Tracking women candidates getting into office in N.Y.'s legislature – Spectrum News

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As the first Latina to be elected to represent upstate New York, Assemblymember Gabriella Romero was elected to the state Legislature in 2024.
“I love my job and I’m committed to doing the work,” said Romero. “So, I think I would say I’ve been quite a successful freshman legislator, especially given the challenges of being the youngest woman and being an upstate Latina, too.”
Prior to her time in the Assembly, Romero represented the 6^th ward on the Albany Common Council.
She also served as a public defender working as a felony trial attorney.
“I’ve undoubtedly had challenges and sticky situations where people have literally said, ‘you’re just a public defender.’ You know, I keep it moving,” said Romero. “I think it’s really important to stay focused on the work.”
According to data from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, more women are running for office.
At the state level across the country, in the highest position as governor, 14 women, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, are currently serving as governor, which is a record high.
In six states, Hochul is among incumbent women running for governor, while there are 15 women running in 10 states with open seats. In eight states, 10 women are running as challengers.
Kelly Dittmar tracks the numbers as the director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
“Over the last decade for example, we saw really record highs in 2018 and 2020 elections for women running for office and winning,” said Dittmar. “In the last few cycles, we’ve seen smaller gains and then even stalled progress in the 2024 elections.”
In the state of New York specifically, when Hochul came into office, there were 19 women in the state Senate, 14 Democrats and five Republicans.
Currently, there are 22, 19 Democrats and three Republicans.
While the numbers went up in the state Senate, they went down in the Assembly.
There were 56 women in 2021, 52 Democrats and four Republicans.
Currently, there are 52 women, 49 Democrats and three Republicans.
“Even though the numbers of nominees may not change significantly, they’re winning their races to get into office in New York,” said Dittmar.
Dittmar highlights the results are also tied to partisanship. When Democrats do well, women do well, because they make up a larger share of Democratic candidates and office holders, and when Republicans do well, it’s a little more mixed because Republican women are a smaller percentage of the candidate pool.

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