Women in the 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. Since its establishment in 1789, 60 women have served in the upper house of the United States Congress. As of December 9, 2024, there are 24 women (14 Democrats, 9 Republicans, and 1 Independent) serving as U.S. senators out of 100 possible seats. Additionally, Kamala Harris as vice president serves as President of the Senate.

Nancy Kassebaum (born July 29, 1932) is currently the oldest living former female member of the Senate at the age of 92.

History

Rebecca Latimer Felton (D-Georgia), the first female member of the United States Senate, who served for a single day in 1922.

One woman (Barbara Mikulski) was reelected and four women were elected to the Senate in 1992, the "Year of the Woman," Left to right: Senators Murray, Moseley Braun, Mikulski, Feinstein, and Boxer.

By the 111th United States Congress (2009–2011), the number of female senators had increased to 17, including 4 Republicans and 13 Democrats

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 paucity of women 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 woman nominated for the Senate (by a party caucus before 1913 when the Seventeenth Amendment established popular elections for Senators) was in Wyoming, where women had had the vote since 1869. Mary Jane Bartlett was nominated in 1893 by the Wyoming Populists. She received six votes on a number of ballots in the legislature.

The first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton; she represented Georgia for one day in 1922. Ten years later, Hattie Caraway became the first woman to win election to the Senate, representing Arkansas. 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 and only Second Lady to serve in the United States Senate, after Hubert Humphrey's unexpected death in office. Humphrey Brown was appointed by the Governor of Minnesota to fill her late husband's Senate seat; she served for less than one year and did not seek 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. Since the beginning of Kassebaum's service in December 1978, there has always 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." 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.

Bathroom facilities for women in the Senate on the Senate chamber level were first provided in 1992. Women were not allowed to wear pants on the Senate floor until 1993. 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.

The first time two female senators from the same state served concurrently was beginning in 1993; Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer (both D-CA) 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 joined by Kamala Harris. 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 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).

Eight Democratic women senators appear at the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver. It has become a tradition at Democratic conventions for incumbent women senators to appear on opening night.

Olympia Snowe of Maine arrived in the Senate in 1995, having previously served in the US House of Representatives and both houses of the Maine state legislature. She and later Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming are the only women 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, unseating Senators Spencer Abraham and Slade Gorton respectively. Hillary Clinton is the first and only First Lady to run for or win a Senate seat. Clinton joined 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, Kay Hagan became the first woman to unseat 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.

In November 2022, Dianne Feinstein became the longest-serving female senator in history, surpassing Barbara Mikulski, having served for 30 years. Feinstein was retiring at the end of her last term, scheduled for January 3, 2025, but died in office on September 29, 2023, before her term ended. Subsequently, Patty Murray surpassed Feinstein as the longest serving woman senator, and continues to serve.

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. 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 her bid 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. Sinema and McSally have been the only concurrently serving female senators to have previously faced off against each other in a Senate election. McSally exited the Senate in late 2020 after losing that year's special election to Mark Kelly, a Democrat.

Also in 2018, Jacky Rosen made political history as the first female one-term outgoing U.S. representative ever elected to the Senate.

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.

Sixty women have served in the United States Senate since its establishment in 1789. Cumulatively, 36 female U.S. senators have been Democrats, while 23 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 past, 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 off of 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.

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.

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 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.

Another famous name is 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 4 feet 11 inches (1.50 m), whereas Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) is the tallest, at 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m).

