NEW FROM NBC NEWS: Women Governors Fund Breaks Records to Elect Historic Number of Democratic Women Governors

Fund Chair Governor Maura Healey helped pave the path for election of record ten Democratic women governors across the country

New reporting from NBC News highlights the leadership of Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey in chairing the DGA's Women Governors Fund, which has been central to the organization's effort to raise and spend more than $120 million to elect and re-elect the current class of ten women Democratic governors and governors-elect.

In an interview, Governor Healey "pointed to Spanberger and Sherrill's margins of victory as evidence that donors' enthusiasm paid off and will carry into next year's races."

Read more about the historic work of Governor Healey and the Women Governors Fund here and below.

• "We now have the highest number of Democratic women governors in the history of the United States," Meehan-Draper, the executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, told NBC News, adding: "That's almost half the caucus, at this point, of Democratic governors."

• Following last week's elections, Democratic strategists are already turning toward next year's gubernatorial elections, during which they hope to keep adding women to state executive roles after Spanberger becomes Virginia's first female governor and Sherrill becomes New Jersey's first Democratic woman to serve as governor.

• "We have, I think, 18 states where there's women running for governor in 2026 in our 36 [total] races," Meehan-Draper said. "So it's just an exciting opportunity to continue to raise money and spend money on women running for executive office, where we don't really think anybody else is doing that."

• She pointed specifically to the DGA's Women Governors Fund, a fundraising initiative started by the group in 2018 which is dedicated to supporting Democratic women running for governor.

• This year, Meehan-Draper said, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey chaired the effort and raised $5 million for the fund that was dedicated to supporting Spanberger and Sherrill's bids for governor.

• Since the fund's inception in 2018, the DGA has raised and spent more than $120 million to support Democratic women running for governor.

• "There was tremendous enthusiasm" for the fund this year, Healey, who began her tenure as chair in 2023, told NBC News.

• "People and donors were really excited about supporting and getting behind women candidates for governor," she added.

• Healey, who is up for re-election herself in 2026, pointed to Spanberger and Sherrill's margins of victory as evidence that donors' enthusiasm paid off and will carry into next year's races.

• "They won big," she said. "I think a lot of people thought that these races were going to be close. I mean, these races were supposed to be close, and Republicans poured significant money into both of them, but Abby won by 15, Mikie by 13. I mean, these were resounding victories, and you know, that gives us a lot of great momentum going into next year."

• "We don't have enough women in these positions. You know, we're still not at 50/50 and for far too long, our country hasn't had enough women in leadership positions, period, and certainly we haven't had many in the corner office," she said.

• For clues about strategy, messaging and policy platforms that Democratic female gubernatorial candidates could use in their campaigns next year, Healey also pointed to Spanberger and Sherrill's messaging on affordability.

• "I think that there's been a real appeal in electing women as governors, because [voters] know that women are focused on making people's lives easier and lowering costs, making life more affordable for people and their families," the Massachusetts governor added.

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