Women in the United States Senate
Template:Short description Template:United States Senate
This article covers the history of women in the United States Senate and various milestones achieved by female senators. It includes a list of all women who have served in the Senate, a list of current female senators, and a list of states represented by women in the Senate. The first female U.S. senator, Rebecca Latimer Felton, represented Georgia for a single day in 1922, and the first woman elected to the Senate, Hattie Caraway, was elected from Arkansas in 1932. As of January 2025, 64 women have served in the upper house of the United States Congress, of which 26 (16 Democrats and 10 Republicans) are currently serving (out of 100 possible seats).
Nancy Kassebaum (born July 29, 1932) is the oldest living former female member of the Senate at the age of Template:Age in years.
History
For its first 130 years in existence, the Senate's membership was entirely male. Until 1920, few women ran for the Senate. Until the 1990s, very few were elected. This was due to many factors, including the lack of women's suffrage in many states until the 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.
The first time a woman was nominated for the Senate was in 1893 in Wyoming, where women have had the vote since 1869. The nomination happened through a party caucus, since this was before 1913 when the Seventeenth Amendment established popular elections for Senators. Mary Jane Bartlett was nominated by the Wyoming Populists, receiving their unanimous nomination. However, the Wyoming legislature was deadlocked for weeks of voting on their senators: Republicans, Democrats, and Populists mostly voted for their own candidates. Bartlett received all six populist votes on a number of ballots in the legislature, but time ran out to choose the senator, and Wyoming ended up serving with only one senator, rather than two, that term.<ref>https://places.wyo.gov/explore-more/exhibits/statehood-celebration/speeches/mrs-i-s-bartlett-final "Mrs. I. S. Bartlett", Wyoming Places, Wyoming State Library</ref><ref>History of Wyoming, Volume I, Ichabod S. Bartlett (editor), Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1918, p. 222.</ref>
The first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton; she represented Georgia for one day as a symbolic gesture in 1922.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ten years later, Hattie Caraway became the first woman to win election to the Senate, representing Arkansas. She first filled the vacancy caused by her husband's death, and then was elected to two full terms.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1949, Margaret Chase Smith began her service in the Senate; she was the first woman to serve in both the House and Senate. Her 1960 reelection bid resulted in Chase Smith winning the nation's first-ever United States Senate election with two female major party nominees. In 1972, Elaine Edwards was appointed as the first Catholic woman in the Senate by her husband, the Governor of Louisiana, while she was Louisiana's First Lady; she retired after three months. In 1978, Muriel Humphrey became the first Second Lady to serve in the United States Senate, after Hubert Humphrey's death in office. Humphrey Brown was appointed by the Governor of Minnesota to fill her recently deceased husband's Senate seat; she served for less than one year and declined to be elected to her husband's seat.
In 1978, Nancy Kassebaum became the first woman ever elected to a full term in the Senate, representing Kansas, without her husband having previously served in Congress.<ref group="n">
Of the female senators who preceded Kassebaum: Rebecca Latimer Felton, Rose McConnell Long, Dixie Bibb Graves, Vera C. Bushfield, Eva Bowring, Elaine S. Edwards, Muriel Humphrey, and Maryon Pittman Allen were all appointed and were never elected; Gladys Pyle (R-SD) and Hazel Abel (R-NE), were elected, but not to full terms (i.e., to complete terms where the previous senator had died or resigned, not to new six-year terms); Hattie Caraway and Maurine Brown Neuberger were both elected to full six-year terms, but their husbands had held the seat previously. Margaret Chase Smith's (R-ME) husband never served in the Senate, but he did serve in the House. When he died, Margaret won the ensuing election. Of the appointed senators, Long, Bushfield, Humphrey, and Allen were all appointed to fill out part of the terms of their deceased husbands, while Graves and Edwards were appointed by their husbands, the governor of their states at the time. However, Kassebaum's father was a former governor of Kansas, which means that the first woman to be elected to the Senate without any family connections was Paula Hawkins, who was elected in 1980 to represent Florida.