Women in the United States Senate Women in the United States Senate There have been 52 total women in the United States Senate since its establishment in 1789. The first woman who served as a U.S. Senator, Rebecca Latimer Felton, represented Georgia for a single day in 1922. The first woman elected to the Senate was Hattie Caraway from Arkansas in 1932. Fifteen of the women who have served were appointed; seven of those were appointed to succeed their deceased husbands. As of April 9, 2018 when Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi was sworn in, the 115th United States Congress has 23 female Senators out of 100
1992 United States Senate elections new Democratic women to the Senate was notable (referred to in the press as the "Year of the Woman"). Due to a special election in California, both of California's Senate seats were up for election in 1992. These seats were won by Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. As a consequence, California became the first state to have elected women to occupy both of its Senate seats. Democrat Carol Moseley Braun (of Illinois), became the first African-American woman in the United States Senate. Source: In June 1993, Democratic Senator Lloyd Bentsen (TX) resigned to become U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. His