Democrats look to expand on their record number of female governors next year

Source: NBC News

Nov. 12, 2025, 4:24 PM EST


When Meghan Meehan-Draper first started working at the Democratic Governors Association, “there were more governors named John than there were women governors,” she told reporters last week. Now, with Govs.-elect Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia poised to take office, there will be 10 female Democratic governors serving next year, along with four Republicans for a total of 14.

“We now have the highest number of Democratic women governors in the history of the United States,” Meehan-Draper, the executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, told NBC News, adding: “That’s almost half the caucus, at this point, of Democratic governors.”

Following last week’s elections, Democratic strategists are already turning toward next year’s gubernatorial elections, during which they hope to keep adding women to state executive roles after Spanberger becomes Virginia’s first female governor and Sherrill becomes New Jersey’s first Democratic woman to serve as governor.

“We have, I think, 18 states where there’s women running for governor in 2026 in our 36 [total] races,” Meehan-Draper said. “So it’s just an exciting opportunity to continue to raise money and spend money on women running for executive office, where we don’t really think anybody else is doing that.”

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/democrats-look-expand-record-number-female-governors-year-rcna243512