</ref> Since Kassebaum assumed office in December 1978, there has been at least one woman in the Senate. The first woman to be elected to the Senate without any family connections was Florida Republican Paula Hawkins, elected in 1980. She was also the first and, to date, only female member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints elected to the United States Senate. In 1990, there were still few women in the Senate as compared to the number of women in the House. The trend of few women in the Senate began to change in the wake of the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination hearings and the subsequent election of the 103rd United States Congress in 1992, which was dubbed the "Year of the Woman."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Barbara Mikulski was reelected and four new Democratic women were elected to the Senate. They were Patty Murray of Washington, Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, Dianne Feinstein of California, and Barbara Boxer of California. Carol Moseley Braun was the first woman of color to serve in the Senate and the first woman to defeat an incumbent senator after she won the 1992 Democratic primary election over Alan J. Dixon. Later in 1992, Feinstein was the first woman to defeat an incumbent senator from a different party when she defeated John Seymour in a special election. Feinstein entered the Senate the same year as the first female Jewish senator.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="congress1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="congress2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Bathroom facilities for women in the Senate on the Senate chamber level were first provided in 1992.<ref name="Plaskow"> Template:Cite journal </ref> Women were not allowed to wear pants on the Senate floor until 1993.<ref name="chicagotribune2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="rollcall1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1993, Senators Barbara Mikulski and Carol Moseley Braun wore pants onto the floor in defiance of the rule, and female support staff followed soon after, with the rule being amended later that year by Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Martha Pope to allow women to wear pants on the floor so long as they also wore a jacket.<ref name="chicagotribune2004"/><ref name="rollcall1"/>
The first time two female senators from the same state served concurrently was in 1993; Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California were both elected in 1992, with Feinstein taking office that same year (as the result of a special election) and Boxer taking office in 1993. Boxer served until 2016, when she retired, and Feinstein was then joined by Kamala Harris. In June 1993, Kay Bailey Hutchison won a special election in Texas, and joined Kassebaum as a fellow female Template:Party shortname linked senator. These additions significantly diminished the popular perception of the Senate as an exclusive "boys' club". Since 1992, there has been at least one new woman elected to the Senate every two years, with the exception of 2004 (Lisa Murkowski was elected for the first time in 2004, but had been appointed to the seat since 2002).
Olympia Snowe of Maine assumed office in the Senate in 1995, having previously served in the US House of Representatives and both houses of the Maine state legislature. She was the first woman (later joined by Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming) to have served in both houses of a state legislature and both houses of the federal legislature. In 2000, Stabenow and Maria Cantwell became the first women to defeat incumbent elected senators in a general election, defeating Senators Spencer Abraham and Slade Gorton respectively.<ref group="n">Bob Krueger and John F. Seymour, defeated by Kay Bailey Hutchison and Dianne Feinstein respectively, were appointed to the Senate by the governors of their states.</ref> Hillary Clinton is the first First Lady to run for or win a Senate seat. Clinton took office in the Senate in 2001, becoming the first female senator from New York, and served until 2009, when she resigned to become the 67th United States Secretary of State, under President Barack Obama. She was replaced by Kirsten Gillibrand, who has been elected three times and was herself a candidate for president in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
In 2008, Democrat Kay Hagan of North Carolina became the first woman to defeat a female incumbent, Elizabeth Dole. Upon the opening of the 112th United States Congress in 2011, New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen was joined by newly elected Republican Kelly Ayotte, making up the first Senate delegation of two women belonging to different parties.
Patty Murray holds the record as the longest serving woman senator. As a serving senator, her record is continuously extended.
In 2012, a record five new female senators were elected. This beat the record of four new female senators from 1992 and set the record of five new women and eleven female senators in one Senate class. The five new women were Democrats Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Republican Deb Fischer of Nebraska. Hirono was the first Asian-American woman and first Buddhist in the Senate, and Baldwin was the first openly gay person in the Senate.
