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Stats on Women in Office

Need a reminder about why our work to elect more women is so critical? Just look at the numbers.

Women in the 111th United States Congress

Nearly 2000 people have served in the US Senate but only 38 have been women. 4 states have never sent a woman to Congress -- Iowa, Mississippi, Vermont, and Delaware -- and Montana hasn't had a woman serve in Congress since 1943 In 2010, 19 states do not have a woman representing them in either the House or Senate. 3 states have an all-female Senate delegation: California, Maine, and Washington. South Dakota is the only state with an all-female House delegation.

Governors, Statewide, and Local Offices

• 27 states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania, have never had a woman governor.
• In 2010, 1,804 of 7,382 -- or 24.4% -- of state legislators in the United States are women. Women hold 438 of 1,917 state Senate seats (22.8%) and 1,366 of 5,411 state House seats (25.2%).
• Only 56 women in state legislatures hold leadership positions -- of these, 29 hold state House leadership positions, and 27 hold state Senate leadership positions -- including just 5 state Senate presidents and 5 state speakers of the House. 45 of these women are Democrats, 9 are Republicans, and 2 are from third parties.¹
• New Hampshire is ranked 1 among state legislatures, with 37.3% women. It is also the first state to have a majority female state Senate. South Carolina is ranked last, with only 10% of its legislature made up of women.^{2, 3, 4}

Worldwide

• Only 52 countries have even elected or appointed a woman to serve as their president, prime minster, or chancellor -- totaling just 69 women to hold these high posts.⁶
• As of 2010, 25.2% of the delegates in Iraq's parliament are women, ranking it 41st among nations in representation of women. Rwanda ranks first, with women counting for 51% in their parliament.⁷

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^{1: 2010 Women in Legislative Leadership
2: Women in State Legislatures: 2010
3: N.H. first state with female majority in Senate
5: The U.S. Conference of Mayors
6: Women Presidents
7: Women in Parliaments}