Sara J. Weir

The growing importance of state governance in the United States’ political system and of governors both as initiators and administrators of large annual budgets and major public programs like welfare, make the study of state governorship increasingly important in the fields of public administration and executive leadership. The governorship is also politically significant because it is so often an avenue for aspiring presidential candidates. Given the increased focus on national budgets and deficit reduction, it can be argued that governors, especially of large states, possess the necessary qualifications to serve as president.

Of the five most recent U.S. Presidents, three gained their political experience and national reputations by serving as governors. The case for governors as national executives is further strengthened by the experience that many governors have dealing directly with international trading partners—states

such as New Jersey, Texas, and Washington depend on such trade for jobs as well as for tax revenues.

While much has been written about gubernatorial races and of governors as central figures in sub-national governance, an entirely new area of scholarly inquiry now explores women as governors.

Very few studies of the governorship have focused on women as governors. However, from the 1925 election of Nellie Tayloe Ross (D-Wyoming) to the 1997 re-election of Christine Todd Whitman (R-New Jersey), fifteen women (twelve Democrats and three Republicans) have served as governors. While these numbers are small—as compared with the proportion of women elected to statewide offices or with men elected as governors—a growing number of women are running for and winning in gubernatorial contests and others are positioning themselves to run for governor by serving in other statewide elective offices.

This article expands the study of gender and leadership to include the examination of the careers of the women who have served as governors, providing comparisons of their candidacies and administrations. While there are not enough cases to draw generalizable conclusions, patterns do emerge.

For example, what do we know about the women who have served as governors? Do patterns emerge in the candidacy and election of women governors, and, if so, what do recent elections tell us about the future prospects for women seeking to serve as governors? We begin with a review of the literature and then address the questions posed.

The inclusion of the study of women as state executives expands our understanding both of gender as a political variable and of the politics of executive leadership. This combination of realms of inquiry is, according to Virginia Sapiro, common in the study of women and politics. When women such as Jeanne Shaheen or Christine Todd Whitman achieve top executive positions, they allow examination and force attention to socially defined gender roles.

The careers of the women who have served as governors helps us to determine if expectations about the impact of gender roles and stereotypes, and the political relevance of gender differences found in studies of women as legislators, also apply to state executives.

Although the literature on women governors continues to be more journalistic than scholarly, recent books like former governor Madeleine Kunin’s autobiography, Living A Political Life, are rich sources of information about gender and the exercise of power and leadership. Other autobiographical and biographical works include former Texas governor Ann Richards’ Straight From the Heart, and Growing Up Republican, the story of the personal life and career of New Jersey governor, Christine Todd Whitman. Although many details of their careers and lives are different, all three were (and are) longtime political party activists. Each describes efforts to overcome gender stereotypes and, at the same time, balance the demands that women face as parents—demands that are still far less of an issue for male candidates and office holders.

Beyond these biographical works, the literature focuses on particular gubernatorial races involving women, and comparative case studies of the campaigns of women running for governor. All of the books are very readable, and each provides important insight into both the personal lives and the campaigns of their subjects. But to begin studying this topic more systemically, one must look beyond these studies to the existing research on women and leadership.

Leadership refers to more than simply holding office: according to Genovese and Thompson, it ". . . is a complex phenomenon revolving around influence—the ability to move others in desired directions." Like other chief executives, state governors are judged on their ability to exercise leadership within the confines of the political culture and institutional structure of their states. Governors also vary in the personal skills they bring to the job. The style, character, and personal attributes they possess determine how successful they will be as state executives.

Like the presidency, the governorship is a highly gendered office. Executive leadership has been (and to a great extent continues to be) viewed as a traditionally masculine attribute. According to political pollster Celinda Lake, the qualities that make a good governor—toughness and executive ability—are most often associated by voters with men. Should the women who seek the governorship attempt to redefine executive leadership or do they need to find ways to navigate politically by being as tough and decisive as their male counterparts?

