{"id":8242,"date":"2023-01-03T09:29:25","date_gmt":"2023-01-03T14:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/118th-congress-has-a-record-number-of-women\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T23:55:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:55:21","slug":"118th-congress-has-a-record-number-of-women","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/01\/03\/118th-congress-has-a-record-number-of-women\/","title":{"rendered":"118th Congress has a record number of women"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-640-wide\"><img decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/FT_22.12.06_WomenCongress_feature.jpg?w=640\" alt=\"Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is ceremonially sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 3, 2023, as Murray's husband, Rob Murray, looks on. She is the first woman to be Senate president pro tempore.\" class=\"wp-image-420943\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is ceremonially sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 3, 2023, as Murray&#8217;s husband, Rob Murray, looks on. She is the first woman to be Senate president pro tempore. (Jacquelyn Martin\/AP) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Women make up more than a quarter (28%) of all members of the 118th Congress \u2013 the highest percentage in U.S. history and a considerable increase from where things stood even a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-420-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-10351\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/01\/03\/118th-congress-has-a-record-number-of-women\/ft_22-01-03_womencongress_1-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f2f2f2\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f2f2f2;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" height=\"917\" width=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?w=420\" alt=\"A bar chart showing that women make up more than a quarter of the 118th U.S. Congress' membership. Women are 29% of representatives and 25% of senators.\" class=\"wp-image-10351 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png 840w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?resize=137,300 137w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?resize=768,1677 768w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?resize=469,1024 469w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?resize=704,1536 704w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?resize=185,405 185w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?resize=200,437 200w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?resize=260,568 260w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?resize=310,677 310w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?resize=420,917 420w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?resize=640,1397 640w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?resize=740,1616 740w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?resize=147,320 147w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_1.png?resize=293,640 293w\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Counting both the House of Representatives and the Senate, women account for 153 of 540 voting and nonvoting members of Congress. That represents a 59% increase from the 96 women who were serving in the 112th Congress a decade ago, though it remains far below <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/quickfacts\/fact\/table\/US\/LFE046219\">women\u2019s share of the overall U.S. population<\/a>. A record 128 women are serving in the newly elected House, accounting for 29% of the chamber\u2019s total. In the Senate, women hold 25 of 100 seats, tying the record number they held in the 116th Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 2022 midterm elections sent nearly two dozen new congresswomen to the House, including <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2022\/11\/08\/becca-balint-leads-liam-madden-in-vermonts-us-house-race\/\">Becca Balint<\/a>, a Vermont Democrat who became both the first woman and openly LGBTQ person elected to Congress from the state. Of the 22 freshman representatives who are women, 15 are Democrats and seven are Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Senate gained just one new female member: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/katie-britt-becomes-1st-republican-woman-to-claim-alabama-senate-seat\">Republican Katie Britt<\/a>, who became the first woman senator from Alabama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2021\/01\/15\/a-record-number-of-women-are-serving-in-the-117th-congress\/\">A record number of women are serving in the 117th Congress<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"border-width:1px;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);--block-gap: inherit\" class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible has-background has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-border-color has-ui-beige-dark-border-color\" id=\"how-we-did-this\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/collapsible&quot;}\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;collapsibleId&quot;:&quot;how-we-did-this&quot;,&quot;isOpen&quot;:false}\" data-wp-class--is-open=\"context.isOpen\" data-wp-init--scroll-into-view=\"callbacks.onInitScrollIntoView\"><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__title\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.onClick\"><div>How we did this<\/div><button class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__icon\"><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"context.isOpen\"><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-plus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-plus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!context.isOpen\" hidden><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-minus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-minus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__content\">\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This analysis builds on earlier Pew Research Center work to analyze the gender makeup of Congress. It includes voting and nonvoting members. Independent members of Congress are counted with the party they caucus with. Virginia\u2019s 4th Congressional District seat, now vacant after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2022\/11\/28\/donald-mceachin-congress-dies\/\">Democrat Donald McEachin\u2019s recent death<\/a>, is excluded from the analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For historical data on Congress, we used data from the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bioguide.congress.gov\/\">Biographical Directory<\/a>&nbsp;of the United States Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Historian, the Congressional Research Service\u2019s \u201cWomen in the United States Congress, 1917-2014\u201d and CQ Roll Call. For 2022 election results, we used data from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/United_States_Congress_elections,_2022\">Ballotpedia<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/2022-midterm-elections\">The Associated Press<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2022\/11\/08\/us\/elections\/results-senate.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Article&amp;state=default&amp;module=election-results&amp;context=election_recirc&amp;region=NavBar\">The New York Times<\/a>, as well as news reports.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many female incumbents who sought reelection this midterm cycle \u2013 105 representatives and all five senators \u2013 kept their seats. