Center: Kamala Harris became the first female vice president in 2020. She became the second woman nominated for president by a major political party, in 2024.
The following is a list of female U.S. presidential and vice presidential nominees and invitees. Nominees are candidates nominated or otherwise selected by political parties for particular offices. Listed as nominees or nomination candidates are those women who achieved ballot access in at least one state (or, before the institution of government-printed ballots, had ballots circulated by their parties). They each may have won the nomination of one of the U.S. political parties (either one of the two major parties or one of the third parties), or made the ballot as an independent, and in either case must have votes in the election to qualify for this list. Exception is made for those few candidates whose parties lost ballot status for additional runs.
History
19th century
Lydia Maria Child and Lucretia Mott received one vote apiece for president at the 1847 convention of the Liberty League, a caucus of the abolitionist Liberty Party.[1] Mott was a candidate for vice president at the rump Liberty Party's 1848 convention, where she finished fifth out of a field of nine candidates.[2]
Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to formally run for president. She announced her candidacy in a letter to the New York Herald and was nominated by the national convention of the Equal Rights Party for the 1872 election.[3][4]Frederick Douglass was nominated for vice president by the convention, but took no part in Woodhull's campaign.[5] Only 33 at the time of the election, she was thus ineligible to serve as president due to the age requirement established by the United States Constitution. Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections records no votes for Woodhull in any state.[6]
Belva Ann Lockwood was twice a candidate for president, in 1884 and 1888. In 1884, she was nominated by the national convention of the Equal Rights Party, with Marietta Stow for vice president. In a petition to the United States Congress, Lockwood claimed to have received 4,149 votes in six states; she further alleged that election officials in Pennsylvania had destroyed ballots bearing her name.[7] The members of the electoral college from Indiana, after voting for Grover Cleveland and Thomas A. Hendricks as pledged, cast a second, "complimentary vote" for Lockwood and Stow.[8]
20th century
Laura Clay and Cora Wilson Stewart received one vote apiece at the 1920 Democratic National Convention on the 33rd and 36th ballots, respectively. They were the first women voted for as candidates for president at the national convention of a major American political party.[9]
Former WyomingGovernorNellie Tayloe Ross was a candidate for vice president at the 1928 Democratic National Convention. Her name was mentioned as a potential candidate as early as 1927, and the possibility of her nomination was the subject of serious speculation. Ross was formally nominated at the convention by Mrs. T. S. Oliver of Wyoming, who praised her "honesty, sincerity, and courage;" W. R. Chapman gave the seconding speech. She received 31 votes, finishing third out of a field of eleven candidates.[10]
Charlotta Bass was the Progressive Party nominee for vice president in 1952. She was the first Black woman nominated for the office by an American political party.[11]
MaineSenatorMargaret Chase Smith was a candidate for the Republican Party nomination in 1964, becoming the first woman to seek the nomination of a major party for president. She qualified for the ballot in six state primaries and finished second in the Illinois primary with 25% of the vote. She became the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for the presidency at the national convention of a major political party.[12]
New York Representative Shirley Chisholm was the first woman to run in the Democratic primary, the first Black candidate to contest the nomination of a major party, and the first such candidate to win a primary. She received the votes of 152 delegates at the 1972 Democratic National Convention, placing fourth in a field of 13 candidates. Her campaign drew support from prominent national feminist and civil rights leaders, including Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, who attempted unsuccessfully to stand as Chisholm delegates in the New York presidential primary.[15]
Hawaii Representative Patsy Mink was a candidate in the 1972 Democratic Party presidential primaries. She was the first Asian American woman to run for president.[16]
New York Senator Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be listed as a presidential candidate in every state and territory in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries.[23] Despite narrowly losing the nomination, Clinton won more votes in 2008 than any female primary candidate in American history. Clinton later became the first woman nominated for president by a major party after winning a majority of pledged delegates in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries, and was formally nominated by the Democratic National Convention on July 26, 2016.[24][25] As a major party nominee, Clinton became the first woman to participate in a presidential debate and the first to carry a state in a general election. Clinton became the first woman to win the national popular vote, receiving nearly 66 million ballots to Donald Trump's 63 million, but lost the electoral college and thus the presidency.[26]
The Green Party has run a female candidate for president four times: Cynthia McKinney in 2008 and Jill Stein in 2012, 2016, and 2024. Stein's 1.5 million votes in 2016 represent the third-largest total for a female presidential candidate in U.S. history as of 2024. Pat LaMarche in 2004, Rosa Clemente in 2008, Cheri Honkala in 2012, and Angela Nicole Walker in 2020 were Green Party candidates for vice president.
