--- title: Minnesota and Tennessee Will Elect Their First Woman Governor on 3rd November, and Four More States Could Follow description: Minnesota and Tennessee will elect their first women governors on 3rd November. Every first women could make in the 2026 US midterms, by state. author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-11-02T08:15:20.556Z updated: 2026-11-02T08:15:20.567Z canonical: https://richwoman.co/article/women-make-history-us-midterms-2026 image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-7103106.webp categories: Female leadership, Culture & Society content_type: News region: United States publication: Rich Woman Magazine --- Two American states will swear in their first woman governor in January, whichever party wins. In Minnesota and Tennessee, Democrats and Republicans both nominated women for governor, so the result on Tuesday 3rd November settles only which woman takes office. A record 26 women are major-party nominees for governor this year, one more than the previous high of 25 set in 2022. Nineteen are Democrats and seven are Republicans. Women hold 14 of the 50 governorships today, ten of them Democrats and four Republicans, and 17 states have never had a woman in the job. If you are following from the UK, the first polls close at 11pm UK time on Tuesday and most results arrive overnight into Wednesday. This page lists every first on the ballot and will be updated with the results. ## Minnesota Governor Race: Klobuchar v Demuth Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, faces Lisa Demuth, the Republican Speaker of the Minnesota House, for the seat Tim Walz is leaving. It is the first race for governor in Minnesota history in which both major-party nominees are women. Klobuchar became the first woman elected to the US Senate from Minnesota in 2006. A win would make her the state's first woman governor exactly 20 years later. If Demuth wins, she would be the first Black woman to serve as governor of any US state. ## Tennessee Governor Race: Blackburn v Green Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Republican, faces Jerri Green, a Democrat on the Memphis City Council. Blackburn has served in the Senate since 2019 after 16 years in the House of Representatives, and forecasters rate the race safely Republican. Blackburn has said she would keep her Senate seat until she is sworn in as governor, which would let her choose her own successor in Washington. ## Four More States Could Elect Their First Woman Governor **Georgia.** Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic former mayor of Atlanta, would be Georgia's first woman governor and the first Black woman to govern any state. **Ohio.** Amy Acton, a Democrat and former director of the Ohio Department of Health, would be the first woman elected governor of Ohio. Nancy Hollister, a Republican, served as governor for less than two weeks over New Year 1999 after her predecessor resigned, but no woman has won the office at the ballot box. Acton faces the Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in a race forecasters rate a toss-up. **Pennsylvania.** Stacy Garrity, the Republican state treasurer, would be Pennsylvania's first woman governor. She is challenging the Democratic incumbent Josh Shapiro, who is favoured to win a second term. **Idaho.** Terri Pickens, a Democratic lawyer, would be Idaho's first woman governor in a state that last elected a Democrat to the office in 1990. ## National Firsts for Women Governors **New Mexico.** Deb Haaland, the Democrat who served as Secretary of the Interior and was one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress in 2018, would be the first Native American woman to serve as governor of any state. Her running mate, Stephanie Garcia Richard, makes theirs only the eighth all-woman ticket for governor in US history, and a win would make New Mexico the first state to elect two women of colour as governor and lieutenant governor together. **Texas.** Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat, would be the first Latina governor of Texas. **Vermont.** Amanda Janoo, a Democrat, would be the first Democratic Asian American woman to serve as governor of any state. **Oregon.** Christine Drazan would be Oregon's first Republican woman governor. **Michigan.** If Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic secretary of state, wins, Michigan becomes only the fifth state to have had three or more women governors. ## Senate Firsts for Native American and Black Women No Native American woman has ever served in the US Senate. Three are on the ballot. **Minnesota.** Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, a Democrat and citizen of the White Earth Nation, faces the Republican Michelle Tafoya. Flanagan would be the first Native American woman in the Senate. Tafoya would be the first Latina Republican senator and the first Republican woman to represent Minnesota in the Senate. With two women on the ballot, Minnesota is set to make history in both of its top races. **Alaska.** Mary Peltola, a Democrat of Yup'ik heritage who was the first Alaska Native person elected to Congress, would be the first Native American woman in the Senate and the first Democratic woman senator from Alaska. **Oklahoma.** N'Kiyla 'Jasmine' Thomas, a Democrat and Chickasaw citizen, would be the first woman to represent Oklahoma in the Senate. **Illinois.** Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, a Democrat, would make three Black women serving in the Senate at the same time for the first time, alongside Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware. **Montana.** Alani Bankhead, a Democrat, would be the first woman to represent Montana in the Senate. **Louisiana.** Julia Letlow would be the first Republican woman to represent Louisiana in the Senate. ## Women in US Politics Before the Vote Women hold a record 27 of the 100 Senate seats, 16 of them Democrats and 11 Republicans. Even so, 15 states have never sent a woman to the Senate, and four states have never had a woman as either senator or governor: Colorado, Idaho, Indiana and Pennsylvania. The nominee numbers are mixed. Nineteen women are running for the Senate in November, short of the record 23 in 2018. In the House, 271 women won their party's nomination, fewer than the record 298 in 2020 but more than in 2024. State legislatures have the strongest showing, with a record 3,794 women nominees. The figures also show a wide difference between the parties. Women make up 52.8% of Democratic nominees for governor and 18.4% of Republican nominees. In House races the split is 45.5% against 17.6%. The total number of women in the Senate is unlikely to rise this year. Four women senators are retiring, and two more, Klobuchar and Blackburn, would leave the Senate if they win their races for governor. ## Results on Wednesday 4th November This page will be updated on Wednesday with every result above, including which firsts came true and which did not.