List of female U.S. senators

Portrait	Name (lifespan)	State	Term			Entered by	Left for	Party
			Term start	Term end	Length of service (days)
	Rebecca Felton (1835–1930)	Georgia	November 21, 1922	November 21, 1922	1 (0 days)	Appointment by Thomas W. Hardwick	Appointment ended	Democratic
	Hattie Caraway (1878–1950)	Arkansas	November 13, 1931	January 3, 1945	4,800 (13 years, 51 days)	Appointment by Harvey Parnell	Lost renomination	Democratic
	Rose Long (1892–1970)	Louisiana	January 31, 1936	January 3, 1937	338 (338 days)	Appointment by James Noe	Retired	Democratic
	Dixie Graves (1882–1965)	Alabama	August 20, 1937	January 10, 1938	143 (143 days)	Appointment by Bibb Graves	Appointment ended	Democratic
	Gladys Pyle (1890–1989)	South Dakota	November 9, 1938	January 3, 1939	55 (55 days)	Special election	Retired	Republican
	Vera C. Bushfield (1889–1976)		October 6, 1948	December 26, 1948	81 (81 days)	Appointment by George Mickelson	Appointment ended	Republican
	Margaret Chase Smith (1897–1995)	Maine	January 3, 1949	January 3, 1973	8,766 (24 years, 0 days)	Election	Lost reelection	Republican
	Eva Bowring (1892–1985)	Nebraska	April 16, 1954	November 7, 1954	205 (205 days)	Appointment by Robert B. Crosby	Appointment ended	Republican
	Hazel Abel (1888–1966)		November 8, 1954	December 31, 1954	53 (53 days)	Special election	Retired and resigned early	Republican
	Maurine Neuberger (1907–2000)	Oregon	November 9, 1960	January 3, 1967	2,246 (6 years, 55 days)	Special election	Retired	Democratic
	Elaine Edwards (1929–2018)	Louisiana	August 1, 1972	November 13, 1972	104 (104 days)	Appointment by Edwin Edwards	Appointment ended	Democratic
	Muriel Humphrey (1912–1998)	Minnesota	January 25, 1978	November 7, 1978	286 (286 days)	Appointment by Rudy Perpich		Democratic
	Maryon Allen (1925–2018)	Alabama	June 8, 1978		152 (152 days)	Appointment by George Wallace	Lost nomination to finish term	Democratic
	Nancy Kassebaum (born 1932)	Kansas	December 23, 1978	January 3, 1997	6,586 (18 years, 11 days)	Election	Retired	Republican
	Paula Hawkins (1927–2009)	Florida	January 1, 1981	January 3, 1987	2,193 (6 years, 2 days)	Election	Lost reelection	Republican
	Barbara Mikulski (born 1936)	Maryland	January 3, 1987	January 3, 2017	10,959 (30 years, 0 days)	Election	Retired	Democratic
	Jocelyn Burdick (1922–2019)	North Dakota	September 12, 1992	December 14, 1992	93 (93 days)	Appointment by George Sinner	Appointment ended	Democratic–NPL
	Dianne Feinstein (1933–2023)	California	November 4, 1992	September 29, 2023	11,286 (30 years, 329 days)	Special election	Died in office	Democratic
	Barbara Boxer (born 1940)		January 3, 1993	January 3, 2017	8,767 (24 years, 0 days)	Election	Retired	Democratic
	Carol Moseley-Braun (born 1947)	Illinois	January 3, 1993	January 3, 1999	2,191 (6 years, 0 days)	Election	Lost reelection	Democratic
	Patty Murray (born 1950)	Washington	January 3, 1993	present	11,681 (31 years, 359 days)	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
	Kay Hutchison (born 1943)	Texas	June 14, 1993	January 3, 2013	7,143 (19 years, 203 days)	Special election	Retired	Republican
	Olympia Snowe (born 1947)	Maine	January 3, 1995		6,576 (18 years, 0 days)	Election		Republican
	Sheila Frahm (born 1945)	Kansas	June 11, 1996	November 6, 1996	148 (148 days)	Appointment by Bill Graves	Lost nomination to finish term	Republican
	Susan Collins (born 1952)	Maine	January 3, 1997	present	10,220 (27 years, 359 days)	Election	Incumbent	Republican
	Mary Landrieu (born 1955)	Louisiana	January 3, 1997	January 3, 2015	6,575 (18 years, 0 days)	Election	Lost reelection	Democratic
	Blanche Lincoln (born 1960)	Arkansas	January 3, 1999	January 3, 2011	4,383 (12 years, 0 days)	Election	Lost reelection	Democratic
	Maria Cantwell (born 1958)	Washington	January 3, 2001	present	8,759 (23 years, 359 days)	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
	Jean Carnahan (1933-2024)	Missouri	January 3, 2001	November 23, 2002	689 (1 year, 324 days)	Appointment by Roger B. Wilson	Lost election to finish term	Democratic
