Record number of female governors elected

Former public health official Amy Acton at an election night event in Columbus, Ohio.Jessica Phelps / Bloomberg via GettyShareAdd NBC News to GoogleNov. 4, 2026, 12:45 AM ESTBy Alexandra MarquezVoters in 15 states have elected female governors, setting a record in Tuesday’s election as Democrats made sweeping gains in races up and down the ballot.

With some governor’s races still unresolved, at least eight Democratic women were projected to win their contests, and two Republican women — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Tennessee Gov.-elect Marsha Blackburn — were projected to do the same.

Democratic women made historic gains in battleground states for their party, with former public health official Amy Acton in Ohio and state Rep. Gina Hinojosa in Texas emerging victorious in races that were not initially expected to be competitive.

In her victory speech, Hinojosa told her supporters: “I am a daughter of the Rio Grande Valley, where the people embody the work ethic and values of our great state, where no one would have imagined that one day, a little girl from the RGV would stand before you here as the next governor of the greatest state, Texas. But God had a plan, and the people of Texas had a plan, too.”

Acton in Ohio, Hinojosa in Texas, Blackburn in Tennessee, Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota, Helena Foulkes in Rhode Island and Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia picked up governorships currently held by men.

Georgia voters led the historic night with an early victory for Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor and adviser to former President Joe Biden, who will become the first Black female governor in U.S. history.

In her victory speech Tuesday night, Bottoms quoted the 1971 song “If I Were Your Woman.”

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe battlegrounds our journalists are reporting fromFOR SUBSCRIBERSThe midterms are over, and Trump is over the midtermsFOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat is rhabdo? Rare muscle condition linked to marathon runner’s deathFOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ is deploying a record number of monitors on Election Day FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow to watch election night: Key races, poll closing times, bellwether campaigns and moreFOR SUBSCRIBERSThe Data Dive: Steve Kornacki’s guide to early election night bellwethersFOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Terrible betrayal’: House Democrats consider whether to banish Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens FOR SUBSCRIBERSChatGPT and other AI tools rely on a small Brooklyn nonprofit for voting informationFOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump wants states to set aside ballots. So far, federal judges aren’t having it.FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow NBC News has prepared to cover election nightFOR SUBSCRIBERSWelcome to the gas price electionFOR SUBSCRIBERSJosh Shapiro takes on Pennsylvania Democrats’ biggest challenge: Beating Brian FitzpatrickFOR SUBSCRIBERSIs Brazil the exception to Latin America’s right-wing wave? Why the region is shiftingFOR SUBSCRIBERSNetwork of independent AI evaluators aims to boost public insight into AI giantsFOR SUBSCRIBERSThe fight for young men comes to MichiganSlide 1 of 1“Georgia, I have said over the past few days: If I were your woman,” she told supporters. “Well, now I am your woman, and here is what I will do: I will never, ever, ever stop loving you. Thank you, Georgia, for electing me as your governor.”

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe battlegrounds our journalists are reporting fromFOR SUBSCRIBERSThe midterms are over, and Trump is over the midtermsFOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat is rhabdo? Rare muscle condition linked to marathon runner’s deathFOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ is deploying a record number of monitors on Election Day FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow to watch election night: Key races, poll closing times, bellwether campaigns and moreFOR SUBSCRIBERSThe Data Dive: Steve Kornacki’s guide to early election night bellwethersFOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Terrible betrayal’: House Democrats consider whether to banish Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens FOR SUBSCRIBERSChatGPT and other AI tools rely on a small Brooklyn nonprofit for voting informationFOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump wants states to set aside ballots. So far, federal judges aren’t having it.FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow NBC News has prepared to cover election nightFOR SUBSCRIBERSWelcome to the gas price electionFOR SUBSCRIBERSJosh Shapiro takes on Pennsylvania Democrats’ biggest challenge: Beating Brian FitzpatrickFOR SUBSCRIBERSIs Brazil the exception to Latin America’s right-wing wave? Why the region is shiftingFOR SUBSCRIBERSNetwork of independent AI evaluators aims to boost public insight into AI giantsFOR SUBSCRIBERSThe fight for young men comes to MichiganSlide 1 of 1In Maine, Hannah Pingree was projected to win the governor’s race, keeping a woman in the highest statewide office after Janet Mills’ two terms. In Massachusetts and New York, Maura Healey and Kathy Hochul were re-elected.

Several races — including those in Oregon and New Hampshire — remained uncalled after midnight ET. But those races also had two female major-party nominees competing.

The previous record for female governors serving at once was 14, a mark that was reached briefly last year and achieved again and sustained in the next year, after Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, both Democrats, were sworn in following 2025 election wins.

Alexandra MarquezAlexandra Marquez is a politics reporter for NBC News.