U.S. Delegates are non-voting members and are not included in our total counts for women in Congress.
Women who self-identify as more than one race/ethnicity are included on CAWP pages for each group with which they identify. We strongly caution against adding totals from each racial/ethnic group should, as it will double count officeholders.
Of the 144 women in the Current Congress:
- 10 identify as Asian American/Pacific Islander
- 25 identify as Black
- 14 identify as Latina
- 1 identifies as Native American/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian
- 1 identifies as Middle Eastern/North African
- 95 identify as white
In addition, of the 4 women who serve as non-voting delegates: 1 identifies as Asian American/Pacific Islander, 2 identify as Black, 1 identifies as Latina.
The number of women who have served in Congress to date.
3.1% of all members of Congress to date have been women.
- California has sent more women to Congress than any other state - a total of 47 to date.
- New York is next with 31 women to date.
- Vermont is the only state that has never sent a woman to either the House or the Senate.
7 (4D, 3R) women have served as non-voting delegates and are not included in our totals.
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1916
Jeannette Rankin (R-MT) became the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
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1922
Rebecca Latimer Felton (D-GA) became the first woman appointed to the Senate, but only served one day.
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1964
Patsy Takemoto Mink (D-HI) became the first woman of color elected to the House.
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1978
Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-KS) became the first woman elected to the Senate without having previously filled an unexpired Congressional term. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) was the first Democratic woman to do so in 1987.
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1992
Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) became the first woman of color elected to the Senate.
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1998
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) became the first openly gay or lesbian person elected to an initial Congressional term. She is now the first openly gay member of the Senate.