Chester Trent Lott Sr. is an American lobbyist,lawyer,author,and politician who represented Mississippi in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1989 and in the United States Senate from 1989 to 2007. Lott served in numerous leadership positions in both chambers of Congress as one of the first of a wave of Republicans winning seats in Southern states that had been solidly Democratic. Later in his career,he served twice as Senate Majority Leader,and also,alternately,Senate Minority Leader. In 2003,he stepped down from the position after controversy due to his praising of Senator Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist Dixiecrat presidential bid.
Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun,also sometimes Moseley-Braun,is an American diplomat,politician,and lawyer who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. Prior to her Senate tenure,Moseley Braun was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1979 to 1988 and served as Cook County Recorder of Deeds from 1988 to 1992. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992 after defeating Senator Alan J. Dixon in a Democratic primary. Moseley Braun served one term in the Senate and was defeated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald in 1998.
Jean Anne Carnahan was an American politician and writer who was the First Lady of Missouri from 1993 to 2000,and served as the state's junior United States senator from 2001 to 2002. A Democrat,she was appointed to fill the Senate seat of her husband Mel Carnahan,who had been posthumously elected after his death in October,becoming the first woman to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate.
Karen Parfitt Hughes is the global vice chair of the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller. She served as the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the U.S. Department of State and as a counselor to President George W. Bush.
The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members,each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympia.
Victoria Jane Nuland is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2021 to 2024. A former member of the US Foreign Service,she served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2013 to 2017 and the 18th U.S. ambassador to NATO from 2005 to 2008. Between July 2023 and February 2024,Nuland served as acting deputy secretary of state following the retirement of Wendy Sherman.
Karen Riese Fraser is an American politician who served in the state legislature of Washington. She was a Democratic member of the House of Representative from 1989 to 1993 and a state senator from 1993 to 2017. Fraser represented the 22nd district,which includes Olympia,Lacey,Tumwater,and northern Thurston County.
Timothy Markham Sheldon is an American farmer,businessman,and politician who served as a member of the Washington State Senate,representing the 35th District between 1997 and 2023. The district includes all of Mason County and parts of Thurston and Kitsap counties. A member of the Democratic Party,Sheldon caucused with the Republican-dominated Majority Coalition Caucus and afterwards the Republican Caucus from 2012. He previously represented Mason County as a Mason County Commissioner for District 2 from 2005 to 2017 and served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives from 1991 to 1997.
Karen Christine Handel is an American businesswoman and former politician. A member of the Republican Party,Handel served as chair of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners from 2003 to 2006,as Secretary of State of Georgia from 2007 to 2010,and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019.
Karen Ruth Bass is an American politician,social worker and former physician assistant who has served as the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party,Bass previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2022 and in the California State Assembly from 2004 to 2010,serving as speaker during her final Assembly term.
Karen Eileen Spilka is an American politician and attorney serving as a Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate. She represents the towns of Ashland,Framingham,Holliston,Hopkinton,Medway and Natick in the MetroWest region of Massachusetts. She has served as the 95th President of the Massachusetts Senate since July 2018. Previously she served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 2001 to 2005.
Michelle Louise Helene Fischbach is an American attorney and politician who is the U.S. representative from Minnesota's 7th congressional district. The district,which is very rural,is Minnesota's largest by area and includes most of the western part of the state. A Republican,Fischbach served as the 49th lieutenant governor of Minnesota from 2018 until 2019. As of 2024,she is the last Republican to have held statewide office in Minnesota.
Samuel William Hunt is an American politician and educator serving as a member of the Washington State Senate from the 22nd district.
Karen Fann is a former Republican member of the Arizona Senate,representing Arizona Legislative District 1. Fann became President of the Arizona Senate in 2019,and served until 2023.
Washington's 33rd legislative district is one of forty-nine districts in Washington for representation in the state legislature.
Lois Winkelmann Kolkhorst is an American businesswoman and politician serving as a Republican member of the Texas State Senate. She was first elected to the state Senate from the 18th District in a special election held on December 6,2014.
Women have served in state legislatures in the United States since 1895. Their ranks have increased with the advent of nationwide women's suffrage after 1920. Although the number of women serving in state legislatures has more than quintupled since 1971,they remain underrepresented. In 2023,women held less than half of the seats in state legislatures across the majority of states. Specifically,seven states —Oklahoma (19.2%),Louisiana (19.4%),Alabama (17.4%),South Carolina (14.8%),Mississippi (14.5%),Tennessee (14.4%),and West Virginia (11.9%)—had legislatures where women occupied less than 20% of the seats.
Emily Elissa Randall is an American politician and activist who is a U.S. representative-elect for Washington's 6th congressional district and a former member of the Washington State Senate. A member of the Democratic Party,she will succeed Derek Kilmer in the U.S. House of Representatives.
