Women have won primaries in nine states.

Four could be their states’ first

female governors.

Janet Mills Me. Paulette Jordan Idaho Stacey Abrams Ga. Kristi Noem S.D. Kim Reynolds Iowa (incumbent) Kate Brown Ore. (incumbent) Michelle Lujan Grisham N.M. Lupe Valdez Tex. Kay Ivey Ala. (incumbent) Janet Mills Me. Paulette Jordan Idaho Stacey Abrams Ga. Kristi Noem S.D. Kim Reynolds Iowa (incumbent) Kate Brown Ore. (incumbent) Michelle Lujan Grisham N.M. Lupe Valdez Tex. Kay Ivey Ala. (incumbent) Janet Mills Me. Paulette Jordan Idaho Stacey Abrams Ga. Kristi Noem S.D. Kim Reynolds Iowa (incumbent) Kate Brown Ore. (incumbent) Michelle Lujan Grisham N.M. Lupe Valdez Tex. Kay Ivey Ala. (incumbent) Janet Mills Me. Paulette Jordan Idaho Stacey Abrams Ga. Kristi Noem S.D. Kim Reynolds Iowa (incumbent) Kate Brown Ore. (incumbent) Michelle Lujan Grisham N.M. Lupe Valdez Tex. Kay Ivey Ala. (incumbent)

The surge of women running for office this year could lead to the biggest breakthrough in the nation’s offices for governor — one of the most durable glass ceilings in American politics.

Nowhere is the challenge as great as in the Midwest, which was the last region to elect a female governor, and where a woman has not been elected governor since Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, a Democrat, left office in 2011.

In Tuesday’s primary, former State Senate leader Gretchen Whitmer will compete to be that state’s Democratic nominee. A week later, four women are also running in Democratic primaries in Wisconsin and Minnesota — two states that have never had a female executive.

Nationally, 28 states have had a female governor, including six that currently have one.

AK ME VT NH MA WA MT ND SD MN WI MI NY CT RI PA OR ID WY NE IA IL IN OH NJ CA NV CO WV VA MD DE UT KS MO SC AZ NM OK AR TN KY NC TX LA MS AL GA FL HI AK ME VT NH MA WA MT ND SD MN WI MI NY CT RI PA OR ID WY NE IA IL IN OH NJ CA NV CO WV VA MD DE UT KS MO SC AZ NM OK AR TN KY NC TX LA MS AL GA FL HI

As of 1980, five states had had female governors. There’s been progress since then, but nearly half of the states have yet to have a woman in the job.

1980 5 states 1990 10 states 2000 14 states 2010 23 states 2018 28 states 1980 5 states 1990 10 states 2000 14 states 2010 23 states 2018 28 states 1980 5 states 1990 10 states 2000 14 states 2010 23 states 2018 28 states 1980 5 states 1990 10 states 2000 14 states 2010 23 states 2018 28 states

Why so little progress in governors’ offices?

Voters tend to ascribe to women the traits considered good for legislative bodies: Women are good collaborators and listen well.

It’s different when voters elect a boss.

“If they think you’re nice, they think you can’t run their state, and if they think you can run their state, they worry you’re not nice,” said Jane M. Swift, who became acting governor of Massachusetts in 2001. She was the first and only woman to occupy that state’s executive office and was edged out by party leaders who chose Mitt Romney as their candidate two years later.

Ms. Swift recalls meeting a cashier who said, “You’re so much nicer than you are on TV!”

“I thought, ‘Why does she think I’m not nice when she sees me on TV?’ ” Ms. Swift recalled. “The answer was: She saw me in a position of power, that immediately meant not nice. Had she seen a man in the same position — likeable is not a requirement.”

The female governors before the mid-1970s inherited their jobs from their husbands or were elected as proxies for them. Ella T. Grasso of Connecticut was considered the first to be elected in her own right in 1974.

Ella T. Grasso at a news conference in 1977. Bob Child/Associated Press

Of the 39 female governors in U.S. history: 25 were elected in their own right. 11 were acting governors or replaced governors who left office. 3 served as proxies for their husbands.