Faith Spotted Eagle received a faithless electoral vote from Washington in 2016, becoming the first Indigenous American to receive an electoral vote for president.[39]
Six women ran in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries: Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, California Senator Kamala Harris, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard, and author Marianne Williamson. All six women subsequently participated in at least one televised debate. Prior to 2020, only five women had ever appeared on a major party's primary debate stage (Chisholm in 1972, Braun in 2004, Bachman in 2012, Clinton in 2008 and 2016, and Fiorina in 2016).[40] The opening night of the first debate, which took place on June 26–27, 2019, was a major milestone, as it featured three women: Warren, Klobuchar, and Gabbard; Harris, Gillibrand, and Williamson participated on the second night.[41] This was the first major party presidential primary in which multiple women competed.[42]
Jo Jorgensen was the Libertarian nominee for president in 2020. She is the first woman to be nominated for president by that party. Jorgensen's 1.9 million votes represent the second-highest total for a female presidential candidate.
Harris was subsequently the 2020 Democratic vice presidential candidate. She became the first female, Black, and Asian American vice president upon winning the 2020 election, defeating the Republican candidate, incumbent Vice President Mike Pence.[43] Following Joe Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 election, Harris announced her candidacy for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.[44] On July 22, she received enough pledged delegate support to become the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.[45] She later went on be officially nominated by the Democratic National Convention by roll call on August 6, 2024, but subsequently lost to former president Donald Trump in the general election.[46][47]
Williamson challenged Biden in the 2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries.[48] Although she did not win pledged delegate support in any contest, her 473,761 votes represented the third-best showing for any candidate, behind Biden and Minnesota Representative Dean Phillips. (Uncommitted delegates received 706,591 votes.)[49] After twice suspending and resuming her campaign, Williamson ended her candidacy for the last time on June 29, 2024, after deciding not to challenge Harris at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.[50]
This list, sorted by the number of votes received, includes female candidates who have competed for President of the United States in a general election and received over 40,000 votes.
This list, sorted by the number of votes received, includes female candidates who have sought their party's presidential nomination in at least one primary or caucus and received over 5,000 votes. Note that Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic Party presidential candidate, is not listed because she did not participate in the primaries.[b] Party nominee
13,025 votes in AR primary;[78] 10,876 votes (6th place) in TX primary;[76] 40,758 in OK primary (3rd place);[98] 11,620 votes (3rd place) in LA primary;[99] 15,650 votes (2nd place) in IL primary[99]
Bill Clinton
Heather Anne Harder
28,772 votes (3rd place) in TX primary;[76] 376 votes in NH primary[77] and two Republican write-in votes; 6 votes in IL primary[78]
This list includes female candidates who have run for Vice President of the United States and received over 100,000 votes. Note that the vote for vice president is not separate in the United States and is identical to that for the presidential nominees.[114] Elected vice president
^ abIn 1972 in Arizona, Pima and Yavapai counties had a ballot malfunction that counted many votes for both a major party candidate and Linda Jenness of the Socialist Workers Party. A court ordered that the ballots be counted for both. As a consequence, Jenness received 16% and 8% of the vote in Pima and Yavapai, respectively. 30,579 of her 30,945 Arizona votes are from those two counties. Some sources don't count these votes for Jenness.
^Shirley Chisholm won the New Jersey primary in 1972 which was a non-delegate-awarding, presidential preference ballot that the major candidates were not listed in and that the only other candidate who was listed had already withdrawn. At the Democratic convention she won a plurality of delegates from Mississippi and Louisiana, neither of which held primaries.[71]
^Freeman replaced the original vice presidential nominee, Leonard Peltier of Peace and Freedom, who withdrew for health reasons.[91]
^Margaret Trowe was originally named the party's vice presidential nominee but withdrew due to health issues.
