Democratic Women Win a Record 100 House Seats as 17 Women Will Govern States

At least 100 Democratic women won seats in the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, a record for the party and the chamber, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers. The previous high was 95, set in 2025. The total should rise further, with 50 more women still standing in 39 uncalled House races.

The records did not stop with the House. At least 17 women, 14 Democrats and three Republicans, will serve as governor in 2027, beating the previous record of 14. And for the first time, three Black women will sit in the Senate at the same time. At least 116 women of both parties have already won House seats, including 16 Republicans, short of the all-time record of 127.

Key Points

• At least 100 Democratic women won House seats in the November 3, 2026 midterms — a record, per CAWP at Rutgers. The previous high was 95, set in 2025.
• At least 116 women of both parties have won House seats, including 16 Republicans; 50 more women stand in 39 uncalled races.
• Women won 18 of the 40 House seats Democrats flipped, per The 19th.
• At least 17 women — 14 Democrats and three Republicans — will serve as governor in 2027, beating the record of 14.
• For the first time, three Black women will serve in the US Senate together, including Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton.

What Happened

Americans voted on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, in midterms that decided all 435 House seats, 35 Senate seats and governorships in 36 states. Democrats retook the House, with NBC News projecting at least 259 House seats for the party. Within that victory, women candidates were decisive: The 19th reported women won 18 of the 40 seats Democrats had flipped by noon Wednesday.

CAWP, which has tracked women in American politics for decades, put the Democratic women's total at 100 and counting. The count is preliminary: dozens of races remained uncalled on Wednesday, including 39 House contests in which 50 women were still standing. Every additional win will push the record higher, and the all-time record for women of both parties in the House, 127, is within reach.

Background and Context

The record did not arrive overnight. Women have gained ground in Congress in almost every election cycle of the past decade, but the pace has been slow. The big jumps came in waves: 1992, the Year of the Woman, and 2018, when a record 102 women won House seats across both parties. The 2026 record is different: it is driven by one party's women alone.

The Senate tells a similar story: women hold 27 of its 100 seats, per The 19th, and only 64 women have served there since 1789. Carol Moseley Braun, also of Illinois, was the first Black woman elected to the Senate in 1992, and she served alone. Women are about half of the population, yet they hold only about 28 percent of Congress's seats, and just 445 women have ever served there.

Record Women in the House

The figure matters because it is not a single race or a single state. It is the sum of dozens of victories across the country, many won by women who flipped Republican-held seats. The 19th reported that 18 of the 40 seats Democrats flipped by midday Wednesday were won by women, and the party's women candidates were responsible for at least 10 of those flips outright.

Two new members show how wide the change runs. Jasmine Clark of Georgia will be the first Black woman PhD scientist in Congress. Melat Kiros, born in Ethiopia and raised in Denver, will be the first Black woman to represent Colorado and the first Gen Z woman in Congress. Sixteen Republican women have also won House seats so far, part of the 116 already elected.

Reactions and Quotes

Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico, chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus, put the result plainly: "Women made history because we showed up to vote, and then voted in more than 100 Democratic women to serve in the House." Her point: voters made the record, not only the women who ran.

Juliana Stratton, who won the Illinois Senate seat being vacated by Dick Durbin, spoke during her campaign about joining two Black women already serving in the Senate. "What I knew is that in something so hard, I could get there and there would be two other women who fully understood what it was like," she told The 19th. Stratton will serve alongside Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, the first two Black women to serve together after the 2024 election.

Why It Matters

A seat is not a policy, but who holds it shapes what gets debated, investigated and funded. The Senate shapes law on health care, jobs, voting rights and the cost of living, and Tuesday's winners will vote on all of it. The practical shift is in who sits where decisions are drafted and whose experience informs the questions asked.

The governor's races carry the same weight at state level. Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, won in Georgia and becomes the first Black woman ever elected governor of any state. Deb Haaland won in New Mexico as the first Native American woman to lead a state, and Gina Hinojosa won in Texas as its first Hispanic woman governor. A record five Black governors will serve at once; before this year, only three Black governors had ever been elected, all men.

What Happens Next

The numbers are not final: with 39 House races still uncalled and 50 women standing in them, the record of 100 is a floor, not a ceiling. The new Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2027, when Hakeem Jeffries is expected to become the first Black speaker. The Democratic Women's Caucus will be its largest ever. Funding, health care and the cost of living dominated the campaign, and the new majority's first test will come quickly. For the wider results, see our report on Democrats winning a governorship majority for the first time in 20 years.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Democratic women won House seats in the 2026 midterms?

At least 100, a record, per the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. The previous high was 95, set in 2025.

How many women in total won seats in the House?

At least 116 women of both parties, including 16 Republicans. The all-time record is 127.

How many women will serve as governor in 2027?

At least 17 — 14 Democrats and three Republicans — beating the previous record of 14.

Who are the three Black women who will serve in the Senate together?

Juliana Stratton of Illinois, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware — the first time three Black women have served in the Senate together.

When does the new Congress take office?

The 120th Congress convenes on January 3, 2027.

Sources: Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University; The 19th; NBC News; Associated Press; CNBC. See also our coverage of Stratton's Illinois Senate win.