A Brief History of Women in the U.S. Senate
38 Female Senators Have Served Since 1922
© Kat Long
Jan 25, 2009
Though the first Congress convened in 1789, a woman was not appointed or elected to the United States Senate until 1922—133 years later. Since then, 38 American women Senators from both major political parties have gone to work in the north wing of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
Rebecca Latimer Felton, Democrat of Georgia, was appointed the first female Senator on November 21, 1922, at age 87. A longtime activist on behalf of agricultural and family issues, she occupied the seat made vacant by her predecessor, Thomas Watson. But her service was mostly symbolic—her term lasted only 24 hours--because a male successor to the seat had already been chosen.
The first woman elected to the Senate was Arkansas Democrat Hattie Wyatt Caraway. She was originally appointed to the seat left vacant by the death of her husband, Thaddeus Caraway, in 1931, then ran for election and won in 1932. She was reelected in 1938 and served until 1945.
Democrat Kristen Gillibrand of New York, the body’s newest member, was appointed by Governor David Paterson on January 23, 2009, to fill the seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton one day after Clinton became the Obama administration’s Secretary of State. Gillibrand’s appointment brings the percentage of women in the Senate to 17.
In the 87 years since Felton’s appointment, there have been 24 Democrat and 13 Republican female Senators.
Historical Firsts
Many women have blazed the political trail in terms of their party affiliation, region of representation, their length of service. Felton was the first Democrat, the first Southerner, had the shortest term, and was the oldest-ever woman in the Senate. She’s followed in other categories by these colleagues:
- First Republican woman: Gladys Pyle, Republican of South Dakota (1938)—also the first Midwesterner
- First Westerner: Maurine Neuberger, Democrat of Oregon (1960)
- Longest-serving Senator: Margaret Chase Smith, Republican of Maine (24 years)—also the first Northerner
- Longest-serving Senator still active: Barbara Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland (elected 1987)
- First and only former First Lady to be elected Senator: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York (2001)
Women by the States
Only four states have had two female Senators serving simultaneously: Kansas, California, Maine, and Washington.
Sheila Frahm joined fellow Kansas Republican Nancy Kassenbaum from June 11, 1996 to the following November, due to then-Vice Presidential candidate Robert Dole’s resignation. In California, Democrats Dianne Feinstein (elected 1992) and Barbara Boxer (elected 1993) are the current Senators. Republicans Olympia Snowe (elected 1995) and Susan Collins (elected 1997) currently represent Maine. Democrats Patty Murray (elected 1993) and Maria Cantwell (elected 2001) represent Washington today.
Twenty-seven states have never had a female Senator: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Nine states have had female Senators in the past, but not currently: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, and South Dakota.
The remaining fourteen states are currently represented by at least one female Senator.
- Alaska: Lisa Murkowski (R)
- Arkansas: Blanche Lincoln (D)
- California: Dianne Feinstein (D) and Barbara Boxer (D)
- Louisiana: Mary Landrieu (D)
- Maine: Olympia Snowe (R) and Susan Collins (R)
- Maryland: Barbara Mikulski (D)
- Michigan: Deborah Stabenow (D)
- Minnesota: Amy Klobuchar (D)
- Missouri: Claire McCaskill (D)
- New Hampshire: Jeanne Shaheen (D)
- New York: Kristen Gillibrand (D)
- North Carolina: Kay Hagan (D)
- Texas: Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R)
- Washington: Patty Murray (D) and Maria Cantwell (D)
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