Women in the United States Senate

There have been 60 women in the United States Senate since it started in 1789.

Rebecca Felton was the first. She was in the Senate for one day in 1922. Hattie Caraway was the first woman elected to the Senate in 1932.

As of October 3, 2023, there are 25 women Senators out of 100. The largest number of women Senators at one time was 26, in 2020 and 2021.

Women in the Senate now (as of 2023)

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	1982
3	Alaska	Lisa Murkowski	Republican	Alaska House of Representatives	2002	1957
1	Arizona	Kyrsten Sinema	Independent^{[n 1]}	Arizona House of Representatives, Arizona Senate, U.S. House of Representatives	2019	1976
1	California	Laphonza Butler	Democratic	Member of the Board of Regents of the University of California, President of EMILY's List	2023	1979
1	Hawaii	Mazie Hirono	Democratic	Hawaii House of Representatives, Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, gubernatorial nominee, U.S. House of Representatives	2013	1947
3	Illinois	Tammy Duckworth	Democratic	U.S. House of Representatives	2017	1968
2	Iowa	Joni Ernst	Republican	Montgomery County Auditor, Iowa Senate	2015	1970
2	Maine	Susan Collins	Republican	Massachusetts Deputy Treasurer, gubernatorial nominee	1997	1952
1	Massachusetts	Elizabeth Warren	Democratic	Special Advisor to the President for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau	2013	1949
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
2	Minnesota	Tina Smith	Democratic-Farmer-Labor	Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota	2018	1958
2	Mississippi	Cindy Hyde-Smith	Republican	Mississippi Senate, Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce	2018	1959
1	Nebraska	Deb Fischer	Republican	Nebraska Legislature	2013	1951
3	Nevada	Catherine Cortez Masto	Democratic	Nevada Attorney General	2017	1964
1	Nevada	Jacky Rosen	Democratic	U.S. House of Representatives	2019	1957
2	New Hampshire	Jeanne Shaheen	Democratic	New Hampshire Senate, Governor of New Hampshire	2009	1947
3	New Hampshire	Maggie Hassan	Democratic	New Hampshire Senate, Governor of New Hampshire	2017	1958
1	New York	Kirsten Gillibrand	Democratic	U.S. House of Representatives	2009	1966
1	Tennessee	Marsha Blackburn	Republican	Tennessee Senate, U.S. House of Representatives	2019	1952
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
2	West Virginia	Shelley Moore Capito	Republican	West Virginia House of Delegates, U.S. House of Representatives	2015	1953
1	Wisconsin	Tammy Baldwin	Democratic	Wisconsin State Assembly, U.S. House of Representatives	2013	1962
2	Wyoming	Cynthia Lummis	Republican	Wyoming House of Representatives, Wyoming Senate, Wyoming Treasurer, U.S. House of Representatives	2021	1954