The answer to this query is not easy or straightforward: women candidates must work against the soft image put upon them by the media. For example, during the 1986 gubernatorial race in Nebraska between Kay Orr and Helen Boosalis, the candidates struggled to overcome the national media’s unwillingness to view the race in conventional political terms. Although both candidates had extensive experience in state and local elective positions and although they debated the hard issues, such as taxes and the economy, it was mid-September before national newspapers were able to stop talking about the "historic race" between two women. This focus on gender prompted Kay Orr to comment that the contest was "no bake-off."

THE SURROGATE GOVERNORS. The 1974 election of Ella Grasso (D-Connecticut) marked the beginning of an era for women as gubernatorial candidates—but three women had served as state governors prior to Grasso’s election. Acting initially as replacements or "surrogates" for their husbands, all three were appointed or elected because their husbands were governors who could not, for one reason or another, hold office any longer. Two of the three women, Nellie Tayloe Ross (D) of Wyoming and Miriam Ferguson (D) of Texas, took office in 1925.

Nellie Tayloe Ross was elected to the governorship in a special election following the death of husband and she served the remaining years of his term. Ross was then the Democratic party candidate for re-election in 1926, but was defeated by her Republican challenger in a close race (35,651 votes to 34,286 votes). She remained active in Democratic Party politics—at one point she served as Vice-Chair of the Democratic National Committee and in 1933 newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her to the position of Director of the Mint.

First appointed to the governorship when her husband resigned under threat of impeachment, Miriam Ferguson went on to be active in Texas politics for two decades. During that time she ran for governor five times and won twice, serving as governor from 1925-1927 and again from 1933-1935.

Both Ross and Ferguson first held office because their husbands were governor, but each went on to serve in appointed and elected positions based solely on their own ability. Their life-long careers as public servants have many elements that are similar to the careers of later women governors. This is not the case with the third woman surrogate governor, Lurleen Wallace (D-Alabama).

Wallace succeeded her husband George Wallace in 1967, when Alabama state law barred him from succeeding himself. Lurleen was ill at the time of her election and she died while in office in May, 1968. There is little evidence that Lurleen Wallace exercised independent decision making authority during her years in office.

THE INDEPENDENTLY ELECTED GOVERNORS. Ella Grasso, a Democrat, was the fourth woman governor. Unlike her three predecessors, her rise to prominence in politics was not dependent on her husband. In 1974 Grasso defeated her Republican challenger, Robert Steele, in an open-seat contest, receiving 59 percent of the vote. She was reelected to a second four-year term in 1978, and although she again received 59 percent of the vote, it was a hotly contested primary and general election campaign.

Grasso was a fiscal conservative and a social moderate who imposed austerity programs during her first term and used her opposition to a state income tax as a major focus of both of her gubernatorial campaigns. She had gained some of her political experience working with John Baily, national chairman of the Democratic Party under President John F. Kennedy. Her status as a long-time party activist and elected official, helped Grasso to avoid the soft image that other women governors, like Martha Layne Collins (D-Kentucky), struggled against. The late Governor Grasso stepped down for health reasons in the middle of her second term.

Grasso was followed by other independently elected governors, including Dixie Lee Ray (D-Washington) in 1976, Martha Layne Collins (D-Kentucky) in 1983, and Madeleine Kunin (D-Vermont) in 1984.

Madeleine Kunin first ran for governor in 1982. She was defeated by the incumbent Republican governor Richard Snelling, but she came back to win the gubernatorial race in 1984, defeating the Republican candidate for the open seat in a very close race. She went on to be reelected to two additional two-year terms. In 1986 she won in a race that pitted her against Peter Smith, the Republican challenger, and the former mayor of Burlington, Bernie Sanders, a Socialist running as an Independent in the election.

The 1986 election of Kay Orr as governor of Nebraska marked two firsts in gubernatorial races involving women. Orr had served as state treasurer before running for governor and not only was she the first Republican woman to be elected governor of any state, but her 1986 race was the first gubernatorial contest between two women candidates of major political parties. This landmark race was not, however, a feminist contest.