	Hillary Clinton (born 1947)	New York		January 21, 2009	2,940 (8 years, 18 days)	Election	Resigned to become United States Secretary of State	Democratic
	Debbie Stabenow (born 1950)	Michigan	January 3, 2001	present	8,759 (23 years, 359 days)	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
	Lisa Murkowski (born 1957)	Alaska	December 20, 2002		8,043 (22 years, 7 days)	Appointment by Frank Murkowski		Republican
	Elizabeth Dole (born 1936)	North Carolina	January 3, 2003	January 3, 2009	2,192 (6 years, 0 days)	Election	Lost reelection	Republican
	Amy Klobuchar (born 1960)	Minnesota	January 3, 2007	present	6,568 (17 years, 359 days)	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
	Claire McCaskill (born 1953)	Missouri	January 3, 2007	January 3, 2019	4,383 (12 years, 0 days)	Election	Lost reelection	Democratic
	Jeanne Shaheen (born 1947)	New Hampshire	January 3, 2009	present	5,837 (15 years, 359 days)	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
	Kay Hagan (1953–2019)	North Carolina	January 3, 2009	January 3, 2015	2,191 (6 years, 0 days)	Election	Lost reelection	Democratic
	Kirsten Gillibrand (born 1966)	New York	January 26, 2009	present	5,814 (15 years, 336 days)	Appointment by David Paterson	Incumbent	Democratic
	Kelly Ayotte (born 1968)	New Hampshire	January 3, 2011	January 3, 2017	2,192 (6 years, 0 days)	Election	Lost reelection	Republican
	Tammy Baldwin (born 1962)	Wisconsin	January 3, 2013	present	4,376 (11 years, 359 days)	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
	Deb Fischer (born 1951)	Nebraska			4,376 (11 years, 359 days)	Election		Republican
	Heidi Heitkamp (born 1955)	North Dakota	January 3, 2013	January 3, 2019	2,191 (6 years, 0 days)	Election	Lost reelection	Democratic–NPL
	Mazie Hirono (born 1947)	Hawaii	January 3, 2013	present	4,376 (11 years, 359 days)	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
	Elizabeth Warren (born 1949)	Massachusetts			4,376 (11 years, 359 days)	Election		Democratic
	Joni Ernst (born 1970)	Iowa	January 3, 2015		3,646 (9 years, 359 days)	Election		Republican
	Shelley Moore Capito (born 1953)	West Virginia			3,646 (9 years, 359 days)	Election		Republican
	Catherine Cortez Masto (born 1964)	Nevada	January 3, 2017		2,915 (7 years, 359 days)	Election		Democratic
	Tammy Duckworth (born 1968)	Illinois			2,915 (7 years, 359 days)	Election		Democratic
	Kamala Harris (born 1964)	California	January 3, 2017	January 18, 2021	1,476 (4 years, 15 days)	Election	Resigned to become Vice President of the United States	Democratic
	Maggie Hassan (born 1958)	New Hampshire	January 3, 2017	present	2,915 (7 years, 359 days)	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
	Tina Smith (born 1958)	Minnesota	January 3, 2018		2,550 (6 years, 359 days)	Appointment by Mark Dayton		Democratic
	Cindy Hyde-Smith (born 1959)	Mississippi	April 2, 2018		2,461 (6 years, 269 days)	Appointment by Phil Bryant		Republican
	Marsha Blackburn (born 1952)	Tennessee	January 3, 2019		2,185 (5 years, 359 days)	Election		Republican
	Kyrsten Sinema (born 1976)	Arizona			2,185 (5 years, 359 days)	Election		Democratic (2019–2022)
								Independent (since 2022)
	Martha McSally (born 1966)	Arizona	January 3, 2019	December 2, 2020	699 (1 year, 334 days)	Appointment by Doug Ducey	Lost election to finish term	Republican
	Jacky Rosen (born 1957)	Nevada	January 3, 2019	present	2,185 (5 years, 359 days)	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
	Kelly Loeffler (born 1970)	Georgia	January 6, 2020	January 20, 2021	380 (1 year, 14 days)	Appointment by Brian Kemp	Lost election to finish term	Republican
	Cynthia Lummis (born 1954)	Wyoming	January 3, 2021	present	1,454 (3 years, 359 days)	Election	Incumbent	Republican
	Katie Britt (born 1982)	Alabama	January 3, 2023		724 (1 year, 359 days)	Election		Republican
	Laphonza Butler (born 1979)	California	October 1, 2023	December 8, 2024	434 (1 year, 68 days)	Appointment by Gavin Newsom	Appointment ended	Democratic

