Women of Color in Elective Office 2019
Congress, Statewide, State Legislature, Mayors For information on the history of women of color in elective office click here.
Congress
47
Of the 126 women serving in the 116th U.S. Congress, 47, or 37.3%, are women of color; in addition, a Black woman, a Latina, an Asian Pacific Islander, and a Caribbean American woman serve as Delegates to the House from Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands, respectively. Women of color constitute 8.8% of the total 535 members of Congress.
1 Republican
U.S. Senate (4)
1
Latina – (1D)
Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV)
2
Asian Pacific Islander – (2D)
Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
1
Multiracial – (1D)
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA)
U.S. House (43)
22
Black (22D)
Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC)
Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA)
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH)
Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
Rep. Val Demings (D-FL)
Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT)
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)
Rep. Robin L. Kelly (D-IL)
Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-MI)
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA)
Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI)
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)
Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL)
Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL)
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ)
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL)
12
Latina (11D, 1R)
Rep. Nanette Baragan (D-CA)
Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX)
Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX)
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA)
Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL)
Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA)
Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA)
Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (D-NM)
Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)
6
Asian Pacific Islander (6D)
Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA)
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA)
Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA)
Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY)
Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL)
1
Middle Eastern/North African (1D)
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)
2
Native American/Native Alaskan (2D)
Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS)
Rep. Debra Haaland (D-NM)
U.S. House Delegates (4)
1
Black (1D)
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
1
Latina (1R)
Del. Jenniffer Gonzalez (R-PR)
1
Asian Pacific Islander (1R)
Del. Amata Radewagen (R-AS)
1
Caribbean American (1D)
Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI)
Statewide Elective Executives
17
Of the 91 women serving in statewide elective executive offices, 17, or 18.7%, are women of color. Women of color constitute 4.5% of the total 311 statewide elective executives.
6 | Black (5D, 1R) | 6 | Latina (4D, 2R) | 3 | Asian Pacific Islander(3D) |
| Jenean Hampton (R-KY), Lt. Governor Tish James (D-NY), Attorney General Sandra Kennedy (D-AZ), Corp. Comm. Sheila Oliver (D-NJ), Lt. Governor Carolyn Stanford Taylor (D-WI), Sup. Pub. Instr. Julianna Stratton (D-IL), Lt. Governor | Stephanie Garcia Richard (D-NM), Land Commissoner Nellie Gorbea (D-RI), Secretary of State Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM), Governor Lea Marquez Peterson (R-AZ), Corp. Comm. Susanna Mendoza (D-IL, Comptroller Jeanette Nunez (D-FL), Lt. Governor | Fiona Ma (D-CA), Treasurer Betty Yee (D-CA), State Controller Kimberly Yee (R-AZ), Treasurer | |||
1 | Native American/Native Alaskan (1D) | 1 | Multiracial (1D) | ||
| Peggy Flanagan (D-MN), Lt. Governor | Kathleen McGuiness (D-DE), Auditor |
State Legislators
538
Women of color are 25.2% of the 2,132 women state legislators serving nationwide. They constitute 7.3% of the total 7,383 state legislators. In addition, there are 31 women of color serving in the legislatures of the U.S. Territories (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands) and on the D.C. City Council.
19 Republicans 1 Progressive
| Senate | House | Total* | ||||||||||||
| D | R | Prg | Total | D | R | Prg | Total | D | R | Prg | Total | |||
| Black | 72 | 1 | – | 73 | 232 | 2 | – | 234 | 304 | 3 | – | 307 | ||
| Asian Pacific Islander | 10 | 1 | – | 11 | 33 | 2 | – | 35 | 43 | 3 | – | 46 | ||
| Latina | 32 | 3 | – | 35 | 87 | 4 | – | 91 | 119 | 7 | – | 126 | ||
| Middle Eastern/North African | 2 | – | – | 2 | 4 | – | – | 4 | 6 | – | – | 6 | ||
| Native American | 4 | 1 | – | 5 | 16 | 2 | – | 18 | 20 | 3 | 23 | |||
| Multi-Racial | 4 | – | 4 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 29 | |||
| Totals | 124 | 6 | – | 130 | 394 | 13 | 1 | 408 | 518 | 19 | 1 | 538 | ||
| *Adding up all categories does not equal the total number of women of color because there is a legislator who is a woman of color but did not wish to be included in the above categories. This figure does not include two legislators whose race/ethnicity we could not confirm. | ||||||||||||||
| Black | Latina |
| Janet Buckner (D-CO), House Speaker Pro Tem | Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D-NV), House Majority Leader |
| Karen Camper (D-TN), House Minority Leader | Charlene Fernandez (D-AZ), House Minority Leader |
| Audrey Gibson (D-FL), Senate Minority Leader | M. Teresa Ruiz (D-NJ), Senate President Pro Tem |
| Adrienne Jones (D-MD), House Speaker | |
| Kimberly Lightford (D-IL), Senate Majority Leader | Asian Pacific Islander |
| Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes (D-NY), House Majority Leader | Della Au Bellatti (D-HI), House Majority Leader |
| Sheryl W. Stapleton (D-NM), House Majority Leader | |
| Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-NY), Senate President Pro Tem/Majority Leader | Multi-Racial |
| Emilia Sykes (D-OH), House Minority Leader | Michelle Kidani (D-HI), Senate President Pro Tem |
- Black women serve in 44 states, all except HI, MT, NE, SD, ND, VT.
- Asian Pacific Islander women serve in 18 states; CA, GA, HI, ID, IL, KY, MA, MD, MI, MN, NH, NY, OH, PA, TX, UT, VA, WA.
- Latina women serve in 27 states; AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL GA, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, MI, MN, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OR, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV.
- Middle Eastern/North African women serve in 5 states; FL, GA, MD, NH, NY.
- Native American women serve in 14 states; AK, AZ, KS, MN, MS, MT, ND, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, WA, WY.
- Multi-Racial women serve in 16 states; AR, AZ, HI, IL, MD, MI, MN, NV, NY, OH, OK, RI, VA, VT, WA, WV.
Mayors
10
In the nation’s 100 largest cities, ten women of color currently serve as mayors:
| Black | Latina |
|---|---|
| Muriel Bowser (D), Washington, DC, 2015-present | Mary Casillas Salas (D*), Chula Vista, CA, 2015-present |
| Sharon Weston Broome (D), Baton Rouge, LA, 2017-present | |
| Vi Alexander Lyles (D), Charlotte, NC, 2017-present | Asian Pacific Islander |
| Keisha Lance Bottoms (D*), Atlanta, GA, 2018-present | Lily Mei (D*), Fremont, CA, 2016-present |
| LaToya Cantrell (D), New Orleans, LA, 2018-present | Karen K. Goh (R*), Bakersfield, CA, 2017-present |
| London Breed (D*), San Francisco, CA, 2018-present | |
| Lori Lightfoot (D*), Chicago, IL, 2019-present |
0 Comments