Will the Midterms Bring Record Representation for Women?
As the hotly contested midterm elections approach, a record number of women are on ballots in state and national races.
The question is: Can women translate these historic candidacy numbers into unprecedented levels of representation in elected office?
"Anything is possible," says Kelly Dittmar, associate professor of political science at Rutgers University–Camden who is a scholar and director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP).
More women candidates mean more opportunities to push the needle toward gender parity. But it’s still an uphill battle: even after a decade of record-shattering candidacies, women still represent just 27.1% of all candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives.
“We still have room to grow,” Dittmar notes.
Below, Dittmar breaks down what to watch as female candidates and voters help shape the 2026 midterm outcomes.
What role will women play in the midterms—both as candidates and voters?
Women will play a significant role in the outcomes of these elections. As voters, women are consistently the most reliable. They are always significant because they turn out at the highest rates.
As candidates, women are better represented among Democrats, who are forecasted to fare well in 2026. As a result, women candidates are likely to contribute significantly to the Democratic gains anticipated across all levels of office.
What historic firsts for women are you tracking across these gubernatorial and congressional races?
This year we have 36 contests for governor. There were 84 women candidates in the primary and are now 26 women nominees for governor. Those are both highs for women. Now we’ll see if it translates to a new record high for representation. We begin this cycle with the departures of six women governors – mostly due to term limits, which means that we must elect at least seven new women governors to achieve a new high.
We are likely to elect the first women governors of Minnesota and Tennessee. We are likely to elect the first native woman governor in New Mexico and send the first native woman to the U.S. Senate. There is potential to elect the first Black woman governor in Georgia in a very competitive race. CAWP is tracking many other potential milestones for women this year on our website.
We also saw a record number of women running for the U.S. House of Representatives—590 women—beating the previous record of 583 set in 2020 and 2022. That’s notable because it moves us back into that upward trajectory of increasing women’s candidacies after seeing fewer women candidates run in 2024.
Is 2026 the year Democratic women reach a milestone threshold of 100 seats in the U.S. House?
It is possible but not at all guaranteed. That will depend on wins in the most competitive races for both incumbent and nonincumbent women. This year so far looks like it is favoring Democrats, so the chances of a nonincumbent Democratic nominee being successful seems higher in this cycle than in 2024. While we have many opportunities for these gains, meeting that 100-seat milestone for Democrats also means accounting for the departures of at least 12 Democratic women incumbents due to retirement, bids for other office, or primary defeat.
Why did we see a leveling off in women’s representation gains during the 2024 cycle?
We saw fewer women candidates running in 2024 and fewer Democratic candidates overall. So, it was really more of a Democratic story, and women are more likely to run as Democrats.
We need to see continual upward movement in the number of women running and getting onto general election ballots, and then ultimately serving in office. There is a relation between the number of women who run and women who win. We want women to have more opportunities for success, and one way to increase their chances of success is to have more women running.
Why does increasing women's representation matter? Why should people care?
We know that women’s representation in political office matters. First, in a representative democracy, it’s important that those who hold political leadership are representative of the diversity among the constituents they serve. This helps to uphold values of democratic legitimacy and fairness. Second, there is evidence that having more women in elective office can disrupt expectations of who can or should lead. That disruption can create more opportunities for and even ambition among women. Finally, research from CAWP and others documents that women officeholders bring distinct lived experiences, perspectives, and priorities to policymaking processes and institutions in ways that enrich and expand policy debates and outcomes.
