3 Questions With the Center for American Women and Politics

Oregon voters elected a woman for governor last year, the third woman in the role in state history. I asked Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the Center for American Women in Politics, about the historic election, in which no matter the outcome a woman would serve.

How good a year was it for women running for governor across the country?
“We first hit the record of nine women serving simultaneously as governor in 2004. Decades later, that's still the record high – until this cycle.

“We will have 12 women governors. That's 24% of all governors and women are over 50% of the population. So it's always a mixed bag.”

How common is it for women to run against women for governor?

“In all of U.S. history, we had only had four general election contests between women [who were] major party candidates until [2022], where we had five in one year. Oregon is distinct, but also part of a historic moment in having these gubernatorial contests where women are facing off against each other.

“Men run against each other all the time and people don't make a big deal of it. So when we see women running against each other at the highest level, it's indicative, at least to us, of some progress.”

Are Oregon voters particularly accepting of women candidates? 

“Oregon has often been among the leaders in terms of women's political power and representation.”