In 2014, Joni Ernst was elected as the first female combat veteran to serve in the Senate. In 2016, Catherine Cortez Masto was elected as the first Latina senator, while Tammy Duckworth was elected as the first female double amputee in the Senate.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In a June 2016 primary election, as a result of California's recent establishment of the top-two primary, Attorney General of California Kamala Harris and U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez became the first women of the same party to advance to a Senate general election. In November 2016, Harris became the first woman to defeat a woman of the same party in a Senate general election.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first former female senator to win a major party's nomination for President of the United States. Despite winning a plurality of the popular vote, she ultimately lost to Donald Trump.
Starting in 2017, United States Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, have held the distinction of being the first and second women elected as both the governor of a state and a United States senator from a state; both served as Governor of New Hampshire before their time in the Senate. Additionally, in 2024, former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte was elected Governor of New Hampshire, becoming the third woman and first Republican woman to hold this distinction.
In 2018, Kyrsten Sinema defeated Martha McSally, becoming Arizona's first female senator, as well as the first openly bisexual senator from any state. Two weeks later, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced that he would appoint McSally to Arizona's other Senate seat, which was becoming vacant with the resignation of Jon Kyl, who was appointed earlier in the year following the death of John McCain. Sinema and McSally have been the only concurrently serving female senators to have previously faced off against each other in a Senate election. McSally's appointment from the Senate ended in December 2020 after losing that year's special election to Democrat Mark Kelly.
Also in 2018, Jacky Rosen made political history as the first female one-term outgoing U.S. representative ever elected to the Senate.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2023, Patty Murray became the first woman to serve as president pro tempore, a role traditionally given to the most senior member of the majority party in the United States Senate. Dianne Feinstein was the most senior Democratic senator but declined to serve. This made Murray the third person in line to become president, after the vice president and the Speaker of the House.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
As of 2025, 64 women have served in the United States Senate since its establishment in 1789.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Cumulatively, 39 female U.S. senators have been Democrats, while 26 have been Republicans and one is an independent. As of 2023, no female U.S. senator has ever won election to the House after her Senate term, resigned from a state governorship for the purpose of a Senate appointment by her successor, also won election as an independent or to represent more than one state in non-consecutive elections, served both seats of a state at different times, or represented a third party in her career. In December 2022, Senator Kyrsten Sinema became the first female senator to switch her party affiliation while in office. In September 2023, Senator Dianne Feinstein became the first female senator to die in office.
Some female U.S. senators have later run for U.S. president or vice president (see list of female United States presidential and vice presidential candidates). In 2020, Kamala Harris became the first female senator, current or former, to win her vice presidential election bid and become the first female President of the United States Senate.
Election, selection, and family
Women are much less likely than men to decide to run for election, despite generally having the same chances of winning elections as male counterparts. Research by Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox shine light on a few possible reasons. Women report much less enthusiasm for the motions of campaigning (such as fundraising or attending rallies) than men. They are more likely than men to decide not to campaign based on lack of resources. They are also much more likely than men to view themselves as lacking credentials, and time (even women with full-time jobs report spending more time on household chores than men). Finally, they are more likely than men to view races as competitive.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Before 2001, a plurality of women joined the U.S. Senate through appointment 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 elections than by being appointed.Template: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, who was killed in a plane crash a month before the election. Carnahan, even though dead, defeated the incumbent senator, John Ashcroft. Carnahan's widow was named to fill his seat by Governor of Missouri Roger Wilson until a special election was held. However, she lost the subsequent 2002 special election to fill out the rest of the six-year term. In 2002, Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was appointed by her father Governor of Alaska 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 election 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), was married to former Senate Majority Leader and 1996 Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole (R-KS) and served as United States Secretary of Transportation under President Ronald Reagan and Secretary of Labor under President George H. W. Bush; she later ran a losing bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000. The other, former senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), wife of former president Bill Clinton, was First Lady of the United States and First Lady of Arkansas before taking her seat in 2000. She too ran an unsuccessful campaign for her party's presidential nomination in 2008; she resigned in 2009 to become the secretary of state for the eventual victor of that election, Barack Obama. In 2016, she ran a successful campaign for her party's presidential nomination, eventually losing in the general election to Republican nominee Donald Trump.
