A record 3,794 women are state legislative nominees in 2026, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics — more than in any prior election cycle in U.S. history. The count became final this week after Delaware’s primary closed out the last of the year’s state primary contests.
At a glance
- New record: 3,794 women are state legislative nominees in 2026, surpassing the prior record of 3,621 set in 2022, according to CAWP.
- Party split: Democratic women set their own record with 2,571 nominees, while Republican women fell short of their 2022 high with 1,197 nominees.
- Current representation: Women hold 33.6% of state legislative seats nationwide, with Democratic women holding 49.5% of Democratic seats and Republican women holding 21.4% of Republican seats.
A record built on an asymmetry
Of the 3,794 women running, 2,571 are Democrats, 1,197 are Republicans, 22 are nonpartisan, and 4 are independents, according to CAWP’s official tally. Democratic women’s 2,571 nominees beat their previous high of 2,402, set in 2018. Republican women’s 1,197 nominees, by contrast, came in below their own 2022 record of 1,291 — meaning the overall record was driven entirely by one party’s gains.
CAWP Director Debbie Walsh has described this same recurring pattern in the center’s election commentary: “Democratic women are nearing or surpassing parity in their party caucuses in statehouses around the country, but Republican women are being left behind. Women’s equality in political representation depends on this changing.” That asymmetry carries through to who holds power once elected — Democratic women hold a majority of their party’s seats in 30 state lower chambers and 23 state senates, according to CAWP’s data, while Republican women don’t hold a majority in a single GOP legislative caucus nationwide.
Candidates first, elected officials second
This record describes who’s on the ballot, not who’s won. The actual outcome won’t be known until Election Day in November — some of these 3,794 nominees will lose their races, and the final number of women serving in state legislatures next year could look different from the candidate count.
Delaware’s primary, which finalized this year’s nominee count, also produced a notable result of its own: state Rep. Sarah McBride ran unopposed for renomination to Delaware’s at-large U.S. House seat, positioning her to become the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress if she wins in November, according to CAWP’s primary results tracker, part of the broader wins for women’s rights tracked worldwide.
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For more on this story, see: Center for American Women and Politics
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