MADRID, 10 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
American voters have chosen a record number of women governors in the mid-term legislative elections held this Tuesday in the country.
At least eleven women will occupy the highest state executive positions, one of the political positions with the lowest female representation in the United States, reports the Bloomberg agency.
New York and Massachusetts, under Democratic control, and Arkansas, in the hands of the Republicans, have elected their first female governors in the history of their states.
Likewise, Alabama, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico and South Dakota have also elected governors, so that this Tuesday women have won (for now) nine seats in the House of Representatives.
Meanwhile, Arizona and Oregon have leading candidates in the tight fight for the governor’s race.
Still, the total number could rise to 12 if Kansas Democratic Governor Laura Kelly, who is leading in the polls, defeats her Republican challenger Derek Schmidt.
Currently, nine women lead the states, matching the maximum number first set in 2004.
Women’s representation at the highest levels of American politics is traditionally tiny: women make up just 28 percent of lawmakers in the House and 24 percent in the Senate. Meanwhile, the number of governors is reduced to 18 percent.
