Women in the United States Senate

From January 26, 2009 to January 3, 2011, seventeen women served concurrently in the Senate for the first time.
Left to right:
Standing: Murkowski, Lincoln, McCaskill, Stabenow, Cantwell, Gillibrand, Hutchison, Mikulski, Murray, Landrieu, Boxer, Snowe
Seated: Hagan, Feinstein, Shaheen, Collins, Klobuchar

There have been 39 women in the United States Senate since the establishment of that body in 1789. The first woman served in 1922, but women were first elected in number in 1992. As of 2011, 17 of the 100 senators are women. Thirteen of the women who have served were appointed; seven of those were appointed to succeed their deceased husbands.

History

The five women elected to the Senate in 1992, the "Year of the Woman"

Throughout most of the Senate's history, that legislative chamber has been almost entirely male. Until 1920, few women ran for the Senate. Until the 1990s, very few were elected. This paucity of women was due to many factors, including the lack of women's suffrage in many states until ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, women's limited access to higher education until the mid-1900s, public perceptions of gender roles, and barriers to women's advancement such as sex discrimination, which may still play a factor in their limited numbers today.

The first woman in the Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton who served for only one day in 1922. Hattie Caraway became the first woman to win election to the Senate, in 1932. No women served from 1922 to 1931, 1945 to 1947, and 1973 to 1978. Since 1978, there has always been at least one woman in the Senate.

There were still few women in the Senate near the end of the 20th century, long after women began to make up a significant portion of the membership of the House. In fact, the first time there were three women in the Senate simultaneously was in 1992, when Jocelyn Burdick of North Dakota, joined Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.

This trend began to change in the wake of the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination hearings, and the subsequent election of the 103rd Congress in 1992, which was dubbed the "Year of the Woman." In addition to Mikulski, who was reelected that year, four women were elected to the Senate, all Democrats. They were Patty Murray of Washington, Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, and Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, both of California. In June 1993, Kay Bailey Hutchison won a special election in Texas, and joined Kassebaum as a fellow female Republican senator. These additions significantly diminished the popular perception of the Senate as an exclusive "boys' club."

Since then, many more women in both the Democratic and Republican parties have campaigned for the Senate, and several have been elected. Of the twenty-five women who have ever been elected (rather than only appointed) to the Senate, sixteen are currently serving.

Twenty-five female senators have been Democrats while thirteen have been Republicans. Of the seventeen female senators now serving, twelve are Democrats and five are Republicans.

Current women senators

Since January 2009, there are 17 women serving in the 100-person body (an all-time high), including freshmen senators. For four states, California, Washington, Maine, and New Hampshire, both senators are women. California's current two senators (Boxer and Feinstein) are the first two women to be elected to the U.S. Senate in the same election (in 1992) from the same state. Seven female senators previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives—a distinction long held by only Margaret Chase Smith—Mikulski, Boxer, Snowe, Lincoln, Stabenow, Cantwell, and Gillibrand.

In January 2011, that number remained at 17, as Arkansas senator Blanche Lincoln was defeated while New Hampshire senator Kelly Ayotte replaced the seat vacated by Judd Gregg.

