Center for American Women and Politics / Rutgers University
May 12, 2020
Contact: Daniel De Simone

New Record for Women Candidates for U.S. House

As of today, 490 women have filed as candidates for U.S. House seats, a new record high, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. This surpasses even the recordbreaking 2018 midterm election, in which 476 women filed to run for House seats. In 14 states, filing deadlines have yet to pass.

Much of the surge in candidate filings at this point in the 2020 cycle has been driven by Republican women. Thus far, 195 GOP women have filed for House races this year, far exceeding the previous high of 133 set in 2010. Democrats, however, continue to outpace their Republican counterparts; 295 Democratic women have filed as candidates in House races. They are on track to modestly improve on their own high for House candidacies, which was set in 2018 at 356.

“In 2018, amidst the excitement of a record-breaking year for women candidates, we often asked whether we were in the middle of a one-time spike in candidacies driven by unique circumstances or if we were seeing the emergence of a new normal,” said CAWP Director Debbie Walsh. “This is a sign that the momentum isn’t letting up. We are particularly encouraged to see Republican women stepping up and seeking office — we’ll never get to parity without women on both sides of the aisle running and winning.”

For full numbers, with data visualizations, of the women running for office in 2020, both in congressional and state elections, visit our 2020 Candidate Summary page, and for a list of women running as majorparty candidates in congressional and statewide races, view our 2020 candidate list. As always, additional context, including historical data and current analysis, can be found at CAWP’s Election Watch.


About CAWP

The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is nationally recognized as the leading source of scholarly research and current data about women’s political participation in the United States. Its mission is to promote greater knowledge and understanding about the role of women in American politics, enhance women's influence in public life, and expand the diversity of women in politics and government. CAWP’s education and outreach programs translate research findings into action, addressing women’s underrepresentation in political leadership with effective, intersectional, and imaginative programs serving a variety of audiences. As the world has watched Americans considering female candidates for the nation's highest offices, CAWP’s five decades of analyzing and interpreting women’s participation in American politics have provided a foundation and context for the discussion.