List of most senior women in the United States Congress explained

Seniority in both houses of the United States Congress is valuable as it confers a number of benefits and is based on length of continuous service, with ties broken by a series of factors. The following lists the most senior women in either or both houses of Congress, sometimes called the "dean of women" in either chamber.

Synopsis

In the House, Edith Nourse Rogers, who served 35 years from 1925 to 1960 as one of the first women elected to Congress (and the first woman elected from Massachusetts), was the longest-serving female Representative upon her death in office in 1960. Her record was surpassed in 2018 by Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, who has served in the House since 1983.

In the Senate, Republican Margaret Chase Smith, who served for 23 years from 1949 to 1973 as a senator from Maine, was the longest-serving female Senator upon her retirement. Her record was surpassed in 2011 by Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, who served for 30 years from 1987 to 2017.

Across both houses of Congress, Rogers' 35 years of service from 1925 to 1960 was the longest for a female member when she died in office in 1960. Her record was surpassed in 2012 by Mikulski, who served a total of 40 years in Congress from 1977 to 2017 (10 years in the House of Representatives and 30 years in the Senate).

• Maxine Waters and Eleanor Holmes Norton, both inaugurated in 1991, are the longest-serving African-American women (and women of color) in the House.
• Patsy Mink, who was the dean of women in the House from 1997 to 2002, was the longest-serving Asian-American woman in the House (and Congress).
• Carol Moseley-Braun is the longest-serving (and first) African-American woman (and woman of color) in the Senate.
• Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is the longest-serving Hispanic or Latina American woman in the House.
• Edith Nourse Rogers is the longest-serving Republican woman in the House.
• Catherine Cortez Masto is the longest-serving Hispanic or Latina American woman in the Senate.
• Tammy Baldwin is the longest-serving LGBT woman in both the House and Senate.
• Nita Lowey is the longest-serving Jewish-American woman in the House.
• Dianne Feinstein is the longest-serving (and first) Jewish-American woman in the Senate.
• Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, both inaugurated in 2019, are the first and longest-serving Muslim women in the House (and in Congress).

Women of the House of Representatives

Image	Name	Party	District	Entered the House	Became most senior woman	Tenure ended	Total Tenure	Tenure as Dean	Notes
			Republican			Upon taking office	March 4, 1919			First woman elected to a national office Retired to run unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate election in Montana, 1918 Later served another two-year term from –January 3, 1943
House vacant of women (March 4, 1919-March 4, 1921)
			Republican	Oklahoma's 2nd		Upon taking office	March 4, 1923			First woman to defeat an incumbent congressman Lost reelection
			Republican	California's 5th		March 4, 1923	March 4, 1925			Succeeded her husband Retired
			Republican	California's 4th		Upon taking office	January 3, 1937			First woman to be reelected First Jewish woman elected Succeeded her husband Lost reelection
			Democratic	New Jersey's 12th & 13th		January 3, 1937	January 3, 1951			First Democratic woman elected First woman to chair a standing committee (House District of Columbia Committee) Redistricted Retired
			Republican	Massachusetts's 5th		January 3, 1951	September 10, 1960			Succeeded her husband First Chair of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee Second-longest serving woman in the House Died in office
			Republican	Ohio's 22nd		September 10, 1960	January 3, 1969			Succeeded her husband Lost reelection
			Democratic	Missouri's 3rd		January 3, 1969	January 3, 1977			Succeeded her husband (though not immediately) First woman Chair of the House Merchant Marine Committee Retired
			Republican	Massachusetts's 10th		January 3, 1977	January 3, 1983			Lost reelection Later became United States Secretary of Health and Human Services and United States Ambassador to Ireland
			Republican	Maryland's 4th		January 3, 1983	January 3, 1987			Retired
			Democratic	Colorado's 1st		January 3, 1987	January 3, 1997			Retired
		Democratic	Hawaii's at-large & 2nd		January 3, 1997	January 3, 1977	24 years, 249 days		First woman of color elected Redistricted Ran for President of the United States in the Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1972 (Oregon only) First Asian American woman to run for President Retired to run unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate election in Hawaii, 1976 Later became Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs First dean of color of women in Congress Died in office
		Hawaii's 2nd		September 28, 2002
			Republican	New Jersey's 7th & 5th		September 28, 2002	January 3, 2003			Redistricted Retired
			Republican	Connecticut's 6th & 5th		January 3, 2003	January 3, 2007			Redistricted Lost reelection
			Democratic	Ohio's 9th		January 3, 2007	present			Current dean of women in Congress Longest-serving woman in the House Most senior female representative ever (#4 on the seniority list)

Women of the Senate

See main article: Women in the United States Senate.

Image	Name (lifespan)	Party	State	Entered the Senate	Became most senior woman	Tenure ended	Total Tenure	Tenure as Dean	Notes
			Democratic	Georgia		Upon taking office				First woman to serve in the Senate Appointment ended
Senate vacant of women (November 22, 1922–December 9, 1931)
			Democratic	Arkansas		Upon taking office				First woman to win reelection to the Senate Lost renomination
Senate vacant of women (January 3, 1945–October 6, 1948)
			Republican	South Dakota		Upon taking office				First Republican woman to serve in the Senate Appointment ended
Senate vacant of women (December 26, 1948–January 3, 1949)
			Republican	Maine		Upon taking office				Lost reelection
Senate vacant of women (January 3, 1973–January 25, 1978)
			Democratic	Minnesota		Upon taking office				Appointment ended
Senate vacant of women (November 7, 1978–December 23, 1978)
			Republican	Kansas	[1]	Upon taking office				Retired
			Democratic	Maryland						Retired
			Democratic	California						Died in office
			Democratic	Washington			present			Longest-serving woman in the Senate Most senior female senator ever (#3 on the seniority list) First female president pro tempore

Most senior by party

House

Republican

• Jeannette Rankin
• Alice Mary Robertson
• Mae Nolan
• Florence Kahn
• Edith Nourse Rogers
• Frances P. Bolton
• Florence P. Dwyer
• Margaret Heckler
• Marjorie Holt
• Virginia D. Smith
• Olympia Snowe
• Marge Roukema
• Nancy Johnson
• Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
• Kay Granger (incumbent)

Democratic

• Mary Teresa Norton
• Reva Bosone
• Edna F. Kelly
• Leonor Sullivan
• Shirley Chisholm
• Patricia Schroeder
• Patsy Mink
• Marcy Kaptur (incumbent)

Senate

Republican

• Gladys Pyle
• Vera C. Bushfield
• Margaret Chase Smith
• Nancy Kassebaum
• Kay Hutchison
• Susan Collins (incumbent)

Democratic

• Rebecca Latimer Felton
• Hattie Wyatt Caraway
• Maurine Neuberger
• Elaine Edwards
• Muriel Humphrey Brown
• Barbara Mikulski
  • Dianne Feinstein Patty Murray (incumbent)

See also

• Mother of the House

Notes and References

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