Senate

Sandra Fluke, the 32-year-old activist and well-known reproductive rights advocate famous for being labeled a “slut” by Rush Limbaugh, is not running for Congress. She was never officially a candidate for the seat opened up by the retirement of veteran lawmaker Henry Waxman, it turns out, and after a short-lived trial balloon, has filed to run for a state Senate seatinstead.

I have a story in this week’s magazine about the 20 Senate women and their growing—and positive—influence on the Upper Chamber. You can credit the tight, bipartisan bonds that these women have formed for not only seeding the compromise that reopened the government, but the vast majority of the legislation passed this session.

Hattie Carraway [...] was the first woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate. On Dec. 9, 1931, Carraway filled the seat vacated by her late husband. She was elected to a full term in 1932 and served as a Democrat from Arkansas through 1944.

Right now, there are 20 women in the U.S. Senate, the most in history. Thirteen are the first females ever elected to represent her particular state in the Senate.

We invite you to read the full article published by US News

In the 90 years since Rebecca Felton of Georgia became the first woman in the United States Senate — sworn in for a mere 24 hours — women remain an anomaly in the upper chamber. But with 20 female senators now in office, an all-time high, women have morphed from the curiosity they were for much of the 20th century into an important new force on key committees and legislation.