MINNESOTA — A record number of women are seeking governor's offices in the November election. Minnesota, which has never elected a female governor, will hold its gubernatorial primary election on Aug. 11.

Currently, 14 women serve as U.S. governors, representing less than one-third of all governors. Of these, ten are Democrats and four are Republicans. Six incumbent governors are term-limited in the current election cycle. Kelly Dittmar, director of research for the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said, "In order to keep the number at the record level that we have today, which is 14 women governors, we have to at least elect six new women governors in this cycle."

This year, 43 Democratic women are running for governor, an increase from 41 Democratic women who ran in 2018. Twenty-nine Republican women have filed to run for governor this year. The record for Republican women running for governor was 37 in 2022. Dittmar said, "Even in a year that looks good for women candidates running for governor, we're seeing women still be underrepresented in the pool, and we're seeing these partisan disparities that are persistent."

Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin are also fielding female gubernatorial candidates this year despite never having elected a woman governor. For every election since 1976, Minnesota has voted for Democratic presidential candidates. Dittmar said, "Time and again, when we have more women in office, they bring distinct perspectives that inform their agendas as well as the types of issues that might not have gotten attention were it not for somebody who had that lived experience."

No independent assessment was available for this report.