State of the Texas Woman

What is the SOTW?

The State of the Texas Woman is a biennial report released after every midterm and presidential election. It contains important trends and patterns of women running for office down to the local level. Both quantitative and qualitative data points are reported, giving our readers a better understanding of what it takes to run for office in the Lone Star State. Currently, Lone Star Parity Project is the only entity to landmark a report with aggregated data down to the countywide level.

2022 Midterm Election

Click the drop down menu below to find out how many women+ filed for, ran for, and won elected office during the 2022 election.

How many women+ filed?

​Filing for office means an individual submitted an application for a spot on the ballot. In a campaign, filing to run for office is the first step. Below is a chart that shows how many women+ filed. More Republican women filed for office than Democratic women. However, Democratic women+ made up a greater percentage of all Democratic filers than Republican women+ compared to Republican filers.
Total Individuals Women Men
Total Filed 5,603 2,133 (38.1%) 3,470 (61.9%)
Democrats 1,566 739 (47.2%) 827 (52.8%)
Republicans 4,037 1,394 (34.5%) 2,643 (65.5%)

How many women+ won their primary election?

Primary elections only exist in partisan elections, meaning candidates who run for a specific political party. The goal of a primary election is to narrow down the candidate representing a party (i.e. Democrat or Republican) in the November general election.

Uncontested Primaries
Uncontested primaries are primary elections where only one individual from a certain party filed to run for a specific position. 2,612 people ran uncontested in their primary election. 1,147 of those uncontested candidates were women+, making up roughly 43.9% of uncontested primary candidates.

Contested Primaries
Contested primaries are primary elections where more than one individual from a certain party filed to run for a specific position. 1,385 individuals won their contested primary election. 486 of those winners were women+. That means 35.1% of winners were women+.

Total Individuals Women Men
Total Uncontested Winners 2,612 1,147 (43.9%) 1,465 (56.1%)
Total Contested Winners 1,385 486 (35.1%) 899 (64.9%)
Democrat Primary Candidates 1,708 812 896
Democrat Primary Winners 1,100 543 557
Republican Primary Candidates 4,373 1,471 2902
Republican Primary Winners 2,897 1,090 1807

How many women+ won their general election?

General elections are elections where the candidate with the most votes wins the position. Midterm general elections occur every four years and generally include most countywide and statewide races. For the 2022 election cycle, the general election occurred November 8, 2022.

There were 3,527 general election candidates. 1,543 of those candidates were women+. 2,938 people won their general election. 1,261 of the total people that won their general election were women+. That means 42.9% of winners were women+.

 Total IndividualsWomenMen
Total General Candidates3,5271,5431,984
Total General Winners2,9381,261 (42.9%)1,677 (57.1%)
Democrat General Candidates957471486
Democrat General Winners664342 (51.5%)322 (48.5%)
Republican General Candidates2,5701,0141,556
Republican General Winners2,274919 (40.4%)1,355 (59.6%)

Which elected offices have the most women+ serving?

There are twelve elected offices in Texas that have women serving at or above parity—meaning 50% or more of these seats are filled by women.

Elected Offices At or Above Parity# of Women Elected in 2022% of Women Elected in 2022
Commissioner of General Land Office1100.0%
County Clerk18993.1%
Joint County/District Clerk6492.2%
Tax Assessor-Collector1190.9%
District Clerk18788.8%
County Treasurer24483.6%
County Civil Court Judge475%
Texas Supreme Court Justice366.7%
State Board of Education Member1566.7%
County Criminal Court Judge2055%
District Court Judge25350.2%
Texas Court of Appeals Judge1650%

The most populous offices are elected offices that have the largest number of seats available across Texas. Though there are more offices available for election, these positions do not always correlate with those elected at or above parity.

Most Populous Elected Offices# of Available Offices (2022)% of Women Elected (2022)Parity Level
Justice of the Peace74540.9%Near
County Commissioner5166.8%Below
District Court Judge25350.2%At or above
County Judge25212.3%Below
County Treasurer24483.6%At or above
County Clerk18993.1%At or above
District Clerk18788.8%At or above
State Representative15130.5%Below
Joint County/District Clerk6492.2%At or above
Constable608.3%Below
Criminal District Attorney5637.5%Below
U.S. Representative3821.1%Below
Joint County/Civil Court Judge3246.9%Near
State Senator3125.8%Below

What counties elected the most women+?

​Texas is home to 254 different counties. The counties in the chart below elected the most women comparative to the number of elected seats

Counties% of Offices Held by Women
Real83.33%
Kendall75%
Terrell75%
Polk72.73%
Rains71.43%
Burnet70%
Duval70%
Falls70%
Freestone70%
Hutchinson70%
2022 Map (website)

This is a map showing the parity levels by county. Geographic representation across the state is an important intersection of parity, of which we are only beginning to understand. Below is a map showing parity levels by county. 101 counties out of 254 elected candidates at parity in 2022. 105 counties increased their parity percentage from the 2018 midterm elections, as 149 counties decreased. Rural counties (less than 100,000 people) are more likely than their more populated counterparts to be at parity, with around 25% of rural counties above parity. Despite gains, only 3.4 million of the 29.1 million people in Texas live in a parity county

Stories behind the numbers​

​On top of crunching the numbers from the 2022 election cycle, we also interviewed women+ from across the Lone Star state.. Scroll from left to right then click each feature to expand their picture and read their story. 

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