Women who have run for governor say that party leaders tend to play in an old boys’ club and that they may also hold women to a higher standard.

Christine Todd Whitman, a New Jersey Republican, came within three points of beating a popular Democratic incumbent, Bill Bradley, in the race for the United States Senate in 1990. At that point, Republican leaders could reasonably have viewed her as their best ticket for governor the next cycle. Yet they did not anoint her.

“I maintain that if I had been a man I would not have had a three-way primary for governor,” Ms. Whitman, who went on to win the governorship in 1993, said in an interview. “Having done what I did in the Senate, I would have been the automatic ticket.”

A big problem is money.

“The parties are very strong, and they look for your ability to raise money on your own,” Ms. Whitman said. “Women are still not at pay equity, and they haven’t had the income to donate the dollars to get the parties to look at you.”

Former State Representative Kelda Roys, who is running in the Democratic primary for governor in Wisconsin, said that while women normally give about a quarter of all contributions, she has raised two-thirds of her money from women. An internal poll for her campaign last month showed that 71 percent of Democratic primary voters are excited or very excited about electing Wisconsin’s first female governor.

Still, she said, she hears doubts that a woman can win.

“I get a lot of, ‘Oh my God, you’d be so great, but can you win? Wouldn’t we be better off nominating some boring old white guy because that’s inoffensive to voters?’”

“The obvious answer is ‘of course not,”’ Ms. Roys said. “Because Republicans show up and vote for anybody, but Democrats need a candidate they can be excited about. We win elections when Democratic voters are excited about our candidates.”

Ms. Roys and State Senator Kathleen Vinehout are among eight candidates in the Democratic primary for governor in Wisconsin next week. In Minnesota, Attorney General Lori Swanson and State Representative Erin Murphy are among five candidates seeking the Democratic nomination there (though bets there are on Representative Tim Walz.)

Midwestern female governor candidates

in upcoming primaries Gretchen Whitmer Mich. Kelda Roys Wis. Kathleen Vinehout Wis. Lori Swanson Minn. Erin Murphy Minn. Gretchen Whitmer Mich. Kelda Roys Wis. Kathleen Vinehout Wis. Lori Swanson Minn. Erin Murphy Minn. Gretchen Whitmer Mich. Kelda Roys Wis. Kathleen Vinehout Wis. Lori Swanson Minn. Erin Murphy Minn.

Two other women in Midwestern states have already won their primaries. Representative Kristi Noem is the Republican nominee in South Dakota and is considered likely to win, which would make her the state’s first female governor. Kim Reynolds, a Republican who became acting governor of Iowa last year, is running for her first full term and would be the first woman elected to the post in that state. (That race is considered a toss-up.)

A lot of power is at stake. States will redistrict after the 2020 census, giving governors elected in this cycle huge influence in deciding the shape of congressional districts.

Sixty-two women filed to run for governor, breaking the record of 34 set in 1994. So far, nine women have won primaries — 22 percent of all primary winners — and 19 women are still running in upcoming primaries.

Primary winners in governors’ races 100% 75 Male winners 50 As of Aug. 3 27% 22% 23% 25 Female winners 1974 1996 2000 2018 100% 75 Male winners 50 As of Aug. 3 27% 22% 25 Female winners 1974 1996 2018 100% 75 Male winners 50 As of Aug. 3 27% 23% 22% 25 Female winners 1974 1996 2000 2018 Note: Only includes major-party candidates who advanced to the general election. Data shown for every other year.

More Democratic women have won in the 21 states that have had primaries for governor this year. A total of 36 states will elect governors in November.

Primary candidates in governor races held this year Note: Only includes major-party candidates. Oklahoma has a runoff in the Republican primary for governor on Aug. 28.

Among those who are competitive going into the general election in November is Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee in Georgia, who would also be the nation’s first black female governor.

Win or lose, the sheer number of candidates may be changing perceptions.