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A Record Number of Women Are Running for Governor in 2018

As many as 77 are expected to run, in almost all of the 36 states with a race this year, more than double the record set in 1994. Nearly two-thirds are Democrats.
Representative Diane Black 

Representative Diane Black 

Photographer:  Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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More women are running for governor in the U.S. this year than ever before, spurred by a Democratic backlash against President Donald Trump and a whopping 18 states that are on the November ballot but have no incumbent in the race.

With some state filing deadlines still ahead, as many as 77 women are expected to run in almost all of the 36 states with a governor’s race this year, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. That would be more than double the record of 34 female candidates in 1994.