Class	State	Name	Party	Prior Experience	First took office	Born
3	Alaska	Lisa Murkowski	Republican	Alaska House of Representatives	2002	1957
1	California	Dianne Feinstein	Democratic	President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Mayor of San Francisco	1992	1933
3	California	Barbara Boxer	Democratic	Marin County Board of Supervisors, U.S. House of Representatives	1993	1940
2	Louisiana	Mary Landrieu	Democratic	Louisiana House of Representatives, Louisiana State Treasurer	1997	1955
1	Maine	Olympia Snowe	Republican	Maine House of Representatives, Maine Senate, U.S. House of Representatives	1995	1947
2	Maine	Susan Collins	Republican	Deputy Maine Treasurer; gubernatorial nominee	1997	1952
3	Maryland	Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	Baltimore City Council, U.S. House of Representatives	1987	1936
1	Michigan	Debbie Stabenow	Democratic	Michigan House of Representatives, Michigan Senate, U.S. House of Representatives	2001	1950
1	Minnesota	Amy Klobuchar	Democratic-Farmer-Labor	Hennepin County Attorney	2007	1960
1	Missouri	Claire McCaskill	Democratic	Missouri House of Representatives, Jackson County Legislature, Jackson County, Missouri Prosecutor, State Auditor of Missouri	2007	1953
2	New Hampshire	Jeanne Shaheen	Democratic	New Hampshire Senate, Governor of New Hampshire	2009	1947
3	New Hampshire	Kelly Ayotte	Republican	New Hampshire Attorney General	2011	1968
1	New York	Kirsten Gillibrand	Democratic	U.S. House of Representatives	2009	1966
2	North Carolina	Kay Hagan	Democratic	North Carolina Senate	2009	1953
1	Texas	Kay Bailey Hutchison	Republican	Texas House of Representatives, Texas State Treasurer	1993	1943
3	Washington	Patty Murray	Democratic	Washington Senate	1993	1950
1	Washington	Maria Cantwell	Democratic	Washington House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives	2001	1958

Election, selection and family

Prior to 2001, numerically speaking, the most common way for a woman to ascend to the U.S. Senate was to have been appointed there following the death or resignation of a husband or father who previously held the seat. An example is Muriel Humphrey (D-MN), the widow of former senator and Vice President Hubert Humphrey; she was appointed to fill his seat until a special election was held (in which she did not run). However, with the election of three women in 2000, the balance shifted: More women have now entered service as a senator by winning their seats outright than by being appointed to the body.^{[citation needed]}

Recent examples of selection include Jean Carnahan and Lisa Murkowski. In 2000, Jean Carnahan (D-MO) was appointed to fill the Senate seat won by her recently-deceased husband, Mel Carnahan. Carnahan—even though dead—defeated the incumbent senator, John Ashcroft. Carnahan's widow was named to fill his seat by Missouri Governor Roger Wilson until a special election was held. However, she lost the subsequent 2002 election to fill out the rest of the six-year term. In 2002, Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was appointed by her father Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski, who had resigned from the Senate to become governor, to serve the remaining two years of his term. Lisa Murkowski defeated former governor Tony Knowles in her reelection bid in 2004.

Two recent members of the Senate brought with them a combination of name recognition resulting from the political careers of their famous husbands and their own substantial experience in public affairs. The first, former Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), is married to former Senate Majority Leader and 1996 Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole and served as Secretary of Transportation under President Ronald Reagan, served as Secretary of Labor under President George H. W. Bush, and later ran a losing bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000. The other, former Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), is a former First Lady of the United States, former First Lady of Arkansas, and the former Chair of the National Legal Services Corporation and of the Children's Defense Fund. Clinton became President Barack Obama's Secretary of State in 2009.

Another famous name is Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, better known by her married name from her first marriage (Kassebaum). She is the daughter of former Kansas governor and one-time presidential candidate Alf Landon. After retiring from the Senate, she married former Senator Howard Baker (R-TN). Kassebaum has the distinction of being the first female senator to be elected to the Senate with no previous Congressional experience who had not succeeded a dead husband in his seat. At the time of her retirement in 1997, she was the second longest serving female senator after Margaret Chase Smith.

Firsts and onlies

Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) holds several distinctions for women in the U.S. Congress: She served in the Senate for 24 years, longer than any other female senator until Barbara Mikulski eclipsed her record in 2011; she was the first woman ever elected to both the U.S. House and Senate (she was first elected to the House in 1940 after the unexpected death of her husband, who himself was a member of the House of Representatives, and served there for eight years before winning the Senate seat by a landslide); she was the first woman to hold a Senate Leadership position; and she also won her 1960 race for Senate in the nation's first ever race pitting two women against each other for a Senate seat.

Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire holds the distinction of being the first woman elected both governor and senator of a state.