The first female senator whose husband did not serve while she was serving or was unmarried was Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS), 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 elected senator who did not succeed her husband in Congress (Margaret Chase Smith was only elected to the Senate after succeeding her husband to his House seat).
Among the women elected or appointed in Senate history, by stature, Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) are the shortest, at Template:Convert, whereas Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) is the tallest, at Template:Convert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
List of female U.S. senators
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Currently serving female U.S. senators
There are 26 women currently serving in the United States Senate. This is the highest number of women to have served concurrently in U.S. Senate history. Sixteen are Democrats and ten are Republicans.
The record was first achieved in January 2020 when Kelly Loeffler was appointed to the Senate from Georgia, increasing the number of women in the Senate from 25 to 26. The number fell back to 25 on December 2 of the same year when Martha McSally's appointment ended after she lost an election to finish John McCain's unexpired term. The record of 26 was reached again on January 3, 2021, when Cynthia Lummis, the first female senator from Wyoming, began her term. The record was sustained for only 15 days, as the number of concurrently serving women dropped again to 25 when Kamala Harris resigned her Senate seat on January 18 in anticipation of the scheduled commencement of her term as vice president (and thus president of the Senate) on January 20.
The record of 26 concurrently serving women was reached a third time on January 21, 2025, when Ashley Moody was appointed to the Senate from Florida (see the histograph of the number of female Senators).
As of January 2025, four states: (Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Washington) are represented by two female U.S. senators (see appropriate section).
11 of the women currently serving in the Senate have previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives: Senators Cantwell, Gillibrand, Baldwin, Hirono, Moore Capito, Duckworth, Rosen, Blackburn, Lummis, Blunt Rochester, and Slotkin. Template:Sticky-header
List of states represented by women
34 states have been represented by female senators. As of January 21, 2025, 22 states are represented by female senators. Template:Sticky-header
| State | Current | Previous | Total | First woman senator | Years represented by female senators | Year first elected a female senator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 1 | 2 | 3 | Dixie Graves | 1937–1938, 1978, 2023–present | 2022 |
| Alaska | 1 | 0 | 1 | Lisa Murkowski | 2002–present | 2004 |
| Arizona | 0 | 2 | 2 | Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally |
2019–2025 | 2018 |
| Arkansas | 0 | 2 | 2 | Hattie Caraway | 1931–1945, 1999–2011 | 1932 |
| California | 0 | 4 | 4 | Dianne Feinstein | 1992–2023, 2023–2024 | 1992 Template:Small |
| Colorado | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Connecticut | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Delaware | 1 | 0 | 1 | Lisa Blunt Rochester | 2025–present | 2024 |
| Florida | 1 | 1 | 2 | Paula Hawkins | 1981–1987, 2025–present | 1980 |
| Georgia | 0 | 2 | 2 | Rebecca Felton | 1922, 2020–2021 | N/A; both female senators were appointed |
| Hawaii | 1 | 0 | 1 | Mazie Hirono | 2013–present | 2012 |
| Idaho | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Illinois | 1 | 1 | 2 | Carol Moseley-Braun | 1993–1999, 2017–present | 1992 |
| Indiana | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Iowa | 1 | 0 | 1 | Joni Ernst | 2015–present | 2014 |