Orr was "opposed to legalized abortion in all instances," while her opponent Helen Boosalis said she was personally opposed to abortion except in the case of "rape, incest or to save a mother’s life." Both candidates called for limits on tax increases, with Orr labeling herself as a "fiscal conservative." The race drew national attention because both candidates were female, but beyond this the candidates took similar positions on many issues. Orr won with 53 percent of the vote "in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats by 75,000 registered voters."

In 1990, Joan Finney (D-Kansas) became the first female gubernatorial candidate to defeat an incumbent governor. Barbara Roberts (D-Oregon) and Ann Richards (D-Texas) were also elected in 1990.

Roberts is the most politically liberal of all the women elected governor. She was the first women elected governor of Oregon, but she "follows in the footsteps of Democrat Betty Roberts, who ran for governor in 1974, and Republican Norma Paulus, who ran in 1986." A longtime activist in the Democratic Party, Barbara Roberts served two terms in the state house of representatives. In 1984 she was elected to the office of secretary of state. Roberts was open about her support for women’s issues and her opposition to state initiatives aimed at limiting the rights and protections accorded homosexuals—in 1988 she opposed Measure 8, which repealed Democratic Governor Neil Goldsmith’s executive order banning discrimination against homosexuals working in state government."

The third woman elected to the governorship in 1990 was Ann Richards of Texas. Richards first received national attention when she addressed the Democratic National Convention in 1988. Her "poor George" comments were repeated throughout the campaign, but in Texas she was already well-known. Having served eight years as state treasurer, Richards modernized the state financial system and gained a reputation as a good administrator and a smart politician. She defeated Clayton Williams in an open-seat contest in 1990. Her victory was due, at least in part, to Williams’ anti-woman comments during the campaign

A liberal feminist, Richards made appointments that served notice that in the "New Texas" she had promised, state government would no longer be the preserve of white men. Her choices were 20 percent Hispanic, 15 percent Black, 2 percent Asian, and an eye-opening 46 percent female; there were even two openly gay appointees. Campaigning as a reformer, Richards introduced measures to stabilize insurance rates and attempted to address the unresolved question of "how to equalize financing among school districts that vary widely in their ability to raise money from property taxes."

Although she campaigned against a state income tax, the Democrat-controlled state legislature adopted a $2.7 billion tax increase that included a revision of the state’s major tax on businesses. According to Roberto Suro, "Although the levy is not strictly an income tax, businesses that used to pay taxes only on their capital assets now pay on assets or income, whichever is greater."

Barbara Roberts and Joan Finney chose not to seek reelection in 1994. Richard ran for reelection, but the gender gap in voting that favored Richards in 1990 did not materialized in 1994—Richards was defeated by George W. Bush, a more moderate Republican than Williams.

In 1993, Christine Todd Whitman (R-New Jersey) ran against incumbent governor James Florio. Whitman campaigned on a promise of a thirty percent tax cut. Characterized by her detractors as "naive" and "aristocratic," Whitman defeated Florio in a very close race. The victory was tainted by allegations that Whitman’s campaign "may have attempted to ‘suppress’ the black vote by essentially bribing black ministers not to rally their congregations for the Democrats." Whitman survived the controversy and received high marks for integrity and compassion in a May 1994 poll conducted by the Asbury Park Press.

Whitman has made her reputation as a fiscal conservative and a social moderate. In January, 1995, she announced a timetable for completing her promised 30 percent tax cut, yet, according to Dean Armandroff, executive director of the New Jersey Republican State Committee, she is not reflexively anti-government. "She really believes that there are legitimate roles for government." For example, even with major cuts in state spending, she continues to strongly support social service programs.

Like Ann Richards, Whitman has appointed many women to leadership positions, including the first women to serve as attorney general, chief of staff, and executive director of the New York/New Jersey Port Authority. According to the National Leadership Conference of Women Executives in State Government, "Women also represent 248 out of 700 appointments to New Jersey’s Boards and Commissions."

Whitman has also urged the Republican Party to take a more moderate stance on the issue of abortion. The governor commented that "abortion was a deeply personal, not political, decision" and urged the GOP "to remove the anti-abortion plank from its 1996 platform." Her stand on abortion probable explains why she was not seriously considered for the Republican vice-presidential nomination in 1996. It also contributed to her near defeat in her bid for re-election in 1997. After Whitman refused to sign a state bill outlawing "partial birth" abortion, the Christian Coalition shifted its support from her to a pro-life third party candidate, Murray Sabrin. Sabrin received nearly 114,000 votes, "virtually all of them at Mrs. Whitman’s expense."