Houses served

Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) arrived in the Senate in 1995, having previously served in the House of Representatives and both houses of the Maine state legislature. She and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan are the only women to have served in both houses of a state legislature and both houses of the federal legislature.

Defeated incumbents

In 1992, Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) became the first woman to defeat an incumbent senator when she toppled Senator Alan Dixon in the Democratic primary. Later that year, Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) was the first woman to defeat an incumbent senator from a different party when she defeated appointed Senator John Seymour in a special election. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) duplicated Feinstein's feat in 1993, toppling appointed Senator Bob Krueger in a special election. In 2000, Stabenow (D-MI) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) became the first women to defeat incumbent elected senators in a general election, unseating Senators Spencer Abraham and Slade Gorton respectively. In 2008, Kay Hagan became the first woman to unseat a female incumbent, Elizabeth Dole.

Senators from the same state

The first female senators from a single state to serve concurrently were Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer (both D-CA), both elected in 1992, with Feinstein taking office that same year (as the result of a special election) and Boxer taking office in 1993. In Kansas, Nancy Kassebaum and Sheila Frahm briefly served together after Frahm's appointment in 1996; Frahm did not win election to the seat and left office later the same year. In Maine, Senators Olympia Snowe (R) and Susan Collins (R) have served concurrently since 1997, when Collins entered office. Washington Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell have also served concurrently since 2001, when Cantwell entered office. Upon the opening of the 112th Congress, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen was joined by newly elected Republican Kelly Ayotte, making the first female tandem senators that do not belong to the same party.

List of states represented by women

States that have been represented by female senators.

  Democrat(s)

  Republican(s)

  Both a Democrat and a Republican

Eight of the 11 Democratic female senators then in office gesture to the crowd following their individual speeches during the second day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. From left to right are Blanche Lincoln, Maria Cantwell, Mary Landrieu, Barbara Boxer, Amy Klobuchar, Barbara Mikulski, Debbie Stabenow, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Twenty-three states have been represented by female senators. In 2009, North Carolina became the first state to have been represented by female senators of both parties; and the first to have a female senator succeeded by a female senator from the other party. In 2011, New Hampshire became the second state to be represented by female senators from both parties, and the first to have female senators of both parties serving concurrently.

State	Current	Previous	Total
Louisiana	1	2	3
Maine	2	1	3
Alabama	0	2	2
Arkansas	0	2	2
California	2	0	2
Kansas	0	2	2
Minnesota	1	1	2
Missouri	1	1	2
Nebraska	0	2	2
New Hampshire	2	0	2
New York	1	1	2
North Carolina	1	1	2
South Dakota	0	2	2
Washington	2	0	2
Alaska	1	0	1
Florida	0	1	1
Georgia	0	1	1
Illinois	0	1	1
Maryland	1	0	1
Michigan	1	0	1
North Dakota	0	1	1
Oregon	0	1	1
Texas	1	0	1

