Minnesota Ranks 4th in the Nation in Electing Women to State Legislatures

Unlike its Upper Midwestern neighbors, Minnesota continues to be among the nation’s leading states in electing women to state legislative office, according an analysis by Smart Politics of data compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

For the second straight election cycle, 34.8 percent of Representatives and Senators in St. Paul are female (70 of 201), which ranks as the 4th highest percentage in the nation. Only Colorado (40.0 percent), New Hampshire (37.3 percent), and Vermont (37.2 percent) elected a larger percentage of women to their respective state legislatures.

Minnesota’ Upper Midwestern neighbors, however, not only trail the Gopher State, but also the national average of 24.2 percent. Iowa has the second lowest gender imbalance in the region at 22.7 percent (#28 in the nation), followed by Wisconsin at 22.0 percent (#31), South Dakota at 19.0 percent (#38), and North Dakota at 15.6 percent (#43).

The number of women holding the 7,382 legislative seats at state capitols nationwide has been consistently on the rise – increasing from 1,663 in 2005, to 1,729 in 2007, to 1,789 in 2009 after the latest election cycle.

Female State Legislators in the United States, 2005-2009

Year	Number	Percent
2009	1,789	24.2
2008	1,751	23.7
2007	1,729	23.4
2006	1,667	22.6
2005	1,663	22.5

Note: table compiled by Smart Politics with data from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Not surprisingly, women legislators were elected into office much more frequently in traditionally Democratic states.

In fact, in the 2008 election cycle, the ten states with the highest percentage of female legislators were states carried by Barack Obama. Moreover, a staggering 20 of the top 23 states with the highest percentage of women holding legislative seats were “Obama states.”

On the flip side, 8 of the 10 states with the lowest percentage of female representation in state legislatures came from traditionally Republican and “McCain states,” including 14 of the lowest 16 states.

States with the Highest Percentage of Female Legislators, 2009

Rank	State	Percent	2008 Pres. vote
1	Colorado	40.0	Obama
2	New Hampshire	37.3	Obama
3	Vermont	37.2	Obama
4	Minnesota	34.8	Obama
5	Hawaii	32.9	Obama
6	Washington	32.0	Obama
7	Nevada	31.7	Obama
8	Connecticut	31.6	Obama
9	Maryland	31.4	Obama
10	New Mexico	30.4	Obama
11	Arizona	30.0	McCain
12	New Jersey	29.2	Obama
13	Kansas	29.1	McCain
14	Maine	29.0	Obama
15	Oregon	28.9	Obama
16	California	27.5	Obama
17	Illinois	27.1	Obama
18	Massachusetts	26.0	Obama
18	Montana	26.0	McCain
20	North Carolina	25.9	Obama
21	Michigan	25.0	Obama
22	New York	24.5	Obama
23	Delaware	24.2	Obama
24	Florida	23.8	Obama
24	Idaho	23.8	McCain
24	Texas	23.8	McCain
27	Arkansas	23.7	McCain
28	Iowa	22.7	Obama
29	Rhode Island	22.1	Obama
29	Utah	22.1	McCain
31	Indiana	22.0	Obama
31	Wisconsin	22.0	Obama
33	Missouri	20.8	McCain
34	Ohio	20.5	Obama
35	Nebraska	20.4	McCain
36	Alaska	20.0	McCain
37	Georgia	19.1	McCain
38	South Dakota	19.0	McCain
39	Tennessee	18.2	McCain
40	Wyoming	17.8	McCain
41	West Virginia	16.4	McCain
42	Virginia	15.7	Obama
43	North Dakota	15.6	McCain
44	Louisiana	15.3	McCain
45	Kentucky	15.2	McCain
46	Pennsylvania	14.6	Obama
47	Mississippi	14.4	McCain
48	Alabama	12.9	McCain
49	Oklahoma	11.4	McCain
50	South Carolina	10.0	McCain
Total		24.2

Not only were Republican states much less likely to produce larger percentages of female legislators, but those legislators who were elected throughout the nation have trended even more towards the Democratic Party.

From 2006 through 2009, Republican female legislators have decreased not only by percentage, but also in raw numbers. Overall, female members of the Republican Party elected to state legislatures have dropped by 20.9 percent since 2006 (36.4 to 28.8 percent).