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, who first joined the House in 1983, retained her title as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlwt.com\/article\/long-serving-ohio-democrat-marcy-kaptur-heads-back-to-congress\/41905713\">longest-serving congresswoman in the chamber<\/a>. California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who\u2019s served in Congress for 35 years and became the first female speaker of the House in 2007, also won reelection. But she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/11\/17\/politics\/nancy-pelosi-house-speaker-democrats-future\/index.html\">announced she wouldn\u2019t run for another leadership role<\/a> after Republicans flipped control of the House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Women make up a much larger share of congressional Democrats (41%) than Republicans (16%). Across both chambers, there are 109 Democratic women and 44 Republican women in the new Congress. Women account for 43% of House Democrats and 31% of Senate Democrats, compared with 16% of House Republicans and 18% of Senate Republicans. Still, the number of GOP women in the House is at its highest total yet: 35, up from 30 in January 2021, when the 117th Congress began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The partisan gender division hasn\u2019t always looked this way. Until the 1929 stock market crash, most of the dozen women elected to the House were Republicans, and for several decades afterward, the two parties\u2019 numbers were generally close in that chamber. But the gap widened in the 1970s and has persisted, despite a temporary narrowing during the Reagan-Bush 1980s. Of the 261 women elected to the House in 1992 or later \u2013 including the newly elected group and those who were elected to the 117th Congress in special elections but not elected to full terms in the 118th \u2013 two-thirds (67%, or 176) have been Democrats, as have 27 of the 43 women (63%) who have served in the Senate since 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-history-of-women-in-congress\"><strong>The history of women in Congress<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Women have been in Congress for more than a century. The first, Montana Republican <a href=\"https:\/\/history.house.gov\/People\/Listing\/R\/RANKIN,-Jeannette-(R000055)\/\">Jeannette Rankin<\/a>, was elected to the House in 1916, two years after her state gave women the vote. But women only began serving in more substantial numbers in the past few decades. More than two-thirds of the women ever elected to the House (261 of 381, including the incoming members of the 118th Congress) have been elected in 1992 or later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-10358\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/01\/03\/118th-congress-has-a-record-number-of-women\/ft_18-12-11_womenincongress_milestones-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"d2cfce\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #d2cfce;\" decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_18.12.11_WomenInCongress_milestones.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10358 not-transparent\" width=\"310\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_18.12.11_WomenInCongress_milestones.png 620w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_18.12.11_WomenInCongress_milestones.png?resize=86,300 86w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_18.12.11_WomenInCongress_milestones.png?resize=292,1024 292w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_18.12.11_WomenInCongress_milestones.png?resize=585,2048 585w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_18.12.11_WomenInCongress_milestones.png?resize=116,405 116w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_18.12.11_WomenInCongress_milestones.png?resize=200,701 200w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_18.12.11_WomenInCongress_milestones.png?resize=260,911 260w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_18.12.11_WomenInCongress_milestones.png?resize=310,1086 310w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_18.12.11_WomenInCongress_milestones.png?resize=420,1471 420w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_18.12.11_WomenInCongress_milestones.png?resize=91,320 91w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_18.12.11_WomenInCongress_milestones.png?resize=183,640 183w\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pattern is similar in the Senate: 43 of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/senators\/ListofWomenSenators.htm\">59 women<\/a>&nbsp;who have ever served in the Senate \u2013 including the one new female senator \u2013 took office in 1992 or later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 19th Amendment, which&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2020\/07\/07\/a-century-after-women-gained-the-right-to-vote-majority-of-americans-see-work-to-do-on-gender-equality\/\">extended voting rights to women<\/a>&nbsp;across the nation, was ratified in 1920. That November,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/history.house.gov\/People\/Detail\/20480\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alice Mary Robertson<\/a>&nbsp;of Oklahoma became the first woman to defeat an incumbent congressman. (She lost the seat back to him two years later.) In 1922, veteran suffragist&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.georgiaencyclopedia.org\/articles\/history-archaeology\/rebecca-latimer-felton-1835-1930\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rebecca Latimer Felton<\/a>&nbsp;of Georgia was appointed to fill a vacant Senate seat; when Congress was unexpectedly called back into session, Felton was sworn in as the first female senator, though she only served for a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While women remained scarce in the Senate well into the 1980s, their numbers gradually, though not consistently, increased in the House \u2013 generally paralleling the expansion of women\u2019s roles in broader society. In 1928, seven women were elected to the 71st Congress, a record at the time, and two more joined them later via special election. But that trend plateaued during the Great Depression and World War II. It wasn\u2019t until after the war that the upward trajectory of women in Congress resumed, with 18 women serving in the House in 1961-63.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although the 1970s saw prominent figures such as <a href=\"https:\/\/history.house.gov\/People\/Detail\/16031\">Barbara Jordan<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/history.house.gov\/People\/Detail\/15213\">Elizabeth Holtzman<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/history.house.gov\/People\/Detail\/8276\">Bella Abzug<\/a> enter Congress, women\u2019s overall numbers didn\u2019t change much until 1981, when their House caucus exceeded 20 members for the first time. The big jump, however, came in 1992 \u2013 later dubbed&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/2082737?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cThe Year of the Woman\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 when four new female senators and 24 new congresswomen were elected. Academics have offered various explanations for why 1992 was such a breakthrough year for women in Congress, including an unusually large number of open seats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/2960406?