75th Miss USA pageant heads to Miami; 18 states await a first crown
Texas holds the Miss USA record for consecutive wins, five straight crowns from 1985–1989. Eighteen states have never won. The 75th pageant runs Aug. 27.
The 75th annual Miss USA pageant runs in Miami on August 27. The United States has more Miss Universe titles than any other country, and Texas holds the Miss USA record for consecutive wins: five straight crowns from 1985 through 1989, a stretch the pageant nicknamed the Texas Aces.
Two Miss Texas winners who took the national title later won Miss Universe: Chelsi Smith and R'Bonney Gabriel. Crystle Stewart, Miss Texas 2008, also won Miss USA and served as CEO and president of the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants from 2020 to 2023.
California has claimed a Miss USA title in every decade except the 2000s. Its most recent winner, Alyssa Campanella, took the crown in 2011.
Hawaii produced two pageant firsts. Macel Wilson, Miss Hawaii 1962, was the first woman from Hawaii to enter the Miss USA competition. She also became the first Asian American and the first woman of color to win. Brook Lee, Miss Hawaii 1997, won Miss USA and Miss Universe in the same year.
Hawaii added a fifth title in 2023 under unusual circumstances. Noelia Voigt stepped down three months before her reign ended, during the tenure of Miss USA CEO Laylah Rose. Savannah Gankiewicz, Miss Hawaii and the pageant's first runner-up, took Voigt's place.
Michigan's record begins with Carole Gist, the first Miss Michigan to take the Miss USA crown and the first African American woman to do so. Rima Fakih, Miss Michigan 2010, was the first Arab American winner. Kenya Moore, Miss USA 1993, became one of the pageant's most recognizable figures through "The Real Housewives of Atlanta," which ran from 2012 to 2025. Alma Cooper, a U.S. Army officer, is Michigan's most recent winner; she took the crown in 2024.
The District of Columbia has no representation in the Senate. Its Miss USA record is a different story. Deshauna Barber won in 2016, with Kára McCullough as first runner-up that year. Barber crowned McCullough as the 2017 winner. No place had posted consecutive Miss USA wins since the Texas Aces' run. Illinois is one of four states with back-to-back Miss USA titles.
New York traces its record to the pageant's start. Jackie Loughery, Miss New York 1952, was the first Miss USA. She also placed in the top 10 at the first Miss Universe pageant that year. New York's third crown came in 1995, when Shanna Moakler inherited the title after Chelsi Smith won Miss Universe.
North Carolina has found its stride on the pageant stage in recent years. Morgan Romano assumed the 2022 crown after R'Bonney Gabriel won America's ninth Miss Universe title.
Eighteen states have never won the crown.
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