Twelve women have been elected to serve as governors in the US, a new record following Tuesday’s election.
Ten have already been confirmed and two will emerge from women-only contests in two states, Arizona and Oregon.
There are currently nine female governors in the US – and women will also form at least 24% of the total in the newly-elected Congress.
State governors are key figures with enormous power, controlling many aspects of American life.
From education to abortion rights, governors have a say on issues decided at the state level.
According to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, women standing for and elected as governors will comprise at least 24% of all governors in the country.
And all the eight women governors who sought re-election were successful this year.
The Center emphasises the result of the election leaves only 18 states nationwide to have never had a woman serving as governor. The newly-elected governors are:
- Maura Healey – a Democrat from Massachusetts – will also be the first openly lesbian governor. Ms Healey was previously the state’s attorney general
- Sarah Huckabee Sanders – the former Trump spokeswoman – is projected to become Arkansas’ first female governor, a position once held by her father.
- Kathy Hochul was elected to a full term in New York, having taken over the job in 2021 following the resignation of Andrew Cuomo
The two races still to be decided pit Katie Hobbs against Kari Lake in Arizona and Tina Kotek against Christine Drazan in Oregon.
The new record comes amid other first in these elections, including:
- Republican Katie Britt will be elected as Alabama’s first woman to serve in the US Senate
- Democrat Maxwell Frost, 25, will be the first member of Generation Z elected to serve in the US Congress
- Democrat Wes Moore has also made history as Maryland’s first black governor
- Republican Markwayne Mullin will be the first Native American senator from Oklahoma in almost 100 years.
