November 26, 2024

The holiday season provides an opportunity to reflect on the passing year as we prepare for the coming of the new one, and this year I find myself filled with gratitude for the CAWP community. I feel enormously thankful for our staff’s dedication, innovation, and sincere devotion to the promise of political equality. I’m grateful as well for all the CAWP staff over the past half century whose contributions laid the foundation for our success. I’m also thankful for all of you. The people who support CAWP, who see the value of our work, who stand alongside us in transforming knowledge into change and strengthening our democracy. Times like these remind us how long the road is ahead but also that we aren’t walking alone.

Best wishes for a warm Thanksgiving,

Debbie Walsh

Director

Following the 2024 elections, there will be a new record number of women serving in state legislatures around the country. At least 2,461 (1,582D, 859R, 16NP, 4Ind) women will serve in state legislatures in 2025, surpassing the previous record of 2,431 women in state legislative office. Women will hold at least 33.3% of seats in state legislatures. With 23 (13D, 10R) women candidates in 16 races that are still too close to call, the record number of women serving in state legislatures is projected to increase by at least 37. 

“There are bright spots in 2024, including the growth in the number of majority-woman and gender-parity legislatures and legislative chambers. New Mexico and Colorado will join Nevada as majority-woman legislatures, and there will be seven legislative chambers at or beyond parity in 2025,” said CAWP Director Debbie Walsh. “These sorts of changes require strategic focus and hard work on the ground. In aggregate, however, with more than seven thousand state legislative seats nationwide, we’re looking at a very incremental increase of women state legislators. And we continue to exist in an environment where Democratic women drastically outnumber Republican women in state legislatures. The sustained support that led to 2024 state success stories is a model for nationwide parity; it should be taken up across the country and on both sides of the aisle.”

These numbers can change as outstanding races that are too close to call are decided. For the latest data and detailed analysis of trends in women’s state legislative representation, visit CAWP’s Results for Women State Legislative Candidates in Election 2024.

The number of women in the U.S. Congress will not surpass the current record, which was set earlier this month following a special congressional election. Women's representation will fall short of record levels in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, and while Democratic women's representation will reach a new high in the U.S. Congress, Republican women's representation will fall short of records. While we have a new record of 2 (2D) Black women serving in the U.S. Senate, no new records will be set for women of any other race or ethnicity in Congress. 

With two House races featuring women candidates still too close to call, stay up to date with the latest data on women in the 2024 elections at CAWP’s 2024 Election Results Tracker and our Results for Women Congressional and Statewide Executive Candidates in Election 2024 page.

Despite a unique electoral landscape – including reproductive rights on ballots, a Republican presidential nominee found liable for sexual abuse, and a woman leading the Democratic ticket – the 2024 elections did not produce the historic gender gap some anticipated. Instead, voter patterns align with those observed in recent presidential cycles. 

“Women have been more likely than men to back Democratic presidential nominees for more than four decades, and this year was no different,” said Kelly Dittmar, CAWP scholar and director of research. “But understanding the significant influence of women voters in any election means accounting for the diversity among them.”

Dittmar and the CAWP research team conducted an in-depth analysis of voter patterns in 2024, drawing on data from Edison Research, AP VoteCast, and BSP Research. Their findings are detailed in the post, Gender Differences in 2024 Vote Choice Are Similar to Most Recent Presidential Elections, which includes data visualizations, comparisons to past elections, and breakdowns by race/ethnicity, age, educational attainment, and religion.

Learn more about the gender gap:

• Gender Gap: Voting Choices in Presidential Elections
• Gender Differences in Voter Turnout 

Are you ready to make a difference in your community, advocate for the issues you care about, or even run for office? Ready to Run® New Jersey is your opportunity to gain the tools you need to step into public leadership. Join us on March 21-22, 2025, at the Douglass Student Center in New Brunswick, NJ, for an empowering, nonpartisan campaign training program designed with tailored tracks, dynamic speakers, and hands-on workshops. Get Ready to Run® and register today. 

The New York City Council has declared Nov. 30 as Shirley Chisholm Day to honor the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Brooklyn Council Member Farah Louis introduced the resolution on what would have been Chisholm’s 100th birthday. Chisholm was the inaugural holder of CAWP’s Senator Wynona Lipman Chair in Women’s Political Leadership, and her groundbreaking achievements continue to inspire our work to empower women and amplify their voices in politics.