List of female senators

Name	State	From	To	Length of service (days)	Entered the Senate via	Reason for leaving	Party
Felton, Rebecca LatimerRebecca Latimer Felton	Georgia	01922-11-21 November 21, 1922	01922-11-22 November 22, 1922	&100000000000000010000001	Appointment	Appointment ended	Democratic
Caraway, HattieHattie Caraway	Arkansas	01931-12-09 December 9, 1931	01945-01-03 January 3, 1945	&100000000000047740000004,774	Special election	Lost renomination	Democratic
McConnell Long, RoseRose McConnell Long	Louisiana	01936-01-31 January 31, 1936	01937-01-02 January 2, 1937	&10000000000000337000000337	Appointment	Appointment ended	Democratic
Bibb Graves, DixieDixie Bibb Graves	Alabama	01937-08-20 August 20, 1937	01938-01-10 January 10, 1938	&10000000000000143000000143	Appointment	Appointment ended	Democratic
Pyle, GladysGladys Pyle	South Dakota	01938-11-09 November 9, 1938	01939-01-03 January 3, 1939	&1000000000000005500000055	Special election	Retired	Republican
Bushfield, Vera C.Vera C. Bushfield	South Dakota	01948-10-06 October 6, 1948	01948-12-26 December 26, 1948	&1000000000000008100000081	Appointment	Appointment ended	Republican
Chase Smith, MargaretMargaret Chase Smith	Maine	01949-01-03 January 3, 1949	01973-01-03 January 3, 1973	&100000000000087660000008,766	Election	Lost re-election	Republican
Bowring, Eva KellyEva Kelly Bowring	Nebraska	01954-04-16 April 16, 1954	01954-11-07 November 7, 1954	&10000000000000205000000205	Appointment	Appointment ended	Republican
Hampel Abel, HazelHazel Hampel Abel	Nebraska	01954-11-08 November 8, 1954	01954-12-31 December 31, 1954	&1000000000000005300000053	Special election	Retired, and resigned early	Republican
Brown Neuberger, MaurineMaurine Brown Neuberger	Oregon	01960-11-09 November 9, 1960	01967-01-03 January 3, 1967	&100000000000022460000002,246	Special election	Retired	Democratic
Edwards, ElaineElaine Edwards	Louisiana	01972-08-01 August 1, 1972	01972-11-13 November 13, 1972	&10000000000000104000000104	Appointment	Appointment ended	Democratc
Humphrey, MurielMuriel Humphrey	Minnesota	01978-01-25 January 25, 1978	01978-11-07 November 7, 1978	&10000000000000286000000286	Appointment	Appointment ended	Democratic
Pittman Allen, MaryonMaryon Pittman Allen	Alabama	01978-06-08 June 8, 1978	01978-11-07 November 7, 1978	&10000000000000152000000152	Appointment	Lost nomination to finish term	Democratic
Landon Kassebaum, NancyNancy Landon Kassebaum	Kansas	01978-12-23 December 23, 1978	01997-01-03 January 3, 1997	&100000000000065860000006,586	Special election	Retired	Republican
Hawkins, PaulaPaula Hawkins	Florida	01981-01-01 January 1, 1981	01987-01-03 January 3, 1987	&100000000000021930000002,193	Election	Lost re-election	Republican
Mikulski, BarbaraBarbara Mikulski	Maryland	01987-01-03 January 3, 1987	Present	&100000000000091900000009,190	Election		Democratic
Burdick, JocelynJocelyn Burdick	North Dakota	01992-09-16 September 16, 1992	01992-12-14 December 14, 1992	&1000000000000008900000089	Appointment	Appointment ended	Democratic
Feinstein, DianneDianne Feinstein	California	01992-11-10 November 10, 1992	Present	&100000000000070520000007,052	Special election		Democratic
Boxer, BarbaraBarbara Boxer	California	01993-01-03 January 3, 1993	Present	&100000000000069980000006,998	Election		Democratic
Murray, PattyPatty Murray	Washington	01993-01-03 January 3, 1993	Present	&100000000000069980000006,998	Election		Democratic
Moseley Braun, CarolCarol Moseley Braun	Illinois	01993-01-03 January 3, 1993	01999-01-03 January 3, 1999	&100000000000021890000002,189	Election	Lost re-election	Democratic
Bailey Hutchison, KayKay Bailey Hutchison	Texas	01993-06-14 June 14, 1993	Present	&100000000000068360000006,836	Special election		Republican
Snowe, OlympiaOlympia Snowe	Maine	01995-01-03 January 3, 1995	Present	&100000000000062680000006,268	Election		Republican
Frahm, SheilaSheila Frahm	Kansas	01996-06-11 June 11, 1996	01996-11-06 November 6, 1996	&10000000000000148000000148	Appointment	Lost nomination to finish term	Republican
Collins, SusanSusan Collins	Maine	01997-01-03 January 3, 1997	Present	&100000000000055370000005,537	Election		Republican
Landrieu, MaryMary Landrieu	Louisiana	01997-01-03 January 3, 1997	Present	&100000000000055370000005,537	Election		Democratic
Lincoln, BlancheBlanche Lincoln	Arkansas	01999-01-03 January 3, 1999	02011-01-03 January 3, 2011	&100000000000048070000004,807	Election	Lost re-election	Democratic
Cantwell, MariaMaria Cantwell	Washington	02001-01-03 January 3, 2001	Present	&100000000000040760000004,076	Election		Democratic
Carnahan, JeanJean Carnahan	Missouri	02001-01-03 January 3, 2001	02002-11-25 November 25, 2002	&10000000000000691000000691	Appointment	Lost election to finish term	Democratic
Rodham Clinton, HillaryHillary Rodham Clinton	New York	02001-01-03 January 3, 2001	02009-01-21 January 21, 2009	&100000000000029400000002,940	Election	Resigned to become Secretary of State	Democratic
Stabenow, DebbieDebbie Stabenow	Michigan	02001-01-03 January 3, 2001	Present	&100000000000040760000004,076	Election		Democratic
Murkowski, LisaLisa Murkowski	Alaska	02002-12-20 December 20, 2002	Present	&100000000000033600000003,360	Appointment		Republican
Dole, ElizabethElizabeth Dole	North Carolina	02003-01-03 January 3, 2003	02009-01-03 January 3, 2009	&100000000000021920000002,192	Election	Lost re-election	Republican
Klobuchar, AmyAmy Klobuchar	Minnesota	02007-01-03 January 3, 2007	Present	&100000000000018850000001,885	Election		Democratic
McCaskill, ClaireClaire McCaskill	Missouri	02007-01-03 January 3, 2007	Present	&100000000000018850000001,885	Election		Democratic
Shaheen, JeanneJeanne Shaheen	New Hampshire	02009-01-03 January 3, 2009	Present	&100000000000011540000001,154	Election		Democratic
Hagan, KayKay Hagan	North Carolina	02009-01-03 January 3, 2009	Present	&100000000000011540000001,154	Election		Democratic
Gillibrand, KirstenKirsten Gillibrand	New York	02009-01-26 January 26, 2009	Present	&100000000000011310000001,131	Appointment		Democratic
Ayotte, KellyKelly Ayotte	New Hampshire	02011-01-03 January 3, 2011	Present	&10000000000000424000000424	Election		Republican

