Congress and the Legislative Branch: State Legislators of the 50 States
The Current State of Women in State Legislature
Women hold 31% of elected state legislative seats in 2022. 2308 state legislators are women, representing 31.3% of the total of 7383 seats. Of these women, 560 are State Senators (28.4% of the total of 1,972 seats, and an increase of nearly 10% since 2019); and 1748 are State House or State Assembly seats (32.3% of the total of 5,411 seats).
2308 out of 7383 = 31.3%
Of these, nearly 66% are Democrats and 33.4% are Republicans. Western and New England states have the highest percentage of women in state legislatures, with Nevada topping the list at 58.7% -- just above the Power Percentage – and five states at or above 44% female legislators. Southern states have the least balanced representation, with seven states falling below 20% of women in their state houses. (Louisiana, Wyoming, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, and West Virginia).
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, women “reached a historical level of representation” after the 2020 elections. The NCSL further states, “This represents a steady increase over the past three years, with a significant increase in 2018 when women represented 25% of legislative bodies” in the U.S.
[Note: These numbers are compiled by the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Extremely similar numbers are available at the National Conference of State Legislatures.]
State legislatures matter greatly to Americans. In addition to serving state populations, with local needs, public opinion and agendas, states are often ‘incubators’ or testing grounds for federal initiatives and legislation.
Further, according to Paul Caine, writing in July 2022 for WTTW/Chicago,
“A host of recent actions by the Supreme Court has sent certain powers back to the states: abortion access, gun control and voting rights among them, — with more decisions expected to continue this trend in the Court’s next term.
The concept of federalism — the idea that the federal government’s authority is limited, and other powers retained for the states — is a cornerstone of modern conservatism.”
What will it take for women to get into the Power Percentage of the State Legislatures of the United States?