^Sherman is the Green Party of Alaska nominee but not on the ballot in Alaska.
^Elizabeth Warren was not a candidate for vice president in 2016, but she received one electoral vote each from faithless electors in Hawaii and Washington.
^Maria Cantwell was not a candidate for vice president in 2016, but she received one electoral vote from a Washingtonfaithless elector.
^Susan Collins was not a candidate for vice president in 2016, but she received one electoral vote from a Washingtonfaithless elector.
^Carly Fiorina was not a candidate for vice president in the general election in 2016, but she received one electoral vote from a Texasfaithless elector.
^Winona LaDuke was not a candidate for vice president in 2016, but she received one electoral vote from a Washingtonfaithless elector.
^The candidates of the Constitution Party varied by state; Harry F. Byrd seems to have been considered the main vice presidential candidate.
^The candidates of the Constitution Party varied by state; the votes included here are ones known to be for the MacArthur-Kellems ticket specifically and not the MacArthur-Byrd ticket. The MacArthur-Kellems ticket's total might have been higher than 943.
^Wretha Hanson appeared on a ballot line in Ohio in place of Barry Commoner's official running mate La Donna Harris.
^The vote total is for the Commoner-Hanson ticket in Ohio only.[120]
^Richard H. Congress or Clifton DeBerry were the Socialist Workers Party's presidential candidate in some states, but Zimmerman was on all three tickets as the vice presidential candidate.
^The vote total is for the Griswold-Cohen ticket in Ohio only.[120]
^Matilde Zimmerman was an alternate candidate for Andrea Gonzales in some states, including Ohio.
^Edward Bergonzi was an alternate candidate for Helen Halyard in some states, including Ohio.
^Three male candidates were alternates for Dattner in three states, including California and Oregon.
^Mamie Moore was an alternate candidate for Dattner in nine states, including Hawaii.
^Burke was an alternate candidate for Dattner in four states, including Alaska.
^Karen Sanchirico appeared on a ballot line in Montana in place of Ralph Nader's official running mate Peter Camejo.
^The vote total is for the Nader-Sanchirico ticket in Montana only.
^Rubacky was McEnulty's running mate in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine, though the party had no ballot access in any state except Colorado. McEnulty had nine other running mates.[123]
^Vote total is for the Myers-Lusk ticket in Arkansas only.
^Vote total is for the Simmons-Nixon ticket in Florida only.
^Kennedy and Shanahan withdrew in August 2024 but remained on the ballot in 30 states and as write-in candidates in Pennsylvania.
References
^"Liberty League". Niles' National Register. 22 (19): 296. July 10, 1847.
^Cruz, Tania; Yamamoto, Eric K. (Summer 2003). "A Tribute to Patsy Takemoto Mink"(PDF). Asian-Pacific Law and Policy Journal. 4 (2): 590. Archived from the original(PDF) on October 30, 2020.
Write-in vote totals are excluded from the above election data reporting for the following states, and are added to the total number of votes for candidates for the purposes of candidate vote share calculations:
"Summary of Statement of Vote"(PDF). Presidential Primary Election - Statement of Vote, March 3, 2020. California Secretary of State. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
"2020 President Libertarian Primary". Massachusetts Election Statistics. Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. March 3, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
^ abBelva Ann Lockwood's 1884running mate's name is variously given as Marietta Stow, Marietta L. B. Stow, Marietta Lizzie Bell Stow, Marietta Snow, Marietta Snowman, and Harriet Stow.
^"Final Texas Election Count Shows Ike Won by 138,479". Dallas Morning News. November 13, 1952. p. 2. This final report includes complete returns from all 254 counties of Texas [...] MacArthur-Kellems....... 765
^Herbert L. Phillips (November 12, 1952). "5,209,692 Vote In November Set California High". Sacramento Bee. p. 1. Here is the secretary of state's official tabulation of the votes for president: [...] Constitution Party (MacArthur-Kellems writein)—178
.jpg)
.jpg)
.JPG)
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
_(crop_2).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