Whitman was re-elected to a second term as governor in 1997. Like her narrow victory over the incumbent governor in 1993, she defeated her Democratic party challenger Jim McGreevey by only one percent (27,000 votes). While the abortion issue drew support of social conservatives away from Whitman, the major issue her Democratic challenger capitalized on was citizen anger over auto insurance rates in the state. In the end Whitman was able to mobilize support to form a winning coalition with 47 percent of the total vote. The impact of her close victory remains to be seen. Early predictions reflect partisan and ideological differences, more than actual knowledge of the impact of a close race on Whitman’s ability to govern.

In 1996 Jeanne Shaheen was elected governor of New Hampshire in an open seat contest. A three term State Senator prior to her election, Shaheen and her husband Bill have been active in the New Hampshire Democratic party for a number of years. According to Cary Goldberg, "Mr. Shaheen—who is called Billie, as his wife is called Jeannie—helped lead Jimmy Carter’s come-from-behind New Hampshire campaign in the 1976 season, and Mrs. Shaheen performed similar magic for Gary Hart in the state in 1984."

Even with a Republican controlled state legislature Shaheen has been quite successful with policy initiatives, including increased funding for kindergartens and health care reform. Her approval ratings are high and she is expected seek a second term in 1998.

Finally, for the second time in recent years a woman has been appointed to the governorship of Arizona following the resignation or impeachment of the elected governor. Former Secretary of State Jane Dee Hull replaced Fife Symington as governor in September 1997. Symington was convicted of Federal fraud charges. Although not taking office with a well formed policy agenda, Hull stated that education would be a priority.

TYPES OF CONTESTS. As Table One shows, between 1974 and 1997, women ran in elections 44 times as major-party candidates for governor, winning in 14 races. In 1994 alone, nine women ran for governor; all were defeated. Women candidates are most successful in open seat contests, with eight of fourteen victories in races with no incumbent (see Table Two). But what about the cases that do not fit this pattern?

Table Two shows that two women governors, Ella Grasso (D-Connecticut) and Madeleine Kunin (D-Vermont) were first elected in open-seat contests and were reelected for a second, and in Kunin’s case a third, term. More recently Joan Finney (D-Kansas) and Christine Todd Whitman (R-New Jersey) defeated incumbents in their successful gubernatorial races and Whitman later went on to win reelection as an incumbent. The other race that varied from the common pattern of election was the 1986 Nebraska gubernatorial race between Republican candidate Kay Orr and her Democratic opponent Helen Boosalis. Not only was this the first race between two women candidates of the major political parties, but with her victory Orr became the first Republican woman to be elected to the governorship. In 1990 Orr was defeated in her bid for a second term by her Democratic challenger, Ben Nelson.

* Percentage of the vote received by women candidates according to The Almanac of American Politics, except in 1990 and 1992; 1990 and 1992 figures are from secretaries of state offices.

SOURCE: Center for the American Women and Politics (CAWP), National Information Bank on Women in Public Office, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University.

Source: Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP), National Information Bank on Women in Public Office, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University.

PREVIOUS POLITICAL EXPERIENCE. Most women running for governor have held other state or local elected positions. For example, Ella Grasso was elected secretary of state in Connecticut in 1958. She went on to serve two terms as a U.S. representative before her election as governor in 1974. Madeleine Kunin, who served as lieutenant governor of Vermont, was defeated by incumbent governor Richard Snelling in the 1982 gubernatorial contest. She came back to defeat Republican John Easton in an open-seat contest in 1984. Her victory in a state known as a "bastion of Republicanism" was due in part to her high name recognition and past service in state government. Both Kay Orr and Helen Boosalis were well known in Nebraska electoral politics, with Orr serving as state treasurer and Boosalis as mayor of Lincoln. Ann Richards gained political experience serving two terms as state treasurer. First elected to the position in 1982, she became the first woman in Texas to hold statewide elected office since the days of Miriam Ferguson.

