Women in the Senate

Women have served as United States Senators since the first in 1922, who served briefly after an appointment, and 1931, with the first election of a female Senator. Women Senators are still a minority in the Senate, though their proportion has generally increased over the years.

Women in the Senate, listed in order of their first election:

Name: Party, State, Years served

1. Rebecca Latimer Felton: Democrat, Georgia, 1922
   
   
2. Hattie Wyatt Caraway: Democrat, Arkansas, 1931-1945
   
   
3. Rose McConnell Long: Democrat, Louisiana, 1936-1937
   
   
4. Dixie Bibb Graves: Democrat, Alabama, 1937-1938
   
   
5. Gladys Pyle: Republican, South Dakota, 1938-1939
   
   
6. Vera Cahalan Bushfield: Republican, South Dakota, 1948
   
   
7. Margaret Chase Smith: Republican, Maine, 1949-1973
   
   
8. Eva Kelley Bowring: Republican, Nebraska, 1954
   
   
9. Hazel Hempel Abel: Republican, Nebraska, 1954
   
   
10. Maurine Brown Neuberger: Democrat, Oregon, 1960-1967
    
    
11. Elaine Schwartzenburg Edwards: Democrat, Louisiana, 1972
    
    
12. Muriel Humphrey: Democrat, Minnesota, 1978
    
    
13. Maryon Allen: Democrat, Alabama, 1978
    
    
14. Nancy Landon Kassebaum: Republican, Kansas, 1978-1997
    
    
15. Paula Hawkins: Republican, Florida, 1981-1987
    
    
16. Barbara Mikulski: Democrat, Maryland, 1987-present
    
    
17. Jocelyn Burdick: Democrat, North Dakota, 1992
    
    
18. Dianne Feinstein: Democrat, California, 1993-present
    
    
19. Barbara Boxer: Democrat, California, 1993-present
    
    
20. Carol Moseley-Braun: Democrat, Illinois, 1993-1999
    
    
21. Patty Murray: Democrat, Washington, 1993-present
    
    
22. Kay Bailey Hutchison: Republican, Texas, 1993-present
    
    
23. Olympia Jean Snowe: Republican, Maine, 1995-present
    
    
24. Sheila Frahm: Republican, Kansas, 1996
    
    
25. Mary Landrieu: Democrat, Louisiana, 1997-present
    
    
26. Susan Collins: Republican, Maine, 1997-present
    
    
27. Blanche Lincoln: Democrat, Arkansas, 1999-2011
    
    
28. Debbie Stabenow: Democrat, Michigan, 2001-present
    
    
29. Jean Carnahan: Democrat, Missouri, 2001-2002
    
    
30. Hillary Rodham Clinton: Democrat, New York, 2001-2009
    
    
31. Maria Cantwell: Democrat, Washington, 2001-present
    
    
32. Lisa Murkowski: Republican, Alaska, 2002-present
    
    
33. Elizabeth Dole: Republican, North Carolina, 2003-2009
    
    
34. Amy Klobuchar: Democrat, Minnesota, 2007-present
    
    
35. Claire McCaskill: Democrat, Missouri, 2007-present
    
    
36. Kay Hagan: Democrat, North Carolina, 2009-present
    
    
37. Jeanne Shaheen: Democrat, New Hampshire, 2009-present
    
    
38. Kirsten Gillibrand: Democrat, New York, 2009-present
    
    
39. Kelly Ayotte: Republican, New Hampshire, 2011-present

More on women in the US Senate

Women's history biographies, by name:

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P/Q | R | S | T | U/V | W | X/Y/Z

Text copyright 1999-2011 © Jone Johnson Lewis.