| Kansas | 0 | 2 | 2 | Nancy Kassebaum | 1978–1997 | 1978 |
| Kentucky | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Louisiana | 0 | 3 | 3 | Rose Long | 1936–1937, 1972, 1997–2015 | 1936 Template:Small |
| Maine | 1 | 2 | 3 | Margaret Chase Smith | 1949–1973, 1995–present | 1948 |
| Maryland | 1 | 1 | 2 | Barbara Mikulski | 1987–2017, 2025–present | 1986 |
| Massachusetts | 1 | 0 | 1 | Elizabeth Warren | 2013–present | 2012 |
| Michigan | 1 | 1 | 2 | Debbie Stabenow | 2001–present | 2000 |
| Minnesota | 2 | 1 | 3 | Muriel Humphrey | 1978, 2007–present | 2006 |
| Mississippi | 1 | 0 | 1 | Cindy Hyde-Smith | 2018–present | 2018 Template:Small |
| Missouri | 0 | 2 | 2 | Jean Carnahan | 2001–2002, 2007–2019 | 2006 |
| Montana | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Nebraska | 1 | 2 | 3 | Eva Bowring | 1954, 2013–present | 1954 Template:Small |
| Nevada | 2 | 0 | 2 | Catherine Cortez Masto | 2017–present | 2016 |
| New Hampshire | 2 | 1 | 3 | Jeanne Shaheen | 2009–present | 2008 |
| New Jersey | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| New Mexico | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| New York | 1 | 1 | 2 | Hillary Clinton | 2001–2009, 2009–present | 2000 |
| North Carolina | 0 | 2 | 2 | Elizabeth Dole | 2003–2015 | 2002 |
| North Dakota | 0 | 2 | 2 | Jocelyn Burdick | 1992, 2013–2019 | 2012 |
| Ohio | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Oklahoma | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Oregon | 0 | 1 | 1 | Maurine Neuberger | 1960–1967 | 1960 Template:Small |
| Pennsylvania | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Rhode Island | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| South Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| South Dakota | 0 | 2 | 2 | Gladys Pyle | 1938–1939, 1948 | 1938 Template:Small |
| Tennessee | 1 | 0 | 1 | Marsha Blackburn | 2019–present | 2018 |
| Texas | 0 | 1 | 1 | Kay Hutchison | 1993–2013 | 1993 Template:Small |
| Utah | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Vermont | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Washington | 2 | 0 | 2 | Patty Murray | 1993–present | 1992 |
| West Virginia | 1 | 0 | 1 | Shelley Moore Capito | 2015–present | 2014 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 0 | 1 | Tammy Baldwin | 2013–present | 2012 |
| Wyoming | 1 | 0 | 1 | Cynthia Lummis | 2021–present | 2020 |
| Total | 26 | 38 | 64 | Rebecca Felton | 1922, 1931–1945, 1948–1973,
1978–present |
1932 |
Graphs
Histograph
Note: In the graph below, entry dates refer to the date the senator was sworn in, not the date of the appointment, or election.
Template:Legend0 Template:· Template:Legend0 Template:· Template:Legend0 Template:Sticky-header
Timeline
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width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:Senators from:1922 till:1922 color:D text:"Rebecca Latimer Felton" from:1931 till:1945 color:D text:"Hattie Caraway" from:1936 till:1937 color:D text:"Rose McConnell Long" from:1937 till:1938 color:D text:"Dixie Bibb Graves" from:1938 till:1939 color:R text:"Gladys Pyle" from:1948 till:1948 color:R text:"Vera C. Bushfield" from:1949 till:1973 color:R text:"Margaret Chase Smith" from:1954 till:1954 color:R text:"Eva Bowring" from:1954 till:1954 color:R text:"Hazel Abel" from:1960 till:1967 color:D text:"Maurine Neuberger" from:1972 till:1972 color:D text:"Elaine S. Edwards" from:1978 till:1978 color:D text:"Muriel Humphrey" from:1978 till:1978 color:D text:"Maryon Allen" from:1978 till:1997 color:R text:"Nancy Kassebaum" from:1981 till:1987 color:R text:"Paula Hawkins" from:1987 till:2017 color:D text:"Barbara Mikulski" from:1992 till:1992 color:D text:"Jocelyn Burdick" from:1992 till:2023 color:D text:"Dianne Feinstein" from:1993 till:2017 color:D text:"Barbara Boxer" from:1993 till:1999 color:D text:"Carol