All women senators

Name (lifespan)	State	Term start	Term end	Length of service (days)	Entered by	Left for	Party
Rebecca Felton (1835–1930)	Georgia	November 21, 1922	November 22, 1922	1	Appointment	Appointment ended	Democratic
Hattie Caraway (1878–1950)	Arkansas	December 9, 1931	January 3, 1945	4,774	Appointment	Lost renomination	Democratic
Rose Long (1892–1970)	Louisiana	January 31, 1936	January 3, 1937	337	Appointment	Appointment ended	Democratic
Dixie Graves (1882–1965)	Alabama	August 20, 1937	January 10, 1938	143	Appointment	Appointment ended	Democratic
Gladys Pyle (1890–1989)	South Dakota	November 9, 1938	January 3, 1939	55	Special election	Retired	Republican
Vera C. Bushfield (1889–1976)	South Dakota	October 6, 1948	December 26, 1948	81	Appointment	Appointment ended	Republican
Margaret C. Smith (1897–1995)	Maine	January 3, 1949	January 3, 1973	8,766	Election	Lost reelection	Republican
Eva Bowring (1892–1985)	Nebraska	April 16, 1954	November 7, 1954	205	Appointment	Appointment ended	Republican
Hazel Abel (1888–1966)	Nebraska	November 8, 1954	December 31, 1954	53	Special election	Retired and resigned early^{[n 2]}	Republican
Maurine Neuberger (1907–2000)	Oregon	November 9, 1960	January 3, 1967	2,246	Special election	Retired	Democratic
Elaine Edwards (1929–2018)	Louisiana	August 1, 1972	November 13, 1972	104	Appointment	Appointment ended	Democratic
Muriel Humphrey (1912–1998)	Minnesota	January 25, 1978	November 7, 1978	286	Appointment	Appointment ended	Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Maryon Allen (1925–2018)	Alabama	June 8, 1978	November 7, 1978	152	Appointment	Lost nomination to finish term	Democratic
Nancy Kassebaum (born 1932)	Kansas	December 23, 1978	January 3, 1997	6,586	Election^{[n 3]}	Retired	Republican
Paula Hawkins (1927–2009)	Florida	January 1, 1981	January 3, 1987	2,193	Election^{[n 3]}	Lost reelection	Republican
Barbara Mikulski (born 1936)	Maryland	January 3, 1987	January 3, 2017	10,959	Election	Retired	Democratic
Jocelyn Burdick (1922–2019)	North Dakota	September 16, 1992	December 14, 1992	89	Appointment	Appointment ended	Democratic
Dianne Feinstein (born 1933)	California	November 10, 1992	September 29, 2023	11,285	Special election	Died in office	Democratic
Barbara Boxer (born 1940)	California	January 3, 1993	January 3, 2017	8,767	Election	Retired	Democratic
Carol Moseley-Braun (born 1947)	Illinois	January 3, 1993	January 3, 1999	2,191	Election	Lost reelection	Democratic
Patty Murray (born 1950)	Washington	January 3, 1993	present	11,677	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
Kay Hutchison (born 1943)	Texas	June 14, 1993	January 3, 2013	7,143	Special election	Retired	Republican
Olympia Snowe (born 1947)	Maine	January 3, 1995	January 3, 2013	6,576	Election	Retired	Republican
Sheila Frahm (born 1945)	Kansas	June 11, 1996	November 6, 1996	148	Appointment	Lost nomination to finish term	Republican
Susan Collins (born 1952)	Maine	January 3, 1997	present	10,216	Election	Incumbent	Republican
Mary Landrieu (born 1955)	Louisiana	January 3, 1997	January 3, 2015	6,575	Election	Lost reelection	Democratic
Blanche Lincoln (born 1960)	Arkansas	January 3, 1999	January 3, 2011	4,383	Election	Lost reelection	Democratic
Maria Cantwell (born 1958)	Washington	January 3, 2001	present	8,755	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
Jean Carnahan (born 1933)	Missouri	January 3, 2001	November 25, 2002	691	Appointment	Lost election to finish term	Democratic
Hillary Clinton (born 1947)	New York	January 3, 2001	January 21, 2009	2,940	Election	Resigned to become United States Secretary of State	Democratic
Debbie Stabenow (born 1950)	Michigan	January 3, 2001	present	8,755	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
Lisa Murkowski (born 1957)	Alaska	December 20, 2002	present	8,039	Appointment	Incumbent	Republican
Elizabeth Dole (born 1936)	North Carolina	January 3, 2003	January 3, 2009	2,192	Election	Lost reelection^{[n 4]}	Republican
Amy Klobuchar (born 1960)	Minnesota	January 3, 2007	present	6,564	Election	Incumbent	Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Claire McCaskill (born 1953)	Missouri	January 3, 2007	January 3, 2019	4,383	Election	Lost reelection	Democratic
Jeanne Shaheen (born 1947)	New Hampshire	January 3, 2009	present	5,833	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
