GOP women surpass female Dems in FL Senate; major gains for Republican women in House

The Florida House and Senate saw major upticks for Republican women elected to serve in the 2022-24 legislative term compared to the previous session.

Last term, 16 women were in the Florida Senate, which is 40 percent of the chamber. That figure remains the same, but it’s still well below the U.S. Census data showing about 50.8 percent of Floridians as of July 1, 2021.

However, Republicans surpassed the Democrats in female representation in the Senate.

Last term, as of June data from the Florida Phoenix, there were 9 female Democrats of the 16 women in the Senate. Now, there’s just 7 female Democrats compared to 9 Republican woman in the Senate.

In addition, Katheen Passidomo, a female Republican senator, was selected to lead the Senate chamber as Senate President.

In the state House, female Republicans made huge strides following the Nov. 8 election.

There are 49 female state representatives for the 2022-24 term out of 120 House members, which is 40.8 percent. That’s for both Republican and Democratic women.

But last term, only 40 women were in the state House. That is based on a June analysis from the Phoenix in June of 2022, before the midterm elections. That percent overall for females in the House was only 33.6 percent.

There are 24 Republican women serving in the current 2022-24 term in the House, along with 25 female Democrats in the House.

That means Republicans and Democrats are nearly neck-and-neck in the House when it comes to female representation.

Compare that to the June analysis, before the November election, when there were 17 GOP women in the House, compared to the 24 now.  On the Democratic side, it was 23 female Democrats last term, compared to 25 now.