Female senators-elect

Image	Name (lifespan)	State	Term expected to commence	Notes	Party
	Angela Alsobrooks (born 1971)	Maryland	January 3, 2025	Elected on November 5, 2024	Democratic
	Lisa Blunt Rochester (born 1962)	Delaware			Democratic
	Elissa Slotkin (born 1976)	Michigan			Democratic

Currently serving female U.S. senators

Map of current female senators by state.

  Two female senators

  One female senator

  No female senators

There are 24 women currently serving in the United States Senate. This is the second-highest number of women to have served concurrently in the Senate in U.S. history. Fifteen are Democrats, nine are Republicans, and one is an independent.

In January 2019, four new female senators (Blackburn, McSally, Rosen, and Sinema) were seated, but two others (Heitkamp and McCaskill) lost reelection bids, so the number of female senators reached 25, with 17 being Democrats and 8 being Republicans. In January 2020, Kelly Loeffler was appointed to the Senate from Georgia, increasing the number of women in the Senate to 26, the highest proportion of women serving as U.S. senators in history.

Pink represents the Women in the United States Senate

Pie chart showing female senators in the 118th Congress. Pink is female

Martha McSally lost an election to finish John McCain's unexpired term on November 3, 2020, and left the Congress on December 2, which reduced the number of female senators to 25. On January 3, 2021, Cynthia Lummis, the first female senator from Wyoming, began her term, so the number of female senators reached 26 once again. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris was elected Vice President of the United States; she 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, which reduced the number of female senators to 25. In addition, Loeffler lost the January 5 special election runoff for the remainder of the term to which she had been appointed, and she left office also on January 20, which further reduced the number of women serving in the Senate to 24. On December 9, 2022, Sinema defected from the Democratic Party to become a registered independent, leaving 15 of her fellow female senators from her former party, and, on January 3, 2023, Katie Britt, the first female Republican senator from Alabama and also the first woman ever elected to the Senate from her state, began her term as well, increasing the number to 25 again. The death of Dianne Feinstein on September 29, 2023, brought the number back down to 24. The seating of Feinstein's replacement, appointed senator Laphonza Butler, on October 3 returned the figure to 25.

As of January 2023, four states (Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Washington) are represented by two female U.S. senators. Eleven incumbent women in the Senate are former U.S. representatives: Senators Stabenow, Cantwell, Gillibrand, Baldwin, Hirono, Moore Capito, Duckworth, Sinema, Rosen, Blackburn, and Lummis.

