2006 Election Results: The Report on Women - November 10, 2006

US House of Representatives - 71 Women Representatives, 3 Women Delegates

Nancy Pelosi is expected to become the first woman Speaker of the House and the number of women representatives in the US House is projected to increase from sixty-seven to seventy-one, if the current leads in several close races are not reversed. At a minimum, women will fill seventy of the 435 seats; at most, women could win seventy-four seats. In addition, three women who are non-voting delegates from the District of Columbia, Guam and the Virgin Islands were re-elected.

Two women incumbents did not run for the US House in the general election: Katherine Harris, a Republican from Florida, ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate; Cynthia McKinney, a Democrat from Georgia, lost the primary election. Of the sixty-five women incumbents who ran for re-election, four women lost: Nancy Johnson (Rep) from Connecticut, Anne Northup (Rep) from Kentucky, Sue Kelly (Rep) from New York, and Melissa Hart (Rep) from Pennsylvania. Ten women will join the ranks of the sixty-one women incumbents who either won or are leading their races. Those newly elected women are: Gabrielle Giffords (Dem) from Arizona, Kathy Castor (Dem) from Florida, Mazie Hirono (Dem) from Hawaii, Nancy Boyda (Dem) from Kansas, Michele Bachmann (Rep) from Minnesota, Carol Shea-Porter (Dem) New Hampshire, Yvette Clarke (Dem) New York, Kirsten Rutnik Gillibrand (Dem) New York, Betty Sutton (Dem) from Ohio, and Mary Fallin (Rep) from Oklahoma. Two are Republicans and eight are Democrats.

The races with women candidates that are still to close or will probably involve recounts are: Jean Schmidt (Rep) vs. Victoria Wulsin (Dem) in Ohio’s second district; Deborah Pryce (Rep) vs. Mary Jo Kilroy (Dem) in Ohio’s fifteenth district; Heather Wilson (Rep) vs. Patricia Madrid (Dem) in New Mexico; Barbara Cubin (Rep) in Wyoming; Darcy Burner (Dem) in Washington; and Christine Jennings (Dem) in Florida. Jean Schmidt, Deborah Pryce, Heather Wilson and Barbara Cubin, all Republican incumbents, currently lead their races. In addition, Karen Carter (Dem) is in a run-off election in Louisiana scheduled for December 9.

Carol Shea-Porter will be the first woman from New Hampshire to ever serve in either the US House of Representatives or the US Senate. If Barbara Cubin from Wyoming maintains her lead, twenty-nine states will send a woman to the US House. Five additional states: Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine and Maryland, have one or more women in the US Senate. Sixteen states will not be represented by a woman in either the US House or Senate. Before the election, nineteen states were not represented by a woman in either house of Congress. Four states have never sent a woman to Congress: Delaware, Iowa, Mississippi, and Vermont.

Note: Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (Rep) won the special election in Texas to complete Tom DeLay’s term. But, she lost the general election, so she will serve in the US House only until January.

US Senate - 16 Women Senators

Twelve women from ten states ran for the US Senate. All six women incumbents, who were up for re-election, won. Amy Klobuchar (Dem) from Minnesota ran for an open seat and won. Claire McCaskill (Dem) from Missouri ran successfully against the incumbent Jim Talent. Eight women senators were not up for re-election, so the number of women in the US Senate will increase from fourteen to sixteen. The sixteen women senators are from thirteen states; eleven are Democrats and five are Republicans. In three states, California, Maine, and Washington, both senators are women. In thirty-seven states both senators are men.

Governor and Lieutenant Governor - 9 Women Governors, 11 Women Lieutenant Governors

Ten women ran for governor. The five women gubernatorial incumbents all won re-election. Sarah Palin (Rep) ran for governor of Alaska and won the open seat. Three women governors were not up for re-election and will remain in office. So the number of women governors will increase to nine when Sarah Palin is sworn in. She will be the first woman governor in Alaska. Six of the women governors are Democrats and three are Republicans.

Eighteen women from fourteen states ran for lieutenant governor. Eight women won: seven Democrats and one Republican. Three women will remain lieutenant governors, two Republicans and one Democrat, for a total of eleven women lieutenant governors. Prior to the election, there were fifteen women lieutenant governors. Two women lieutenant governors, Kerry Healy (Rep) from Massachusetts and Lucy Baxley (Dem) from Alabama, ran unsuccessfully for governor. Mary Fallin (Rep), previously Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma, successfully ran for the US House.

Statewide Office

Eighty-five women from the major parties ran for statewide offices other than governor or lieutenant governor, including five women who ran for their states’ highest court. Forty-two of those women won: twenty-three Democrats, eighteen Republicans, one no party.

In Alabama, Sue Bell Cobb was elected the first woman Chief Justice on the state Supreme Court. There are currently fifteen other women who are Chief Justices on their state’s highest courts. In most states, the Chief Justice is appointed by the executive branch or elected by other justices. In Alabama, the justices on the Supreme Court run for general election.

State Legislatures

For the first time since 1992, the so-called “Year of the Woman”, more than 2,400 women ran for seats in state legislatures. The Center for American Women in Politics (CAWP), Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University reports that a record 2,431 women were general election candidates for the state legislatives in 2006. That exceeds the previous record set in 1992, when 2,375 women ran. CAWP reports that the 2006 candidates include 1,563 Democrats, 859 Republicans, 7 women running in non-partisan races and 2 Progressive Party members. Two hundred and forty women are currently state legislators not up for re-election this year.