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Politics of Parenthood

Politics of Parenthood State

Politics of Parenthood
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Key Findings

Reaching Proportional Representation: State Legislatures

59.1%

increase in moms’ representation since 2022, when Vote Mama Foundation first began tracking this data

8.3%

of all state legislators are moms of minors

3 states

have reached proportional representation – California, Virginia, and Nevada

630

more moms with kids under 18 are needed to achieve proportional representation in state legislatures

As of February 2026, we found that among the 7,386 state legislators in the United States, only 614 are moms with children under 18. This means that moms with minor children comprise just 8.3% of all state legislators. Despite these low numbers, progress has been made; 228 additional moms of minors have been elected since 2022, representing a 59.1% increase.

According to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates, adult women who live with related kids under 18 comprise 18.2% of the adult population. In order to achieve proportional representation, Americans need to elect 630 more moms with young children to state legislatures.

Read the Newest Report

Moms with young children in state legislatures

Representation level

Select State
  • California
  • Virginia
  • Nevada
  • Minnesota
  • Vermont
  • Delaware
  • Arizona
  • Colorado
  • Illinois
  • Michigan
  • Oregon
  • Wisconsin
  • New Mexico
  • Washington
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Connecticut
  • Pennsylvania
  • Nebraska
  • South Dakota
  • Alaska
  • Ohio
  • Montana
  • Missouri
  • Rhode Island
  • Florida
  • New Jersey
  • Kentucky
  • New York
  • Maryland
  • North Carolina
  • Utah
  • Kansas
  • Iowa
  • Maine
  • Indiana
  • Massachusetts
  • Georgia
  • New Hampshire
  • Texas
  • Oklahoma
  • South Carolina
  • West Virginia
  • Louisiana
  • Arkansas
  • Mississippi
  • North Dakota
  • Wyoming
  • Tennessee
  • Alabama
  • TOTAL

of state legislators are moms of minor children

mom(s) of minors to reach proportional representation

mom(s) of minor children in the state legislature

total state legislators

State State Ranking 2026 Total Moms of Minors 2026 Total Legislators 2026 % of Moms of Minors Target % based on prop rep # of Moms Needed for Proportional Representation
California 1 26 120 21.67% 18.5% 0
Virginia 2 26 140 18.57% 17.2% 0
Nevada 3 11 63 17.46% 17.3% 0
Minnesota 4 29 201 14.43% 16.1% 4
Vermont 5 21 180 11.67% 13.1% 3
Delaware 6 9 62 14.52% 16.5% 2
Arizona 7 12 90 13.33% 16.8% 4
Colorado 8 12 100 12.00% 15.8% 4
Illinois 9 22 177 12.43% 16.7% 8
Michigan 10 17 148 11.49% 15.8% 7
Oregon 10 10 90 11.11% 15.3% 4
Wisconsin 12 14 132 10.61% 14.8% 6
New Mexico 13 13 112 11.61% 16.7% 6
Washington 14 16 147 10.88% 16.5% 9
Hawaii 15 9 76 11.84% 18.3% 5
Idaho 15 12 105 11.43% 17.7% 7
Connecticut 17 19 187 10.16% 16.0% 11
Pennsylvania 18 24 253 9.49% 15.4% 15
Nebraska 19 5 49 10.20% 17.1% 4
South Dakota 20 10 105 9.52% 16.5% 8
Alaska 21 6 60 10.00% 17.4% 5
Ohio 22 12 132 9.09% 16.1% 10
Montana 23 12 150 8.00% 14.5% 10
Missouri 24 17 197 8.63% 16.3% 19
Rhode Island 24 9 113 7.96% 15.1% 9
Florida 24 13 160 8.13% 15.4% 12
New Jersey 27 11 120 9.17% 17.7% 11
Kentucky 28 12 138 8.70% 17.2% 12
New York 29 17 213 7.98% 16.0% 18
Maryland 30 16 188 8.51% 17.9% 18
North Carolina 31 13 170 7.65% 16.8% 16
Utah 32 9 104 8.65% 19.9% 13
Kansas 33 12 165 7.27% 17.1% 17
Iowa 33 10 150 6.67% 15.9% 14
Maine 35 10 186 5.38% 13.4% 15
Indiana 36 10 150 6.67% 17.1% 16
Massachusetts 37 12 200 6.00% 15.6% 20
Georgia 38 16 236 6.78% 18.7% 29
New Hampshire 39 20 424 4.72% 13.9% 39
Texas 40 12 181 6.63% 19.90% 24
Oklahoma 41 8 149 5.37% 17.8% 19
South Carolina 42 8 170 4.71% 16.7% 21
West Virginia 43 5 134 3.73% 15.1% 16
Louisiana 44 6 144 4.17% 17.9% 20
Arkansas 45 5 135 3.70% 17.6% 19
Mississippi 46 6 174 3.45% 18.6% 27
North Dakota 47 4 141 2.84% 15.5% 18
Wyoming 48 2 93 2.15% 15.8% 13
Tennessee 49 3 132 2.27% 17.0% 20
Alabama 50 1 140 0.71% 17.0% 23
TOTAL 614 7386 8.31% 16.8% 630
Download our data

“Being a legislator and a new mother is challenging, but rewarding work. As a working parent, I understand the difficulties moms face in making their voices heard in public affairs. I am personally invested in uplifting their concerns and ensuring that our democracy delivers a swift response to the unmet needs of working families.”

Rep. Jeanné Kapela

District 5 • HI State House

Demographics

Moms with young children are represented in state legislatures at less than half the rate at which they appear in the general population. While 18.2% of American adults are moms of minor children, only 8.3% of U.S. state legislators are moms of minor children. The share of women and nonbinary state legislators with adult children is much higher at 17.2%, raising questions about the difficulties of moms of young kids running and serving.

In this iteration of Vote Mama Foundation’s Politics of Parenthood report series, we provide extensive demographic data for all women and nonbinary state legislators as of 2026.

Child age

Our data shows that the age of legislators’ youngest child is negatively correlated with representation; in other words, the representation of moms of minor children starts to increase as their children get older. While moms of minors are underrepresented as a whole, moms of children under the age of six are even less represented in our state legislatures; of the 614 moms of minors in our dataset, only 107 are moms of children under the age of six. Moms of children under the age of six comprise only 1.4% of all state legislators in the U.S.

Race & ethnicity

Only 2.8% of all state legislators are women of color with children under the age of 18.


Political landscape

There is a distinct Democratic majority among moms of minor children, with 69.6% moms of minors identifying as Democrats and 29.3% identifying as Republicans.

Among all women legislators in both parties, moms of minor children are underrepresented. For Democratic women, 1 in 4 are moms of minors. For Republican women, 1 in 5 are moms of minors.

The majority of moms of minors across state legislatures are serving in state houses, with 75.7% in state houses and 24.3% in state senates.

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