List of female governors in the United States

  Female Republican Governor

  Female Democratic Governor

  Female Republican and Democratic Governor

Twenty-nine women have been or are currently serving as the governor of a U.S. state, including two in an acting capacity, and three more are expected to become governor in early 2009.

The first female governor was Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming who was elected on November 4, 1924 and sworn in on January 5, 1925. She was preceded in office by her late husband William B. Ross. Also elected on November 4 was Miriam A. Ferguson of Texas, succeeding her impeached husband James Edward Ferguson, but she was not sworn in until January 21, 1925. The first female governor elected without being the wife or widow of a past state governor was Ella T. Grasso of Connecticut, elected in 1974 and sworn in on January 8, 1975.

Connecticut and Arizona are the only two states to have elected female governors from both major parties. New Hampshire has also had female governors from two parties, but Republican Vesta M. Roy served only in the acting capacity for a short time. Arizona was the first state where a woman followed another woman as governor (they were from different parties). Arizona also has had the most female governors with a total of three. Furthermore, current Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano is widely expected to be appointed to a Cabinet position in the incoming Obama Administration and is due to be succeeded by current Secretary of State Jan Brewer. If this comes to pass, Brewer will be Arizona's fourth female governor, and Arizona will be the first state to have three women in a row serve as governor.

Currently, eight women are serving as governors of U.S. states. Between December 6, 2006, when Sarah Palin was inaugurated as the first female governor of Alaska, and January 14, 2008, when Kathleen Blanco left office as governor of Louisiana, a record nine women were serving as the chief executive of their states. This record is expected to be tied in 2009, when New Mexico's lieutenant governor, Diane Denish, is expected to succeed Bill Richardson as governor, following his appointment as United States Commerce Secretary.

The District of Columbia and the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, though not states, have also had female chief executives.

List of female state governors

Name	State	From	To	Party	Notes
Nellie Tayloe Ross	Wyoming	1925	1927	Democratic	Widow of William B. Ross (governor 1923-1924): Only woman to date to have served as Governor of Wyoming.
Miriam A. Ferguson	Texas	1925	1927	Democratic	Wife of James E. Ferguson (governor 1915-1917). First female governor to be re-elected.
Miriam A. Ferguson	Texas	1933	1935	Democratic
Lurleen Wallace	Alabama	1967	1968	Democratic	Wife of George Wallace (governor 1963-1967, 1971-1979 & 1983-1987); Only woman to date to have served as Governor of Alabama. First (and only) female governor to have died in office.
Ella T. Grasso	Connecticut	1975	1980	Democratic	First female governor not a wife or widow of a past state governor
Dixy Lee Ray	Washington	1977	1981	Democratic	Washington's first female governor
Vesta M. Roy	New Hampshire	1982	1983	Republican	As acting governor for a single week - never sworn in.
Martha Layne Collins	Kentucky	1983	1987	Democratic	First woman elected Governor of Kentucky. Only women to date to have served as Governor of Kentucky.
Madeleine M. Kunin	Vermont	1985	1991	Democratic	First Jewish woman elected governor in USA, and first female governor of Vermont.
Kay A. Orr	Nebraska	1987	1991	Republican	First Republican woman to be elected Governor; first gubernatorial election in the U.S. in which both major party candidates were women; only woman to date to have served as governor of Nebraska.
Rose Perica Mofford	Arizona	1988	1991	Democratic	Arizona's first female governor.
Joan Finney	Kansas	1991	1995	Democratic	Kansas's first woman, oldest and first Catholic governor. First woman to unseat an incumbent Governor in a general election
Ann Richards	Texas	1991	1995	Democratic	Second female governor of Texas
Barbara Roberts	Oregon	1991	1995	Democratic	Oregon's first and so far only woman to be elected governor.
Christine Todd Whitman	New Jersey	1994	2001	Republican	New Jersey's first female governor. Second woman and first Republican woman to defeat an incumbent governor in a general election
Jane Dee Hull	Arizona	1997	2003	Republican	Arizona's first female Republican governor.
Jeanne Shaheen	New Hampshire	1997	2003	Democratic	New Hampshire's first female governor. Later, New Hampshire's first female senator.
Nancy P. Hollister	Ohio	1998	1999	Republican	Served as Governor 31 December 1998 to 11 January 1999.
Jane Swift	Massachusetts	2001	2003	Republican	As acting governor.
Judy Martz	Montana	2001	2005	Republican	Montana's first female governor. Former Olympic skater, former Miss Rodeo Montana
Ruth Ann Minner	Delaware	2001	Present	Democratic	Serving second term. Delaware's first female governor. Oldest serving governor.
Linda Lingle	Hawaii	2002	Present	Republican	First woman, and first Jewish governor of Hawaii.
Olene Smith Walker	Utah	2003	2005	Republican	Utah's first and to date only female governor.
Jennifer Granholm	Michigan	2003	Present	Democratic	Michigan's first female governor.
Janet Napolitano	Arizona	2003	Present	Democratic	Arizona's third female governor, and the first female governor in Arizona to win re-election.
Kathleen Sebelius	Kansas	2003	Present	Democratic	Second female governor of Kansas.
Kathleen Blanco	Louisiana	2004	2008	Democratic	Louisiana's first female governor. Governor during Hurricane Katrina.
M. Jodi Rell	Connecticut	2004	Present	Republican	Lt. Governor of Connecticut until Gov. John G. Rowland resigned during a corruption investigation. Connecticut's second female governor.
Christine Gregoire	Washington	2005	Present	Democratic	Washington's second female governor.
Sarah Palin	Alaska	2006	Present	Republican	Alaska's youngest governor at 42, first female governor. First female governor of any state to appear on a major party presidential ticket, as the Republican candidate for vice president in 2008.
Beverly Perdue*	North Carolina	Elect		Democratic	Currently Lt. Governor, Perdue defeated the mayor of Charlotte, Pat McCrory to become the first woman elected Governor of North Carolina.
Diane Denish	New Mexico	Presumptive		Democratic	As Lieutenant Governor, she will succeed Governor Bill Richardson (D) who has been nominated to the position of Secretary of Commerce by President-Elect Barack Obama. She will be New Mexico's first female governor.
Jan Brewer	Arizona	Presumptive		Republican	As Secretary of State, she will succeed Governor Janet Napolitano (D) who has been nominated to the position of Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security by President-Elect Barack Obama. She will be the third consecutive female governor for Arizona and fourth overall.

*Governor-elect

States that have never had a female governor

As of January 2009, following the inauguration of Beverly Perdue in North Carolina and the expected elevation of New Mexico Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish, a total of 26 states will have never had a female governor. Those states are:

Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

Women who have held other Governor-equivalent positions

Name	Title	From	To	Party
Sharon Pratt Dixon Kelly	Mayor of Washington, DC	1991	1995	Democratic
Sila Maria Calderón	Governor of Puerto Rico	2001	2005	Popular Democratic

Timeline of female U.S. Governors