The election of Republican Kelly Ayotte as New Hampshire’s governor means 13 women will serve as a state’s chief executive next year, breaking the record of 12 set after the 2022 elections.
Governors hold powerful sway in American politics, shaping state policy and often using the experience and profile gained to launch campaigns for higher offices.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer was floated as a potential Democratic nominee for president after President Joe Biden exited the race.
Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was thought to be in the running for President-elect Donald Trump’s vice presidential post.
Ayotte, a former U.S. senator, defeated the Democratic nominee Joyce Craig, a former mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire’s largest city.
Still, 18 states have never had a woman in the governor’s office.
With two women vying for governor in New Hampshire, a new record for female governors was inevitable.
The state has a long history of electing women. As a senator, Ayotte was part of the nation’s first all-female congressional delegation. It was also the first state to have a female governor, state Senate president and House speaker at the same time, and the first to have a female majority in its Senate. Ayotte will be the state’s third woman to be governor.
Both Ayotte and Craig said their gender hasn’t come up on the campaign trail although reproductive rights often took front and center.
