Facts: Women in Public Office in 2011

Congress

Currently women hold 90 (16.8%) of the 535 seats in the 112th U.S. Congress.  Seventeen women serve in the Senate (17%) and 73 in the House (16.8%).  Three women (all D’s) serve as non-voting Delegates to the House, from D.C., the Virgin Islands and Guam. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), is the House Minority Leader.

Of the 90 serving, 62 are Democrats: 29 are Republicans.  Twenty-four (27%) are women of color (13 African Americans, 7 Latinas, 4 Asian Pacific Islanders; 22 D’s, 2 R’s).  Fifty-nine of the 72 women in the House held previous elective office, ranging from school board member to statewide office.

Twenty states have no female representation in either house of Congress.  Four states (DE, IA, MS and VT) have never sent a woman to Congress. Arizona has sent four to the House: Isabella Selmes Greenway (D) 1933-36, Karan English (D) 1992-94, Ann Kirkpatrick (D) 2008-2010, and Gabrielle Giffords (D) elected in 2006.

Statewide Elective Offices

Women hold 71 of the 317 (22.4%) statewide elective executive positions.  Thirty-nine are Democrats; 31 are Republicans; 1 is nonpartisan, Eleven are women of color.  Only 6 serve as governors: Jan Brewer (R-AZ), Bev Perdue (D-NC), Susana Martinez (R-NM), Mary Fallin (R-OK), Nikki Haley (R-SC) and Christine Gregoire (D-WA). Eleven serve as lieutenant governors; 7 serve as attorneys general; 11 as secretaries of state; 7 as treasurers/chief financial officers; and 5 as chief education officials. Brenda Burns (R) and Sandra Kennedy (D) serve on the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Arizona is the first state to have had four women governors: Rose Mofford (D), Jane Dee Hull (R), Janet Napolitano (D), and Jan Brewer (R).

State Legislatures

1,743 (23.6%) of the 7,382 state legislators are women (1,056 Democrats, 670 Republicans, 17 np/other). Three hundred forty-seven (19.9%) are women of color: 330 Democrats, 15 Republicans, 2 nonpartisan. Colorado ranks first in the percentage of women legislators (41.0%).  South Carolina again ranks last (9.4%).  Only three women serve as presidents of state senates; two serve as speakers of state houses. 

Arizona is in 3rd place in the percentage of women legislators (34.4%).  Women hold 31 of the 90 legislative seats (11 out of 30 in the Senate - 5 Democrats, 6 Republicans; 20 out of 60 in the House - 7 Democrats, 13 Republicans).  Three serve in leadership positions in the Senate: Sylvia Allen (R) as president pro tempore, Leah Landrum Taylor (D) as assistant minority leader and Paula Aboud (D) as minority whip.  Two serve in leaderships position in the House: Debbie Lesko (R) as majority whip and Anna Tovar (D) as minority whip. Five out of 15 Senate committee chairs are woman; 4 out of 17 House committee chairs are women.

Municipal Offices

Only 8 of the mayors of the 100 largest U.S. cities are women. Arizona has one, Elaine Scruggs of Glendale. Thirty (11.9%) of the 252 mayors of cities over 100,000 are women.  Two hundred two (17.3%) of the 1,167 mayors of cities over 30,000 are women.                                            

Fifty-one (28.8%) of the 177 elected municipal officials in the 25 Arizona cities with populations of over 30,000 are women.  Only 4 (16%) of the 25 mayors are women – Scruggs, Marie Lopez Rogers of Avondale, Sara Presler of Flagstaff and Georgia Lord of Goodyear. Three of the six Tucson City Council members are women: Regina Romero, Karin Uhlich & Shirley Scott. Thelda Williams is the only woman on the eight-member Phoenix City Council.       

Arizona County Offices

In 2011, 14 (25.5%) of the 55 Arizona county board of supervisor positions are filled by women, with a record 5 serving as chairs.  Seven (47%) of the 15 counties have no female supervisors. Three women (20%) serve as county attorneys; 5 (33%) as assessors; 12 (80%) as clerks of the court; 15 (100%) as recorders; 9 (60%) as school superintendents; 10 (67%) as treasurers.

Arizona Judiciary

Fifty-four of the 176 (30.7%) Superior Court judges currently serving are women: 30 out of 95 (31.6%) in Maricopa; 8 out of 28 (28.6%) in Pima; 16 out of 53 (30.2%) in the 13 outlying counties. Presiding Judge on Pima Co. Superior Court: Sarah Simmons.

Twenty-five of the 87 (28.7%) Justices of the Peace are women: 4 out of 25 in Maricopa County, 6 out of 10 in Pima County; 15 out of 52 in the other 13 counties.
                                            
Six of the 22 (27.1%) Court of Appeals judges are women—5 out of 16 in Div. I (Phoenix), 1 out of 6 in Div. II (Tucson).  Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch is the only woman on the State Supreme Court. 

Arizona Tribes

In 2011 four (18.2%) of the 22 Arizona tribes are led by women, with five women also serving as tribal vice chairs/presidents.

Percentages of Women in U.S. Elective Offices

Office	1971	1979	1983	1987	1991	1995	1999	2003	2007	2009	2011
U.S. Congress	3%	3%	4%	5%	5.6%	10.3%	12.1%	13.8%	16.3%	16.8%	16.8%
Statewide Elective	n/a	11%	13%	14%	17.5%	25.6%	28%	25.4%	24.1%	22.9%	22.4%
State Legislatures	5%	10%	13%	16%	18.3%	20.7%	23%	22.5%	23.5%	24.3%	23.6%
Mayors (U.S. cities of 30,000 or more)	1%	7%	9%	11%	17%	18.2%	21%	17%	16.2%	16.8%	17.3%

Compiled by the Arizona Women's Political Caucus from information provided by the Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP), Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University; National League of Cities; U.S. Conference of Mayors; 50-50 by 2020; League of Arizona Cities and Towns; Arizona Association of Counties; Arizona Women Lawyers Association.

For further information contact the Arizona Women's Political Caucus at 520-625-4579 or lhbarter@cox.net

10/2011
2nd Edition

No more waiting No more tokenism No more excuses

Changing the Face of Arizona Politics