Her Hat Was in the Ring!
U.S.Women Who Ran for Political Office Before 1920
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 Belva A. Lockwood |
 Jeannette Rankin |
 Anne Martin |
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Women by Political Office
| Between the 1860s and 1920 women ran for over 30 different political offices on the city, county, state, and national levels. Even before women were legally able to vote or run for office, such well-known women as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Victoria Woodhull, and Belva A. Lockwood announced their candadicies for some of the highest offices in the land. Lesser known women in many states for the next 50 years, continued to campaign for political offices at all levels, even if they did not have the legal right to do so. By the early1870s women had gained the right to run for some offices, especially on the local level, in Kansas and a few of the Western states. As soon as women gained municipal, state, or full suffrage in their states, most legislatures or the state judiciary agreed that women also had the right to occupy political offices commensurate with their franchise rights. Once certain types of political offices opened to women, women immediately began campaigning for, and often winning, those offices. The largest number of women gained offices connected with education-county or state school superintendent, school board member, etc. School suffrage was often the first type of franchise women gained on the local or state level. Previous experience in the educational system as teachers, pricipals, or college professors (in non elected positions), also helped women appear as qualified for the elected positions, once they began campaigning. The first women to gain elected political office in the United States were C.J. Sharon and Ellen Webster (1872, in Kansas) as County School Superintendents. But women also were elected to positions outside of the field of education. It is likely that the position that attracted the largest number of women was as representatives to the lower house of their state legislatures. Over 50 women campaigned or served as state representatives beginning in the mid 1890s. In 1894, for the first time, several women gained seats in Colorado state house. Two years later, Martha Hughes Cannon of Utah became the first woman in the United States to be elected a state senator. In 1918 Jeannette Rankin of Montana was the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Below is a list of offices for which women campaigned or to which they were elected before 1920; and the names of women who campaigned for each office. |
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| National Offices | State Offices | County Offices | Municipal Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executive: President Vice President |
Executive: Governor Lieutenant Governor State Board of Equalization State Board of Land State Attorney General |
Executive: County Clerk County Recorder County Treasurer County Prosecuting Attorney Register of Deeds Tax Collector/Assessor Judge of Elections |
Executive: |
| Legislative: Senator Congressperson |
Legislative: State Senator State Representative |
Judicial: Clerk of the District Court Probate Judge Justice of the Peace Judge [unknown level] |
Education: Superintendent of Schools School Commissioner School Board President School Board member or School Trustee School Director |
Judicial: Judge of the Superior Court Reporter of the State Supreme Court Judge [unknown level] |
Education: County School Superintendent County School Board Member |
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| Education: State University Regent/ Trustee State Superintendent of Schools or Superintendent of Instruction State Board of Education |
National Offices
Women designated with * next to their names did not win their races
For women designated with + after their names, it is unknown whether or not they won their race.
President |
Vice President |
Senator |
Congressperson |
| Marietta Stow* |
Anne H. Martin* |
Frances C. Axtell* Stella Blanchard* Jeannette Rankin Elizabeth Cady Stanton* |
State Offices
Women designated with * next to their names did not win their races
For women designated with + after their names, it is unknown whether or not they won their race.
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