Class	State	Name	Party	Prior experience	First took office	Born
3	Alabama	Katie Britt	Republican	CEO of the Business Council of Alabama, chief of staff to predecessor Richard Shelby	2023 (age 40)	1982
3	Alaska	Lisa Murkowski	Republican	Alaska House of Representatives	2002 (age 45)	1957
1	Arizona	Kyrsten Sinema	Independent	Arizona House of Representatives, Arizona Senate, U.S. House of Representatives	2019 (age 42)	1976
1	Hawaii	Mazie Hirono	Democratic	Hawaii House of Representatives, Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, gubernatorial nominee, U.S. House of Representatives	2013 (age 65)	1947
3	Illinois	Tammy Duckworth	Democratic	U.S. House of Representatives	2017 (age 48)	1968
2	Iowa	Joni Ernst	Republican	Montgomery County Auditor, Iowa Senate	2015 (age 44)	1970
2	Maine	Susan Collins	Republican	Massachusetts Deputy Treasurer, gubernatorial nominee	1997 (age 44)	1952
1	Massachusetts	Elizabeth Warren	Democratic	Special advisor to the president for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau	2013 (age 63)	1949
1	Michigan	Debbie Stabenow	Democratic	Michigan House of Representatives, Michigan Senate, U.S. House of Representatives	2001 (age 50)	1950
1	Minnesota	Amy Klobuchar	Democratic-Farmer-Labor	Hennepin County Attorney	2007 (age 46)	1960
2		Tina Smith	Democratic-Farmer-Labor	Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota	2018 (age 60)	1958
2	Mississippi	Cindy Hyde-Smith	Republican	Mississippi Senate, Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce	2018 (age 58)	1959
1	Nebraska	Deb Fischer	Republican	Nebraska Legislature	2013 (age 61)	1951
3	Nevada	Catherine Cortez Masto	Democratic	Nevada Attorney General	2017 (age 52)	1964
1		Jacky Rosen	Democratic	U.S. House of Representatives	2019 (age 61)	1957
2	New Hampshire	Jeanne Shaheen	Democratic	New Hampshire Senate, Governor of New Hampshire	2009 (age 61)	1947
3		Maggie Hassan	Democratic	New Hampshire Senate, Governor of New Hampshire	2017 (age 58)	1958
1	New York	Kirsten Gillibrand	Democratic	U.S. House of Representatives	2009 (age 43)	1966
1	Tennessee	Marsha Blackburn	Republican	Tennessee Senate, U.S. House of Representatives	2019 (age 66)	1952
3	Washington	Patty Murray	Democratic	Washington Senate	1993 (age 42)	1950
1		Maria Cantwell	Democratic	Washington House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives	2001 (age 42)	1958
2	West Virginia	Shelley Moore Capito	Republican	West Virginia House of Delegates, U.S. House of Representatives	2015 (age 62)	1953
1	Wisconsin	Tammy Baldwin	Democratic	Wisconsin State Assembly, U.S. House of Representatives	2013 (age 50)	1962
2	Wyoming	Cynthia Lummis	Republican	Wyoming House of Representatives, Wyoming Senate, Wyoming Treasurer, U.S. House of Representatives	2021 (age 66)	1954

List of states represented by women

Thirty-three states have been represented by female senators. As of October 3, 2023, 21 states are represented by female senators.

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	1	1	2	Kyrsten Sinema & Martha McSally	2019–present	2018
Arkansas	0	2	2	Hattie Caraway	1931–1945, 1999–2011	1932
California	0	4	4	Dianne Feinstein	1992–2023, 2023–2024	1992 (special)
Colorado	0	0	0
Connecticut	0	0	0
Delaware	0	0	0
Florida	0	1	1	Paula Hawkins	1981–1987	1980
Georgia	0	2	2	Rebecca Felton	1922, 2020–2021	N / A; both women senators 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 (special)
Maine	1	2	3	Margaret Chase Smith	1949–1973, 1995–present	1948
Maryland	0	1	1	Barbara Mikulski	1987–2017	1986
Massachusetts	1	0	1	Elizabeth Warren	2013–present	2012
Michigan	1	0	1	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 (special)
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 (special)
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 (special)
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 (special)
Tennessee	1	0	1	Marsha Blackburn	2019–present	2018
Texas	0	1	1	Kay Hutchison	1993–2013	1993 (special)
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	24	36	60	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.

