List of female state attorneys general in the United States

The following is a list of female attorneys general of states in the United States. Since 1959, there have been 34 states which have appointed or elected women as attorneys-general. Puerto Rico has had a record four women hold office as attorney general, the most of any U.S. state or territory. Anne X. Alpern of Pennsylvania is the first woman to hold office as the attorney-general of a state.^[1] Fourteen U.S. states have had at least two women serve as attorneys-general, with both Hawaii and Pennsylvania having the most at three each.

List of female attorneys general of states

Officeholder	State	Party	Assumed office	Term expires	Law school
Anne X. Alpern	Pennsylvania	Democratic	January 20, 1959	August 28, 1961	University of Pittsburgh
Arlene Violet	Rhode Island	Republican	1985	1987	Boston College
Corinne Watanabe	Hawaii	Democratic	1985	1986	Baylor University
Grace Berg Schaible	Alaska	Democratic	1987	1989	Yale University
Mary Sue Terry	Virginia	Democratic	January 11, 1986	January 28, 1993	University of Virginia
Clarine Nardi Riddle	Connecticut	Democratic	January 3, 1989	January 9, 1991	Indiana University
Mary Stallcup	Arkansas	Democratic	1990	1991
Gale Norton	Colorado	Republican	January 8, 1991	January 12, 1999	University of Denver
Frankie Sue Del Papa	Nevada	Democratic	January 7, 1991	January 6, 2003	George Washington University
Bonnie Campbell	Iowa	Democratic	January 11, 1991	January 6, 1995	Drake University
Susan B. Loving	Oklahoma	Democratic	June 22, 1991	January 9, 1995	University of Oklahoma
Heidi Heitkamp	North Dakota	Democratic-NPL	December 15, 1992	December 15, 2000	Lewis & Clark College
Jan Graham	Utah	Democratic	January 1993	January 2001	University of Utah
Pamela Carter	Indiana	Democratic	January 13, 1993	January 16, 1997	Indiana University
Christine Gregoire	Washington	Democratic	January 13, 1993	January 12, 2005	Gonzaga University
Margery Bronster	Hawaii	Democratic	1995	1999	Columbia University
Carla Stovall	Kansas	Republican	1995	2003	University of Kansas
Deborah Poritz	New Jersey	Democratic	January 18, 1994	July 10, 1996	Harvard University
M. Jane Brady	Delaware	Republican	January 3, 1995	December 7, 2005	Villanova University
Betty Montgomery	Ohio	Republican	January 6, 1995	January 5, 2003	University of Toledo
Gay Woodhouse	Wyoming	Republican	1999	2001	University of Wyoming
Jennifer Granholm	Michigan	Democratic	January 1, 1999	January 1, 2003	Harvard University
Patricia A. Madrid	New Mexico	Democratic	January 1, 1999	January 1, 2007	University of New Mexico
Janet Napolitano	Arizona	Democratic	January 4, 1999	January 6, 2003	University of Virginia
Peg Lautenschlager	Wisconsin	Democratic	January 3, 2003	January 3, 2007	University of Wisconsin
Lisa Madigan	Illinois	Democratic	January 13, 2003	January 14, 2019	Loyola University Chicago
Kelly Ayotte	New Hampshire	Republican	June 15, 2004	July 17, 2009	Villanova University
Judith Jagdmann	Virginia	Republican	January 1, 2005	January 14, 2006	University of Richmond
Catherine Cortez Masto	Nevada	Democratic	January 1, 2007	January 5, 2015	Gonzaga University
Lori Swanson	Minnesota	Democratic (DFL)	January 2, 2007	January 2, 2019	William Mitchell College
Martha Coakley	Massachusetts	Democratic	January 17, 2007	January 21, 2015	Boston University
Nancy H. Rogers	Ohio	Democratic	May 28, 2008	January 8, 2009	Yale University
Paula Dow	New Jersey	Democratic	January 18, 2010	January 10, 2012	University of Pennsylvania
Kamala Harris	California	Democratic	January 3, 2011	January 3, 2017	University of California, Hastings
Pam Bondi	Florida	Republican	January 4, 2011	January 9, 2019	Stetson University
Janet Mills	Maine	Democratic	January 6, 2009 January 7, 2013	January 6, 2011 January 2, 2019^[a]	University of Maine, Portland
Linda L. Kelly	Pennsylvania	Republican	May 27, 2011	January 15, 2013	Duquesne University
Ellen Rosenblum	Oregon	Democratic	June 29, 2012	2025	University of Oregon
Kathleen Kane	Pennsylvania	Democratic	January 15, 2013	August 17, 2016	Temple University
Cynthia Coffman	Colorado	Republican	January 11, 2015	January 8, 2019	Georgia State University
Leslie Rutledge	Arkansas	Republican	January 13, 2015	January 10, 2023	University of Arkansas, Little Rock
Maura Healey	Massachusetts	Democratic	January 21, 2015	January 5, 2023	Northeastern University
Jahna Lindemuth	Alaska	Independent	August 8, 2016	December 5, 2018	University of California, Berkeley
Barbara Underwood	New York	Democratic	May 22, 2018	December 31, 2018	Georgetown University
Letitia James	New York	Democratic	January 1, 2019	2027	Howard University
Dana Nessel	Michigan	Democratic	January 1, 2019	2027	Wayne State University
Kathy Jennings	Delaware	Democratic	January 2, 2019	2027	Villanova University
Clare E. Connors	Hawaii	Democratic	January 3, 2019	December 10, 2021	Harvard University
Ashley Moody	Florida	Republican	January 9, 2019	2027	University of Florida
Bridget Hill	Wyoming	Republican	March 15, 2019	Appointed	University of Wyoming
Lynn Fitch	Mississippi	Republican	January 14, 2020	2028	University of Mississippi
Susanne Young	Vermont	Republican	July 5, 2022	January 5, 2023	University of Vermont
Kris Mayes	Arizona	Democratic	January 2, 2023	2027	Arizona State University
Michelle Henry	Pennsylvania	Democratic	January 17, 2023	Appointed	Widener Law Commonwealth
Andrea Campbell	Massachusetts	Democratic	January 18, 2023	2027	University of California, Los Angeles
Angela Colmenero	Texas	Republican	July 10, 2023	September 16, 2023	Notre Dame Law School
Liz Murrill	Louisiana	Republican	January 8, 2024	2028	Pepperdine University School of Law

