During the 1970s, women held anywhere from 18 to 37 seats in Connecticut’s 187-seat legislature, wielding no more than a fifth of voting power.
It took until 2018 for there to be at least 60 women legislators, about a third of the General Assembly, according to data compiled by the secretary of the state’s office.
And as the 2024 legislative session draws near, there are currently 70 women lawmakers among the 186 filled seats. A special election in West Haven later this month could bring that number up.
So while women make up over half (51%) of Connecticut residents, according to Census data, they only have a 37% share of seats across the legislature.
Some state legislatures are more or less representative than Connecticut. As of 2023, 17 states had a higher share of women legislators than in Connecticut, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Nevada had the highest share of women legislators at 60%, and Colorado was the only other state having more than 50% of its legislature be made up of women. Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island were the New England states with higher shares than Connecticut. Massachusetts trailed at just below a third (30.5%).
Virginia and South Carolina had shares of women legislators as low as 11% and 14%, respectively, while the U.S. Congress had 28% of women legislators, despite women making up 50.4% of the country.