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents\">due to redistricting and bank scandals<\/a>, as well as backlash from the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/history\/2018\/09\/18\/no-women-served-senate-judiciary-committee-ugly-anita-hill-hearings-changed-that\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"widows-succession-in-congress\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u2018Widow\u2019s succession\u2019 in Congress<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well into the 1970s, one of the most common ways for a woman to enter Congress was by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/history.house.gov\/Exhibitions-and-Publications\/WIC\/Historical-Data\/Familial-Connections-of-Women-Members-of-Congress\/\">succeeding her deceased husband<\/a>&nbsp;or father, either by election or appointment. Of the 90 women who served in the House between 1916 and 1980, 31 were initially elected to their husband\u2019s seat after he died; three were chosen to replace their husbands on the ballot when the men died before Election Day; and one, <a href=\"https:\/\/history.house.gov\/People\/Detail\/15397\">Winnifred Mason Huck<\/a> of Illinois, was elected in 1922 to fill the last four months of her late father\u2019s term. (Another early congresswoman,&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/history.house.gov\/People\/Detail\/16680?ret=True\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Katherine Gudger Langley<\/a>&nbsp;of Kentucky, won her husband\u2019s seat back in the next election in 1926 after he resigned following his conviction for violating Prohibition laws.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-640-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-10357\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/01\/03\/118th-congress-has-a-record-number-of-women\/ft_22-01-03_womencongress_2-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f1f2f0\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f1f2f0;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" height=\"307\" width=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png?w=640\" alt=\"A timeline showing that 'widow's succession' is less common in U.S. Congress than it used to be; the most recent case was Rep. Julia Letlow in 2021\" class=\"wp-image-10357 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png 1280w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png?resize=300,144 300w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png?resize=768,368 768w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png?resize=1024,491 1024w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png?resize=844,405 844w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png?resize=200,96 200w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png?resize=260,125 260w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png?resize=310,149 310w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png?resize=420,201 420w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png?resize=640,307 640w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png?resize=740,355 740w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png?resize=160,77 160w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/12\/FT_22.01.03_WomenCongress_2.png?resize=320,154 320w\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like Langley, most of the holders of these so-called \u201cwidow\u2019s succession\u201d seats stayed in Congress for only a term or two. But some went on to distinguished careers on Capitol Hill.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mcslibrary.org\/bio\/\">Margaret Chase Smith<\/a>&nbsp;of Maine, for instance, won a special election in 1940 to fill the last seven months of her husband\u2019s term. Smith went on to win four full House terms on her own, then was elected to four terms in the Senate, thereby becoming the first woman to serve in both chambers.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/history.house.gov\/People\/Listing\/B\/BOGGS,-Corinne-Claiborne-(Lindy)-(B000592)\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lindy Boggs<\/a>, who was elected to her husband\u2019s seat in 1973 after he was presumed killed in a plane crash, served nearly 18 years. She later was named U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Six of the 14 women senators who served before 1980 were either elected or appointed to fill their late husbands\u2019 seats. Of those, two (<a href=\"http:\/\/history.house.gov\/People\/Detail\/44589?ret=True\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hattie Caraway<\/a>&nbsp;of Arkansas and&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.oregonencyclopedia.org\/articles\/neuberger_maurine_1907_2000_\/#.VKMmYSvF98E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Maurine Brown Neuberger<\/a>&nbsp;of Oregon) subsequently won full terms in their own right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/letlow.house.gov\/about\">Rep. Julia Letlow<\/a>, R-La., who was reelected this fall, became the most recent widow to serve out her husband\u2019s term in the House. She won a special election in 2021 after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/12\/30\/951332740\/louisiana-congressman-elect-dies-after-battling-covid-19\">Luke Letlow died from COVID-19 complications<\/a> shortly before swearing into office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Women make up 28% of all members of the 118th Congress, a considerable increase from where things stood even a decade ago. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":584,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-01-03T14:29:46Z","apple_news_api_id":"cd122f3b-81b3-4456-a8d9-00493b69d1a4","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-02-01T20:25:20Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AzRIvO4GzRFao2QBJO2nRpA","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,212,91,209],"bylines":[842,652],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[],"class_list":["post-8242","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-congress","category-gender-leadership","category-gender-politics-2","category-gender-politics-1","bylines-drew-desilver","bylines-rebecca-leppert","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":1349,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/01\/03\/118th-congress-has-a-record-number-of-women\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":10381,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_22.12.06_WomenCongress_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_22.12.06_WomenCongress_feature-jpg.webp?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"caption":"Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is ceremonially sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 3, 2023, as Murray's husband, Rob Murray, looks on. She is the first woman to be Senate president pro tempore. (Jacquelyn Martin\/AP) ","chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":10381,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_22.12.06_WomenCongress_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_22.12.06_WomenCongress_feature-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is ceremonially sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 3, 2023, as Murray's husband, Rob Murray, looks on. She is the first woman to be Senate president pro tempore. (Jacquelyn Martin\/AP) ","chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":10381,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_22.12.06_WomenCongress_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/01\/FT_22.12.06_WomenCongress_feature-jpg.webp?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"caption":"Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is ceremonially sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 3, 2023, as Murray's husband, Rob Murray, looks on. She is the first woman to be Senate president pro tempore. 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