Female territorial attorneys general

Officeholder	State	Party	Assumed office	Term expires	Law school
Judith W. Rogers	District of Columbia	Democratic	April 12, 1979	1983	Harvard University, University of Virginia
J'Ada Finch-Sheen	U.S. Virgin Islands	Democratic	1982	1984	Howard University School of Law
Inez Smith Reid	District of Columbia	Democratic	1983	1986	Yale University, University of Virginia
Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson	Guam	Republican	July 7, 1987	July 4, 1994	Santa Clara University
Vanessa Ruiz	District of Columbia	Democratic	1994	October 1994	Georgetown University
Anabelle Rodríguez	Puerto Rico^[2]	Popular Democratic	January 2, 2001	August 19, 2004	University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras
Ramona Villagomez Manglona	Northern Mariana Islands	Independent	November 2002	May 2003	University of New Mexico
Linda Singer	District of Columbia	Democratic	January 2, 2007	January 5, 2008	Harvard University
Alicia Limtiaco	Guam	Democratic	January 3, 2007	June 21, 2010	University of California, Los Angeles
Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson	Guam	Republican	January 5, 2015	January 7, 2019	Santa Clara University
Wanda Vázquez Garced	Puerto Rico^[2]	New Progressive	January 2, 2017	August 7, 2019	Interamerican University of Puerto Rico
Denise George	U.S. Virgin Islands	Democratic	May 14, 2019	January 1, 2023	Howard University School of Law
Dennise Longo Quiñones	Puerto Rico^[2]	New Progressive	August 18, 2019	July 7, 2020	George Washington University Law School
Inés Del C. Carrau Martínez	Puerto Rico^[2]	New Progressive	July 7, 2020	January 2, 2021	Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico
Carol Thomas-Jacobs	U.S. Virgin Islands	Democratic	January 1, 2023	April 14, 2023	Howard University School of Law
Ariel K. Smith	U.S. Virgin Islands	Independent	April 14, 2023	Appointed	Rutgers Law School

References

^ Mills served one term as Attorney General, from 2009 to 2011, before being replaced by Republican William Schneider as the Maine Republican Party took unified control of the State Legislature and Governorship. Mills returned to the Attorney General position in 2013 after Democrats retook the State Legislature.

^ Scaglia, Steph; Shaw, Alissa Bombardier (20 September 2022). "Women Saving Democracy: An Attorneys General Explainer - Ms. Magazine". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved 23 January 2023. he first woman attorney general was Arlene Violet (R, 1985-86) in Rhode Island. As of 2022, a total of 41 women have held the elected office of attorney general. Twenty-one states have never had a woman attorney general. Currently, there are only nine women attorneys general in office.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The title of the head of Puerto Rico's Justice Department is the Secretary of Justice, not Attorney General.

[2] Mills served one term as Attorney General, from 2009 to 2011, before being replaced by Republican William Schneider as the Maine Republican Party took unified control of the State Legislature and Governorship. Mills returned to the Attorney General position in 2013 after Democrats retook the State Legislature.

[1] Scaglia, Steph; Shaw, Alissa Bombardier (20 September 2022). "Women Saving Democracy: An Attorneys General Explainer - Ms. Magazine". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved 23 January 2023. he first woman attorney general was Arlene Violet (R, 1985-86) in Rhode Island. As of 2022, a total of 41 women have held the elected office of attorney general. Twenty-one states have never had a woman attorney general. Currently, there are only nine women attorneys general in office.

[PR-3] The title of the head of Puerto Rico's Justice Department is the Secretary of Justice, not Attorney General.

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