Starting	Total	Graph	Event
March 4, 1789	0
November 21, 1922	1		Rebecca Felton appointed
November 23, 1922	0		End of Rebecca Felton's appointment
December 9, 1931	1		Hattie Caraway appointed
January 31, 1936	2		Rose Long appointed
January 3, 1937	1		Rose Long retires
August 20, 1937	2		Dixie Graves appointed
January 10, 1938	1		End of Dixie Graves's appointment
November 9, 1938	2		Gladys Pyle begins service
January 3, 1939	1		Gladys Pyle retires
January 3, 1945	0		Hattie Caraway ends service
October 6, 1948	1		Vera C. Bushfield appointed
December 27, 1948	0		End of Vera C. Bushfield's appointment
January 3, 1949	1		Margaret Chase Smith begins service
April 16, 1954	2		Eva Bowring appointed
November 7, 1954	1		End of Eva Bowring's appointment
November 8, 1954	2		Hazel Abel begins service
December 31, 1954	1		Hazel Abel retires
November 9, 1960	2		Maurine Neuberger begins service
January 3, 1967	1		Maurine Neuberger retires
August 1, 1972	2		Elaine Edwards appointed
November 13, 1972	1		End of Elaine Edwards's appointment
January 3, 1973	0		Margaret Chase Smith ends service
January 25, 1978	1		Muriel Humphrey appointed
June 8, 1978	2		Maryon Allen appointed
November 7, 1978	0		End of Muriel Humphrey's and Maryon Allen's appointments
December 23, 1978	1		Nancy Kassebaum begins service
January 1, 1981	2		Paula Hawkins begins service
January 3, 1987	2		Barbara Mikulski begins service; Paula Hawkins ends service
September 16, 1992	3		Jocelyn Burdick appointed
November 4, 1992	4		Dianne Feinstein begins service
December 14, 1992	3		End of Jocelyn Burdick's appointment
January 3, 1993	6		Barbara Boxer, Carol Moseley Braun, and Patty Murray begin service
June 14, 1993	7		Kay Hutchison begins service
January 3, 1995	8		Olympia Snowe begins service
June 11, 1996	9		Sheila Frahm appointed
November 6, 1996	8		End of Sheila Frahm's appointment
January 3, 1997	9		Susan Collins and Mary Landrieu begin service; Nancy Kassebaum retires
January 3, 1999	9		Blanche Lincoln begins service; Carol Moseley-Braun ends service
January 3, 2001	13		Maria Cantwell, Hillary Clinton, and Debbie Stabenow begin service; Jean Carnahan appointed
November 23, 2002	12		End of Jean Carnahan's appointment
December 20, 2002	13		Lisa Murkowski appointed
January 3, 2003	14		Elizabeth Dole begins service
January 3, 2007	16		Amy Klobuchar and Claire McCaskill begin service
January 3, 2009	17		Jeanne Shaheen and Kay Hagan begin service; Elizabeth Dole ends service
January 21, 2009	16		Hillary Clinton resigns to become Secretary of State
January 26, 2009	17		Kirsten Gillibrand appointed
January 3, 2011	17		Kelly Ayotte begins service; Blanche Lincoln ends service
January 3, 2013	20		Tammy Baldwin, Deb Fischer, Heidi Heitkamp, Mazie Hirono, and Elizabeth Warren begin service; Kay Hutchison and Olympia Snowe retire
January 3, 2015	20		Shelley Moore Capito and Joni Ernst begin service; Kay Hagan and Mary Landrieu end service
January 3, 2017	21		Catherine Cortez Masto, Tammy Duckworth, Kamala Harris, and Maggie Hassan begin service; Barbara Boxer and Barbara Mikulski retire; Kelly Ayotte ends service
January 3, 2018	22		Tina Smith appointed
April 9, 2018	23		Cindy Hyde Smith appointed
January 3, 2019	25		Marsha Blackburn, Kyrsten Sinema, and Jacky Rosen begin service; Martha McSally appointed; Heidi Heitkamp and Claire McCaskill end service
January 6, 2020	26		Kelly Loeffler appointed
December 2, 2020	25		End of Martha McSally's appointment
January 3, 2021	26		Cynthia Lummis begins service
January 18, 2021	25		Kamala Harris resigns to become Vice President of the United States
January 20, 2021	24		End of Kelly Loeffler's appointment
January 3, 2023	25		Katie Britt begins service
September 29, 2023	24		Death of Dianne Feinstein
October 3, 2023	25		Laphonza Butler appointed
December 8, 2024	24		End of Laphonza Butler's appointment

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.

