Women in the United States Senate advancement such as sex discrimination, which still plays a factor in their limited numbers today. The first woman in the U.S. Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton, who served representing Georgia for only one day in 1922. Hattie Caraway became the first woman to win election to the Senate (Arkansas), in 1932. Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to serve in both the House and Senate; she first served in the House, and began serving in the Senate in 1949. Margaret Chase Smith won her 1960 race for Senate in the nation's first ever race pitting two women (her and
Women in the United States Senate elected Republican Kelly Ayotte, making the first female tandem senators that do not belong to the same party. Mazie Hirono, who joined the Senate in 2013, was the first Asian American woman and first Buddhist person in the Senate. Tammy Baldwin, who joined the Senate in 2013, was the first and only openly gay person to serve in the United States Senate. Joni Ernst became the first female combat veteran to serve in the Senate when she joined in 2015. In 2016, Kamala Harris was the first woman to defeat another woman from the same party, U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez,