A record-breaking number of women are running for governor this year

A record-shattering number of women are running for governor this year, an analysis released Monday shows.

Forty women, mostly Democrats, have so far filed to run for governor as major-party candidates in the 36 states that are facing gubernatorial elections this year, Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) said in the report. At least one woman is running in each of the 19 states where the filing deadline to register a campaign has passed. Another 38 women will potentially serve as major-party candidates in the 17 states whose filing deadlines haven’t passed yet.

The last time so many women ran for governor was 1994, when 34 women ran.

“Much of the coverage of election 2018 has focused on the Congressional midterm contests. However, with 36 states holding gubernatorial elections, there are tremendous opportunities for women to advance as chief executives,” CAWP Director Debbie Walsh said in a statement. “Electing women governors not only places them in powerful executive positions but also builds the pipeline of future presidential candidates.”

Currently, only six states have female governors. In 2016, when 12 states had gubernatorial races, only six women filed to run as governors, according to CAWP. And in 2014 — the last time 36 states held gubernatorial elections — 30 women filed to run in 20 states. Not a single woman ran at all for a governor’s mansion in 16 states.

More women than ever are currently set to run for Congressional office in the 2018 midterms. As of February, 40 women are running or likely to run for Senate, while 25 women ran in 2016; 431 are running or likely to run for the House, while 212 ran in 2016. (Right now, 22 of the 100 senators are women and 83 female members of the House.) The majority of these women are running as Democrats, though Republicans have also seen a surge of female candidates.

Still, the number of women running for office is dwarfed by the number of men. Women still represent just 23 percent of all potential Congressional candidates this year, according to CAWP.

Cover image: In this July 25, 2016, file photo, Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams speaks during the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Abrams, a Democrat, is hoping to become the country’s first black woman governor. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)