Women State Legislators by Political Party, 2006-2009

Party	2006	2007	2008	2009
DEM	1,045 (62.7%)	1,181 (68.3%)	1,199 (68.5%)	1,260 (70.4%)
GOP	606 (36.4%)	533 (30.8%)	537 (30.7%)	515 (28.8%)
Other*	18 (1.1%)	15 (0.9%)	15 (0.9%)	14 (0.8%)

Note: ‘Other’ includes non-partisan (Nebraska) female legislators as well as those belonging to third parties.

Minnesota has not always been among the very top leaders in electing women to state legislative office. In 2006, the Gopher State was ranked just 13th in the nation, with 29.9 percent of its legislative seats held by women. Iowa and the Dakotas, however, have consistently been ranked in the bottom half during each of the past five years – never reaching the 23 percent mark.

Women State Legislators by State, 2005-2009

State	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Alabama	10.0	11.0	12.9	12.9	12.9
Alaska	18.3	18.3	21.7	21.7	20.0
Arizona	33.3	33.3	33.3	33.3	30.0
Arkansas	16.3	16.3	20.7	20.7	23.7
California	30.8	30.8	27.5	27.5	27.5
Colorado	33.0	33.0	35.0	36.0	40.0
Connecticut	29.4	29.4	28.3	28.3	31.6
Delaware	33.9	33.9	30.6	30.6	24.2
Florida	23.8	23.8	23.1	23.1	23.8
Georgia	18.6	18.6	19.5	19.5	19.1
Hawaii	28.9	30.2	32.9	32.9	32.9
Idaho	27.6	27.6	22.9	23.8	23.8
Illinois	27.7	27.1	27.1	27.1	27.1
Indiana	16.7	16.7	18.7	18.7	22.0
Iowa	20.0	20.0	22.7	22.7	22.7
Kansas	32.7	32.7	29.1	29.1	29.1
Kentucky	12.3	11.6	12.3	13.0	15.2
Louisiana	16.6	16.6	17.4	14.6	15.3
Maine	23.1	23.1	30.6	31.7	29.0
Maryland	34.0	34.6	32.4	31.4	31.4
Massachusetts	24.5	24.5	24.5	25.5	26.0
Michigan	20.3	20.3	19.6	19.6	25.0
Minnesota	29.9	29.9	34.8	34.8	34.8
Mississippi	12.6	12.6	13.8	14.4	14.4
Missouri	21.3	21.3	19.3	20.3	20.8
Montana	24.7	24.7	24.7	24.7	26.0
Nebraska	24.5	24.5	18.4	18.4	20.4
Nevada	33.3	33.3	30.2	30.2	31.7
New Hampshire	30.7	30.4	35.8	35.6	37.3
New Jersey	15.8	18.3	19.2	28.3	29.2
New Mexico	31.3	31.3	30.4	30.4	30.4
New York	23.1	22.6	24.1	23.6	24.5
North Carolina	22.9	22.9	25.9	26.5	25.9
North Dakota	16.3	16.3	17.7	17.0	15.6
Ohio	19.7	18.9	16.7	17.4	20.5
Oklahoma	14.8	14.8	12.8	12.8	11.4
Oregon	27.8	27.8	31.1	32.2	28.9
Pennsylvania	12.6	13.0	14.6	14.6	14.6
Rhode Island	16.8	16.8	19.5	19.5	22.1
South Carolina	8.8	8.8	8.8	8.8	10.0
South Dakota	16.2	16.2	17.1	17.1	19.0
Tennessee	17.4	17.4	16.7	17.4	18.2
Texas	19.9	19.9	19.3	19.3	23.8
Utah	19.2	19.2	17.3	19.2	22.1
Vermont	33.3	33.3	37.8	38.3	37.2
Virginia	15.0	15.7	17.1	16.4	15.7
Washington	33.3	33.3	32.7	35.4	32.0
West Virginia	15.7	15.7	14.2	14.2	16.4
Wisconsin	25.8	25.8	22.7	22.7	22.0
Wyoming	14.4	15.6	23.3	23.3	17.8
Total	22.5	22.6	23.4	23.7	24.2

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