Richards served only one term as governor from 1991 to 1995, losing her 1994 reelection bid. She entered Texas state politics in 1982 when she won her first of two terms for Texas State Treasure. Richard first entered Texas local politics in 1976 as a Travis County Commissioner. After Ferguson, Texas did not elect another female governor until Ann Richards (Democrat) over fifty years later in 1990. In 1934, Ferguson temporarily retired from public office, only returning in 1940 for a final unsuccessful gubernatorial race. In 1932, Ferguson ultimately won her bid for a second gubernatorial term and served this term from 1933 to 1935. She did run in 1930 after the Supreme Court of Texas again denied her husband's petition to enter the race, but as in 1926, she failed to earn the Democratic Party nomination. Scandals in her first administration caused Ferguson to lose her party's nomination in the 1926 election. Instead, Miriam entered the race and ultimately won, carrying out her first term from 1925 to 1927. Her husband, James Ferguson (Democrat), had previously served as Texas governor but was unable to secure his place on the ballot in the 1924 election after being impeached in his last term. Miriam Ferguson (Democrat) became the state's first female governor in 1924. Texas has had only two female governors in its history. She has served as Railroad Commissioner from 2013 to the present. WOMEN ELECTED TO TEXAS EXECUTIVE OFFICE OUTSIDE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATIONĬhristi Craddick is the only woman currently serving in Texas executive office outside the State Board of Education. So far no women have acted as Lieutenant Governor, Land Commissioner, or Attorney General. Women have most commonly been elected to the positions of State Treasurer or Comptroller of Public Accounts, sometimes using these positions as springboards to other elected executive office. Women have held the tile of Governor, State Treasurer or Comptroller of Public Accounts (the State Treasurer position was officially abolished in 1996, at which point the Comptroller of Public Accounts assumed many of the duties formerly held by the State Treasurer), Railroad Commissioner, and Agriculture Commissioner. Outside of the State Board of Education, only nine women have been elected to executive office in Texas. Currently, eight of the 15 members of the State Board of Education are women, including the board's secretary. After Blanton, several more women served as Superintendent of Public Instruction and on the State Board of Education once it was established in 1928. She won reelection in 1920 but did not seek a third term in 1922. At the urging of Texas suffragists, Annie Webb Blanton successfully ran for the position of Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1918. The first woman ever elected to statewide office in Texas was elected as Superintendent of Public Instruction (this position no longer exists the duties of the former Superintendent of Public Instruction are now carried out by the appointed Commissioner of Education). Women have been most present in the Texas executive branch as part of the State Board of Education. The state's highest courts – the Supreme Court of Texas and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals – have seen similarly low numbers of female justices throughout their history. While the percentage of women in the Texas Legislature has increased over the past few legislative sessions, as of December 2021, the percentage of female legislators in both the Texas House and the Texas Senate still fell far short of 50.3% - the percentage of women in the overall Texas population. Texas has had only two female governors over 175 years since statehood, and many prominent executive positions - such as Lieutenant Governor - have yet to be filled by women. Women have been underrepresented in all three branches of Texas state government.
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