Republicans,
one Reform Party member, and two were elected in nonpartisan races.
Since 1977, the
number of women in statewide elective executive offices has almost tripled
from 10 percent to 28 percent in 1999.
In eleven states-
Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota,
Nevada, New Hampshire, and New Jersey- at least one-half of the statewide
elective executive posts are held by women. In New Hampshire and New Jersey,
the single statewide elective executive position- governor- is held by
women.
To date, women
have been elected statewide to executive offices in 48 of the nation's
50 states. In Maine the governor is the only executive elected statewide,
and a woman has never served as governor there. The other state where a
woman has never been elected statewide to an executive post is West Virginia.
State legislator:
Women hold 1,652,
or 22.3 percent, of the 7,424 state legislator positions in the United
States. Women hold 388, or 19.6 percent, of the 1,984 state senate seats
and 1,264, or 23.2 percent, of the 5,440 state house seats.
The number of
women serving in state legislatures has increased more than five-fold since
1969 when 301, or 4.0 percent, of all state legislators were women.
The ten states
with the highest percentages of women state legislators are:
Washington - 40.8%
Nevada - 36.5%
Arizona - 35.6%
Colorado- 33.0
Kansas - 32.7%
New Hampshire - 31.6%
Vermont - 31.1%
Oregon - 30.0%
Connecticut - 29.4%
Maryland - 29.3%
In 1999, 18 women
will serve as lieutenant governors, just short of the previous record of
19 set during 1995. Record numbers of women are serving as attorneys general
(10), comptrollers/controllers (4), secretaries of state (14), state treasurers
(10), and public service commissioners (4).
Municipal Officials:
Among the 100
largest cities in the U.S., 12 have women mayors as of May 1998.
The 975 mayors
of U.S. cities with populations over 30,000, 202, or 20.7 percent, were
women as of May 1998.
* These figures do not include: officials in appointive state cabinet level positions; officials elected to executive posts by the legislature; members of the judicial branch; or elected members of university Boards of Trustees or Boards of Education.
Source: Center for the American Woman and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
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