When Will Minnesota (or Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota…) Elect a Woman as Governor?

After holding more than 300 gubernatorial elections across the Upper Midwest during the past 160+ years, the region has yet to elect its first female governor.

With gubernatorial elections taking place in Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, and Wisconsin next year, will 2010 be the year in which a woman finally breaks through and wins the governor’s office in one of these states?

The best (and perhaps only) opportunities for the election of a female governor in the Upper Midwest in 2010 will be in the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Three female major party candidates are currently running for Tim Pawlenty’s open seat in the Gopher State: DFL Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, and former Republican State Auditor Pat Anderson.

Anderson will also likely be the only female GOPer vying for the governor’s office across the Upper Midwestern region this year.

In Wisconsin, Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton is a strong contender to lead the Democratic Party ticket, though rumors have also percolated throughout the year that Democratic Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk could jump into the race (Falk ran for governor in 2002, losing in the primary to current Governor Jim Doyle).

No major party female candidates have been announced for the open seat race to replace Republican Mike Rounds in South Dakota and no Republican woman has announced a bid to challenge 1-term Democratic incumbent Chet Culver in Iowa.

South Dakota has never had a Democratic or Republican female candidate on the gubernatorial ballot in 52 elections dating back to statehood in 1889. The Mount Rushmore State’s best chance to elect a woman as governor to date may have been at-large blue dog Democratic U.S. Representative Stephanie Herseth during this election cycle. However, Rep. Herseth announced her decision to run for a 5th term in D.C. in July of this year instead.

Wisconsin (with 71 gubernatorial races since statehood) and Minnesota (with 64) have also never had a woman win a major party’s gubernatorial slot on the general election ballot to date.

Iowa, however, has seen two women representing major parties contend for the governor’s office across the 70 such contests that have been held in the Hawkeye State since its first election in 1846.

Democrat Roxanna Conlin won 46.5 percent of the vote in 1982, losing to Terry Branstad by 6.3 points. Twelve years later, in 1994, Democrat Bonnie Campbell won 41.6 percent of the vote while Branstad cruised to his 4th term with a 15.2 point victory.

Overall, 25 women have been elected governor across twenty states in U.S. history, while another six have served as governor or acting governor without being elected to the office. Two current female governors (Linda Lingle of Hawaii and Jennifer Granholm of Michigan) are term-limited in 2010.

Women Governors (or Acting Governors) By State

* Was never elected to the office of Governor.

Follow Smart Politics on Twitter.