Moseley-Braun" from:1993 till:2026 color:D text:"Patty Murray" from:1993 till:2013 color:R text:"Kay Bailey Hutchison" from:1995 till:2013 color:R text:"Olympia Snowe" from:1996 till:1996 color:R text:"Sheila Frahm" from:1997 till:2026 color:R text:"Susan Collins" from:1997 till:2015 color:D text:"Mary Landrieu" from:1999 till:2011 color:D text:"Blanche Lincoln" from:2001 till:2026 color:D text:"Maria Cantwell" from:2001 till:2002 color:D text:"Jean Carnahan" from:2001 till:2009 color:D text:"Hillary Clinton" from:2001 till:2025 color:D text:"Debbie Stabenow" from:2002 till:2026 color:R text:"Lisa Murkowski" from:2003 till:2009 color:R text:"Elizabeth Dole" from:2007 till:2026 color:D text:"Amy Klobuchar" from:2007 till:2019 color:D text:"Claire McCaskill" from:2009 till:2015 color:D text:"Kay Hagan" from:2009 till:2026 color:D text:"Jeanne Shaheen" from:2009 till:2026 color:D text:"Kirsten Gillibrand" from:2011 till:2017 color:R text:"Kelly Ayotte" from:2013 till:2026 color:D text:"Tammy Baldwin" from:2013 till:2026 color:R text:"Deb Fischer" from:2013 till:2019 color:D text:"Heidi Heitkamp" from:2013 till:2026 color:D text:"Mazie Hirono" from:2013 till:2026 color:D text:"Elizabeth Warren" from:2015 till:2026 color:R text:"Joni Ernst" from:2015 till:2026 color:R text:"Shelley Moore Capito" from:2017 till:2026 color:D text:"Catherine Cortez Masto" from:2017 till:2026 color:D text:"Tammy Duckworth" from:2017 till:2021 color:D text:"Kamala Harris" from:2017 till:2026 color:D text:"Maggie Hassan" from:2018 till:2026 color:D text:"Tina Smith" from:2018 till:2026 color:R text:"Cindy Hyde-Smith" from:2019 till:2026 color:R text:"Marsha Blackburn" from:2019 till:2020 color:R text:"Martha McSally" from:2019 till:2026 color:D text:"Jacky Rosen" bar:Sinema from:2019 till:2022 color:D text:" from:2022 till:2025 color:I text:"Kyrsten Sinema" barset:Senators2 from:2020 till:2021 color:R text:"Kelly Loeffler" from:2021 till:2026 color:R text:"Cynthia Lummis" from:2023 till:2026 color:R text:"Katie Britt" from:2023 till:2024 color:D text:"Laphonza Butler" from:2025 till:2026 color:D text:"Angela Alsobrooks" from:2025 till:2026 color:D text:"Lisa Blunt Rochester" from:2025 till:2026 color:D text:"Elissa Slotkin" from:2025 till:2026 color:R text:"Ashley Moody" barset:skip
</timeline>
Concurrently serving women from the same state
On January 3, 2019, Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally became the first women from the same state to start serving in the Senate on the same date.
Elections with two female major-party nominees
Incumbent senators (at the time of the election in question) are in bold.
Pregnancies
On April 9, 2018, Tammy Duckworth, at age 50, gave birth to her daughter Maile Pearl, becoming the first sitting senator to give birth.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Shortly thereafter, the Senate's rules were changed to allow senators to bring with them to the Senate floor children under one year of age during votes, as well as explicitly allow breastfeeding.<ref name="rules">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The day after those rules were changed, Maile became the first baby on the Senate floor when Duckworth brought her.<ref name="rules"/><ref name="washingtonpost1">Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
- Women in the United States House of Representatives
- Widow's succession
- List of female governors in the United States
- Party leaders of the United States Senate
- Politics of the United States
- Sexism in American political elections
Notes
References
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
- {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}
- Maurer, Elizabeth. "Legislating History: 100 Years of Women in Congress" Template:Webarchive. National Women's History Museum. 2017.
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