Graphs

Histograph

Starting	Total	Graph
March 4, 1789	0
November 21, 1922	1	*
November 23, 1922	0
December 9, 1931	1	*
January 31, 1936	2	**
January 3, 1937	1	*
August 20, 1937	2	**
January 11, 1938	1	*
November 9, 1938	2	**
January 4, 1939	1	*
January 4, 1945	0
October 6, 1948	1	*
December 27, 1948	0
January 3, 1949	1	*
April 16, 1954	2	**
January 1, 1955	1	*
November 9, 1960	2	**
January 4, 1967	1	*
August 1, 1972	2	**
November 14, 1972	1	*
January 4, 1973	0
January 25, 1978	1	*
June 8, 1978	2	**
November 8, 1978	0
December 23, 1978	1	*
January 1, 1981	2	**
September 16, 1992	3	***
November 10, 1992	4	****
December 15, 1992	3	***
January 3, 1993	6	******
June 14, 1993	7	*******
January 3, 1995	8	********
June 11, 1996	9	*********
November 7, 1996	8	********
January 3, 1997	9	*********
January 3, 2001	13	*************
November 26, 2002	12	************
December 20, 2002	13	*************
January 3, 2003	14	**************
January 3, 2007	16	****************
January 3, 2009	17	*****************
January 22, 2009	16	****************
January 26, 2009	17	*****************

Time series

See also

• Women in the United States House of Representatives
• Widow's succession

External links

• U.S. Senate History: Women in the Senate
• "Women in the U.S. Senate 1922-2010" Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey