Record numbers of Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native women are serving in state legislatures this year, according to a new analysis following the 2024 elections, but advocates for female representation in elected office say the numbers fall short of demographics.
The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University found that the number of female state lawmakers has continued to trend up nationally, with more than a third of state legislative seats now held by women — the largest segment ever recorded and more than five times the female representation in 1971. Women make up slightly more than half the U.S. population, according to Census data.
CAWP’s analysis also found record-breaking diversity among the women elected.
Nearly 400 Black women are serving in statehouses this year, up from the previous record 386 set last year; 214 Latina state lawmakers this year bests last year’s record of 192; the 107 female legislators who identify as Asian American or Pacific Islander have broken the record of 100 set in 2023; and women who identify as Native American, Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian hold 44 seats, up from the record 36 set in 2023.
Only white women hold fewer state legislative seats in 2025 than they did in 2024, when broken down by racial and ethnic lines, CAWP found.
The figures include women who identify as more than one racial or ethnic group, so some have been counted multiple times across categories.
“It’s encouraging to see increasing diversity among women serving in state legislative seats, but the broader context tells a different story,” CAWP director Debbie Walsh said in a statement on the findings. “The 2024 election led to only modest gains for the number of women holding state legislative seats, and women of all backgrounds are still significantly underrepresented in state legislatures.”
“Women now hold just a third of these seats, a significant improvement from the 11 percent they held 45 years ago, but still a long way from 50 percent,” she added.
Nearly two-thirds, or 1,580, of the nation’s 2,469 female state lawmakers are Democrats, while 867 are Republicans and five are independents. Seventeen have no party affiliation, as elections for Nebraska’s unicameral legislature are nonpartisan.
The Nevada Legislature, which is the country’s third-smallest bicameral state legislature with just 63 members combined in the House and Senate, has the largest female representation at nearly 62 percent, according to CAWP’s report. Women make up a razor-thin majority of state lawmakers in Colorado for the first time this year at 51 percent, or 51 of the 100 members.
West Virginia has the smallest female bloc at slightly less than 12 percent, or 16 of the state legislature’s 134 members.