State	Start date	End date	Duration	Senior senator		Junior senator
California	January 3, 1993	January 18, 2021	10,242 days (28 years, 15 days)		Dianne Feinstein (D)		Barbara Boxer (D) (January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2017), 8,766 days (24 years, 0 days)
							Kamala Harris (D) (January 3, 2017 – January 18, 2021), 1,476 days (4 years, 15 days)
Kansas	June 11, 1996	November 6, 1996	148 days		Nancy Kassebaum (R)		Sheila Frahm (R)
Maine	January 3, 1997	January 3, 2013	5,844 days (16 years, 0 days)		Olympia Snowe (R)		Susan Collins (R)
Washington	January 3, 2001	Present	8,759 days (23 years, 359 days)		Patty Murray (D)		Maria Cantwell (D)
New Hampshire	January 3, 2011	Present	5,107 days (13 years, 359 days)		Jeanne Shaheen (D)		Kelly Ayotte (R) (January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2017), 2,192 days (6 years, 0 days)
							Maggie Hassan (D) (January 3, 2017–present), 2,915 days (7 years, 359 days)
Minnesota	January 3, 2018	Present	2,550 days (6 years, 359 days)		Amy Klobuchar (D)		Tina Smith (D)
Nevada	January 3, 2019	Present	2,185 days (5 years, 359 days)		Catherine Cortez Masto (D)		Jacky Rosen (D)
Arizona	January 3, 2019	December 2, 2020	699 days (1 year, 334 days)		Kyrsten Sinema (D)		Martha McSally (R)

Elections with two female major-party nominees

Incumbent senators are in bold.

Elections with two female major-party nominees
Election year	State	Winner	Second-place finisher	Other major female candidates
1960	Maine	Margaret Chase Smith	Lucia Cormier
1986	Maryland	Barbara Mikulski	Linda Chavez
1998	Washington	Patty Murray	Linda Smith
2002	Louisiana	Mary Landrieu	Suzanne Haik Terrell
	Maine (2)	Susan Collins	Chellie Pingree
2006	Maine (3)	Olympia Snowe	Jean Hay Bright
	Texas	Kay Bailey Hutchison	Barbara Ann Radnofsky
2008	North Carolina	Kay Hagan	Elizabeth Dole
2010	California	Barbara Boxer	Carly Fiorina
2012	California (2)	Dianne Feinstein	Elizabeth Emken
	Hawaii	Mazie Hirono	Linda Lingle
	New York	Kirsten Gillibrand	Wendy Long
2014	Maine (4)	Susan Collins	Shenna Bellows
	West Virginia	Shelley Moore Capito	Natalie Tennant
2016	California (3)	Kamala Harris	Loretta Sanchez
	New Hampshire	Maggie Hassan	Kelly Ayotte
2018	Arizona	Kyrsten Sinema	Martha McSally
	Minnesota	Tina Smith	Karin Housley
	Nebraska	Deb Fischer	Jane Raybould
	New York (2)	Kirsten Gillibrand	Chele Farley
	Washington (2)	Maria Cantwell	Susan Hutchison
	Wisconsin	Tammy Baldwin	Leah Vukmir
2020	Iowa	Joni Ernst	Theresa Greenfield
	Maine (5)	Susan Collins	Sara Gideon
	West Virginia (2)	Shelley Moore Capito	Paula Jean Swearengin
	Wyoming	Cynthia Lummis	Merav Ben-David
2022	Alaska	Lisa Murkowski	Kelly Tshibaka	Pat Chesbro
	Illinois	Tammy Duckworth	Kathy Salvi
	Washington (3)	Patty Murray	Tiffany Smiley
2024	Tennessee	Marsha Blackburn	Gloria Johnson

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. 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. The day after those rules were changed, Maile became the first baby on the Senate floor when Duckworth brought her.

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

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
• Steinhauer, Jennifer (March 21, 2013). "Once Few, Women Hold More Power in Senate". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
• Maurer, Elizabeth. "Legislating History: 100 Years of Women in Congress" Archived April 23, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. National Women's History Museum. 2017.