In sum, holding other statewide elective office gives women the experience, partisan connections, and name recognition necessary to seek the governorship. Current New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman is an exception to this pattern, gaining the experience necessary to seek the governorship by virtue of her family background, years of political involvement, and near defeat of incumbent Senator Bill Bradley in the 1990 senatorial race.

Nineteen Ninety-Four was definitely not "The Year of the Woman Governor." Nine women ran for state governor in the thirty-six gubernatorial contests held—none were elected. The race in Maryland was the closest and most hotly contested. In that race the Republican candidate, Ellen Sauerbrey, continues to dispute the victory of her Democratic opponent, Paris Glendening. Losing by only 5,993 votes, out of 1.4 million votes cast, she took the matter to the Maryland State Court. In her suit, Ms. Sauerbrey said she "had been cheated through votes cast by dead people, prison inmates and unregistered voters." On January 13 a state judge ruled that Sauerbrey did not have enough evidence to overturn the election. Glendening and his running mate for lieutenant governor, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, took office in mid-January.

In California, Kathleen Brown came into the race with the right family background, high name recognition, and previous political experience. However, like Dianne Feinstein in 1990, she was no match for Governor Pete Wilson. Feinstein recently announced she would not seek the governorship again in 1998, stating her desire to remain in the U.S. Senate. The growing importance of the governorship is illustrated by the national attention already being paid to a electoral contest that is still over a year away. Welfare reform, immigrant rights, and affirmative action, all policy issues that would have been primarily federal in scope are now being decided at the state level and in no state are they more contestable than California.

Fifteen women have served as state governors. Today three women hold the office of governor, but 18 women are currently lieutenant governors. According to the Center for the American Woman and Politics, women have been elected and appointed to statewide executive offices in all but two of the fifty states. Many more hold offices such as secretary of state or state treasurer—offices that have given most of the women discussed here the experience and recognition necessary to be elected governor.

How do we evaluate this record? What predictions can be made about the future of women as governors or the governorship as an avenue of mobility to the presidency for women? The progress made in the election of women governors is mixed, but there are several positive developments.

First, more women are running for and holding statewide elected positions—putting themselves in the "experience pool." If this trend continues, we should see many qualified female candidates in gubernatorial contests in 1998 and beyond.

Second, female candidates are beginning to defeat incumbents, showing their strength as candidates and their ability to raise money as challengers. Only Finney and Whitman have defeated incumbents, but many women now holding other statewide elected positions are poised to mount challenges in the upcoming electoral period. Republican state officeholders have received campaign support and advice from Christine Todd Whitman—currently the model for many Republican women seeking state elected office.

Third, Whitman and former governors Ann Richards and Madeleine Kunin are highly visible in their respective political parties. Whitman presented the Republican Party’s response to President Clinton’s 1995 State of the Union Address and Kunin currently holds a high ranking position in the Clinton administration. Still, the picture remains less than perfect.

Although the governorship has not served as the same avenue to the presidency for women as it has for men, the changing character of political ambition among women and the increased acceptance of women in high political office may change this.

Throughout the history of the United States, only fifteen women have held the position of governor. No more than four women have served as governor simultaneously. All nine of the female candidates for governor in the November 1994 elections were defeated. With the growing importance of the governorship in U.S. politics, full political equality will not be achieved until more women are elected as state chief executives.

From Nellie Tayloe Ross, the first woman governor, to the women currently holding office, the governorship has been both a continuation of public service and a precursor to further political activity—their time as governor is just one part of their political lives.

The careers of women governors past and present continue to suggest ways in which women can reshape state executive governance. The fifteen women who have served as their state’s chief executive officer serve as important role models for other women seeking statewide—and in the future, nationwide—elected office.

In conclusion, this essay only begins to explore the subject of female governors. Closer examination of patterns of support for female gubernatorial candidates and analysis focusing more broadly on women holding other statewide elective offices will increase our understanding of state executive leadership. Further research on these and other related topics is clearly called for.