Kay Hagan (1953–2019)	North Carolina	January 3, 2009	January 3, 2015	2,191	Election^{[n 4]}	Lost reelection	Democratic
Kirsten Gillibrand (born 1966)	New York	January 26, 2009	present	5,810	Appointment	Incumbent	Democratic
Kelly Ayotte (born 1968)	New Hampshire	January 3, 2011	January 3, 2017	2,192	Election	Lost reelection	Republican
Tammy Baldwin (born 1962)	Wisconsin	January 3, 2013	present	4,372	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
Deb Fischer (born 1951)	Nebraska	January 3, 2013	present	4,372	Election	Incumbent	Republican
Heidi Heitkamp (born 1955)	North Dakota	January 3, 2013	January 9, 2013	2,191	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
Mazie Hirono (born 1947)	Hawaii	January 3, 2013	present	4,372	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
Elizabeth Warren (born 1949)	Massachusetts	January 3, 2013	present	4,372	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
Joni Ernst (born 1970)	Iowa	January 3, 2015	present	3,642	Election	Incumbent	Republican
Shelley Moore Capito (born 1953)	West Virginia	January 3, 2015	present	3,642	Election	Incumbent	Republican
Catherine Cortez Masto (born 1964)	Nevada	January 3, 2017	present	2,911	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
Tammy Duckworth (born 1968)	Illinois	January 3, 2017	present	2,911	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
Kamala Harris (born 1964)	California	January 3, 2017	January 18, 2021	2,395	Election	Resigned to become Vice President of the United States	Democratic
Maggie Hassan (born 1958)	New Hampshire	January 3, 2017	present	2,911	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
Tina Smith (born 1958)	Minnesota	January 3, 2018	present	2,546	Appointment	Incumbent	Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Cindy Hyde-Smith (born 1959)	Mississippi	April 9, 2018	present	2,450	Appointment	Incumbent	Republican
Marsha Blackburn (born 1952)	Tennessee	January 3, 2019	present	2,181	Election	Incumbent	Republican
Kyrsten Sinema (born 1976)	Arizona	January 3, 2019	present	2,181	Election	Incumbent	Democratic (2019–2022)
Kyrsten Sinema (born 1976)	Arizona	January 3, 2019	present	2,181	Election	Incumbent	Independent (since 2022)^{[n 1]}
Martha McSally (born 1966)	Arizona	January 3, 2019	December 2, 2020	699	Appointment	Lost election to finish term	Republican
Jacky Rosen (born 1957)	Nevada	January 3, 2019	present	2,181	Election	Incumbent	Democratic
Kelly Loeffler (born 1970)	Georgia	January 6, 2020	January 20, 2021	380	Appointment	Lost election to finish term	Republican
Cynthia Lummis (born 1954)	Wyoming	January 3, 2021	present	1,450	Election	Incumbent	Republican
Katie Britt (born 1982)	Alabama	January 3, 2023	present	720	Election	Incumbent	Republican
Laphonza Butler (born 1979)	California	October 3, 2023	present	447	Appointment	Incumbent	Democratic

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Sinema was elected as a Democrat in 2018, but switched to an independent in December 2022.
↑ Abel resigned 3 days before the end of her term, a common practice to give her successor seniority advantage.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Predecessor resigned early to give successor seniority advantage, so the senator was appointed for the few days prior to the commencement of the elected term
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 When Kay Hagan defeated Elizabeth Dole, it was the first time in history a woman candidate defeated an incumbent woman.

Other websites

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.

[Sinema-Party-Switch-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Sinema was elected as a Democrat in 2018, but switched to an independent in December 2022.

[2] Abel resigned 3 days before the end of her term, a common practice to give her successor seniority advantage.

[seniority_advantage-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Predecessor resigned early to give successor seniority advantage, so the senator was appointed for the few days prior to the commencement of the elected term

[Dole-Hagan-4] 4.0 ^4.1 When Kay Hagan defeated Elizabeth Dole, it was the first time in history a woman candidate defeated an incumbent woman.

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