An analysis finds, since 1989, Utah has elected just 2 women to Congress in 37 chances – putting the beehive state far behind the rest of the country.
Smart Politics looked at 5,325 general and special elections to the U.S. house over the past quarter century. During that time only one state, Wyoming, has elected women to Congress at a rate equal to or greater than the percentage of women in the population. In fact, Wyoming has elected a female member of the House in each of the last 10 elections. That’s nearly a 77% clip.
Utah, on the other hand, gets a “D” in the report card for sending a woman to Washington at a 5.4% rate.
In fact, only Montana does worse than Utah in the Western U.S., having elected zero women in 13 chances.
Percentage of U.S. House Seats Won by Women by State, 1989-2014
|
Rank
|
State
|
Grade
|
# Won
|
# Contests
|
% Won
|
|
1
|
Wyoming
|
A+
|
10
|
13
|
76.9
|
|
2
|
South Dakota
|
A
|
6
|
13
|
46.2
|
|
3
|
Hawaii
|
A
|
12
|
28
|
42.9
|
|
4
|
Connecticut
|
A
|
25
|
66
|
37.9
|
|
5
|
Nevada
|
A
|
12
|
32
|
37.5
|
|
6
|
California
|
A-
|
179
|
640
|
28.0
|
|
7
|
Missouri
|
B+
|
23
|
109
|
21.1
|
|
8
|
Maine
|
B+
|
5
|
24
|
20.8
|
|
9
|
Colorado
|
B+
|
16
|
78
|
20.5
|
|
9
|
New York
|
B+
|
76
|
371
|
20.5
|
|
11
|
Florida
|
B+
|
58
|
290
|
20.0
|
|
12
|
West Virginia
|
B
|
7
|
37
|
18.9
|
|
13
|
New Mexico
|
B
|
7
|
38
|
18.4
|
|
14
|
Washington
|
B
|
20
|
109
|
18.3
|
|
15
|
Oregon
|
B-
|
11
|
62
|
17.7
|
|
16
|
Ohio
|
B-
|
39
|
226
|
17.3
|
|
17
|
New Hampshire
|
B-
|
4
|
24
|
16.7
|
|
18
|
North Carolina
|
C+
|
22
|
151
|
14.6
|
|
19
|
Kansas
|
C+
|
7
|
49
|
14.3
|
|
20
|
Maryland
|
C+
|
13
|
98
|
13.3
|
|
21
|
Idaho
|
C+
|
3
|
24
|
12.5
|
|
22
|
Wisconsin
|
C
|
12
|
103
|
11.7
|
|
23
|
Michigan
|
C
|
22
|
189
|
11.6
|
|
24
|
Minnesota
|
C
|
11
|
96
|
11.5
|
|
25
|
Illinois
|
C
|
25
|
239
|
10.5
|
|
26
|
Indiana
|
C-
|
11
|
117
|
9.4
|
|
27
|
Tennessee
|
C-
|
10
|
108
|
9.3
|
|
28
|
Texas
|
C-
|
31
|
379
|
8.2
|
|
29
|
Arizona
|
C-
|
7
|
86
|
8.1
|
|
30
|
Kentucky
|
D+
|
5
|
76
|
6.6
|
|
31
|
Utah
|
D
|
2
|
37
|
5.4
|
|
32
|
Virginia
|
D
|
7
|
134
|
5.2
|
|
33
|
Georgia
|
D-
|
7
|
147
|
4.8
|
|
34
|
Alabama
|
D-
|
4
|
86
|
4.7
|
|
35
|
Arkansas
|
D-
|
2
|
49
|
4.1
|
|
35
|
Pennsylvania
|
D-
|
10
|
245
|
4.1
|
|
37
|
Massachusetts
|
D-
|
5
|
124
|
4.0
|
|
38
|
New Jersey
|
F
|
6
|
159
|
3.8
|
|
39
|
Oklahoma
|
F
|
2
|
68
|
2.9
|
|
40
|
South Carolina
|
F
|
1
|
75
|
1.3
|
|
41
|
Alaska
|
F
|
0
|
12
|
0.0
|
|
41
|
Delaware
|
F
|
0
|
12
|
0.0
|
|
41
|
North Dakota
|
F
|
0
|
12
|
0.0
|
|
41
|
Vermont
|
F
|
0
|
12
|
0.0
|
|
41
|
Montana
|
F
|
0
|
13
|
0.0
|
|
41
|
Rhode Island
|
F
|
0
|
24
|
0.0
|
|
41
|
Nebraska
|
F
|
0
|
36
|
0.0
|
|
41
|
Mississippi
|
F
|
0
|
57
|
0.0
|
|
41
|
Iowa
|
F
|
0
|
60
|
0.0
|
|
41
|
Louisiana
|
F
|
0
|
88
|
0.0
|
|
Â
|
Total
|
Â
|
735
|
5,325
|
13.8
|
Includes general and special elections through March 2014. Table compiled by Smart Politics.
