Women govern Michigan, but remain outnumbered in Lansing. Parity can wait

Women make up just over half of the U.S. population, but only one state, Nevada, has ever had a female-majority legislature. Congress currently has the highest percentage of female representatives ever – but 72% of members are still men.

In Michigan, voters made history in 2018 by electing women to all three statewide offices – Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, all Democrats. All three were re-elected in 2022, when colleagues also chose Democrat Winnie Brinks of Grand Rapids to be the state’s first female Senate majority leader.

Michigan is closer than most states to achieving gender parity, an analysis by the group RepresentWomen found. Across state, federal and local offices, Michigan ranked third in the nation for the highest gender parity for women in elected office in the latest report from RepresentWomen, which periodically monitors gender representation among U.S. public office holders.

About 40% of Michigan lawmakers participating in this session are women: 15 of the 38 senators are women, while there are 44 women, one non-binary member and 65 men in the House.

Of the 219 major party state legislative candidates running in Michigan’s 2024 general election, 36.5% are women, and female major party candidates are on the ticket in 61% of state legislative races, a Bridge Michigan analysis found. Female candidates represent both main parties in 13 districts.

It would take 17 more women to achieve a female-majority legislature in both chambers and seven to achieve that goal in the Chamber, the only chamber elected this year. Either outcome is unlikely in the 2024 cycle, observers say.

Several female incumbent candidates also face heated challenges from men in competitive political districts, meaning the overall number could fluctuate depending on election results.

Although the odds are higher in 2026, when both the House and Senate are up for grabs, it may still take a few electoral cycles to achieve gender parity – more so if political actors and leaders do not take an active role in encouraging and supporting to future women. candidates on both sides of the aisle, said Maul of Vote Run Lead Action.

Democratic women and mothers see gains

In many ways, Michigan is ahead of the curve when it comes to women’s political representation.

Democratic women are approaching or surpassing parity in their state legislative caucuses across the country, and the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University found that this cycle’s Democratic candidates won state House primaries at higher rates. higher than Democratic men and Republican candidates of any gender.

This is true in Michigan, where women lawmakers currently make up the majority of the Democratic caucuses in the House and Senate. In state legislative races, female Democratic candidates on the general election ballot slightly outnumber male Democrats, with women representing Democrats on the ticket in 56 of the 110 races.

An analysis by the Vote Mama Foundation, a group that tracks mothers’ participation in political office, also found that the Michigan Legislature ranks fourth in the nation for representation of mothers with minor children at 13.5%, well above the average national rate of 7.9%.