Barbara Ann Mikulski is an American politician and social worker who served as a United States senator from Maryland from 1987 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party,she also served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987. Mikulski is the third-longest-serving female United States Senator,and the longest-serving U.S. Senator in Maryland history.
Benjamin Louis Cardin is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maryland,a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party,he was the U.S. representative for Maryland's 3rd congressional district from 1987 to 2007. Cardin served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1967 to 1987 and as its speaker from 1979 to 1987. Cardin has never lost an election in his entire political career.
Christopher Van Hollen Jr. is an American attorney and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Maryland since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party,Van Hollen served as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district from 2003 to 2017.
Linda Marie McMahon is an American politician,business executive,and former professional wrestling performer. She was the 25th administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019. McMahon has been nominated to lead the Department of Education under the second Trump administration.
Mazie Keiko Hirono is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2013 as the junior United States senator from Hawaii. A member of the Democratic Party,Hirono previously served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2007 to 2013. Hirono also served as a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1981 to 1995 and as Hawaii's tenth lieutenant governor from 1994 to 2002,under Ben Cayetano. She was the Democratic nominee for governor of Hawaii in 2002,but lost to Republican Linda Lingle.
This article covers the history of women in the United States Senate and various milestones achieved by female senators. It includes a list of all women who have served in the Senate,a list of current female senators,and a list of states represented by women in the Senate. The first female U.S. senator,Rebecca Latimer Felton,represented Georgia for a single day in 1922,and the first woman elected to the Senate,Hattie Caraway,was elected from Arkansas in 1932. Since its establishment in 1789,60 women have served in the upper house of the United States Congress. As of October 3,2023,there are 25 women serving as U.S. senators out of 100 possible seats. Additionally,Kamala Harris as vice president serves as President of the Senate.
Arthur Pue Gorman was an American politician. He was leader of the Gorman-Rasin organization with Isaac Freeman Rasin that controlled the Maryland Democratic Party from the late 1870s until his death in 1906. Gorman served as United States Senator from Maryland from 1881 to 1899 and again from 1903 until his death. He was a prominent leader of the Bourbon Democrat faction of the Democratic Party. Gorman was Chairman of the Democratic National Committee during Grover Cleveland's 1884 presidential campaign and he is widely credited with securing Cleveland's victory. In 1952 Gorman was described in The Baltimore Sun as "easily the most powerful political figure [Maryland] has ever known."
Women have served in the United States House of Representatives,the lower chamber of the United States Congress,since 1917 following the election of Republican Jeannette Rankin from Montana,the first woman in Congress. In total,378 women have been U.S. representatives and seven more have been non-voting delegates. As of November 12,2024,there are 127 women in the U.S. House of Representatives,making women 29.2% of the total. Of the 385 women who have served in the House,253 have been Democrats and 132 have been Republicans. One woman was the 52nd Speaker of the House,Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California.
H. Wayne Norman Jr. was an American lawyer and politician who was a member of the Maryland Senate,representing District 35 in Harford and Cecil counties. Norman was appointed to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2008 to fill the vacancy created when Delegate Barry Glassman was appointed to the Maryland State Senate to replace J. Robert Hooper,who resigned because of illness. Glassman subsequently was elected as Harford County Executive,leaving a vacancy in the Senate seat. Norman was elected to that vacant Senate seat in the 2014 General Election.
The 1788–1789 United States Senate elections were the first U.S. Senate elections following the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. They coincided with the election of George Washington as the first president of the United States. As these elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913,senators were chosen by state legislatures.
The 2018 United States Senate election in Maryland took place on November 6,2018,in order to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Maryland. It was held concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate,elections to the United States House of Representatives,and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ben Cardin was re-elected to a third and ultimately final term by a landslide margin of almost 35 points,the largest margin in any election for this seat since Maryland began holding direct elections for Senate in 1913.
Elections for the Maryland Senate were held on November 6,2018,with all 47 seats being contested. Republicans had initially hoped to break the Democrats' supermajority in the upper chamber by knocking off five incumbents,known as their "Drive for Five" plan. Though they did make a net gain of one seat,they came short of their goal. Three seats switched hands:District 9 in Carroll and Howard Counties flipped from Republican to Democratic while District 38 in Somerset,Wicomico,and Worcester Counties and District 42 in Baltimore County both flipped from Democrats to Republicans.
The 2024 United States Senate elections were held on November 5,2024,as part of the 2024 United States elections. Regularly scheduled elections were held for 33 out of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate,plus one seat in a special election. Senators are divided into 3 classes whose 6-year terms are staggered so that a different class is elected every 2 years. Class 1 senators faced election in 2024. Republicans flipped four Democratic-held seats,regaining a Senate majority for the first time since 2021.
Teresa E. Reilly is an American politician from Maryland from the Republican Party. She is currently a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from District 35B,representing northern Cecil and Harford counties.
Jason Charles Gallion is an American politician who serves as a Republican member of the Maryland Senate from the 35th district in Cecil County and Harford County.
The 2026 United States Senate elections are scheduled to be held on November 3,2026,with 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested in regular elections,the winners of which will serve six-year terms in the United States Congress from January 3,2027,to January 3,2033. Senators are divided into three groups,or classes,whose terms are staggered so that a different class is elected every two years. Class 2 senators were last elected in 2020,and will be up for election in this cycle.
Anne Carney is an American Democratic politician and attorney from Maine. She currently serves in the Maine Senate representing District 29,which consists of Cape Elizabeth,South Portland,and part of Scarborough. Carney was born in Baltimore,Maryland and attended Haverford College where she received a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.). She completed a Master of Theological Studies (M.T.S) from Harvard University in 1987 and moved to Maine in 1988. Carney completed a Juris Doctor at the University of Maine School of Law in 1990 and practiced employment,civil rights and municipal law for 16 years. She was a pro bono In-House Volunteer Attorney at Pine Tree Legal Assistance for eight years before running for Maine House of Representatives District 30 in 2018. In 2020,Carney was elected to her first term in the Maine Senate.
United States gubernatorial elections are scheduled to be held on November 3,2026,in 36 states and three territories. The previous gubernatorial elections for this group of states took place in 2022,except in New Hampshire and Vermont,where governors serve two-year terms and elected their governors in 2024. Many of the states with elections in this cycle have incumbents who are officially term-limited.
Kym Taylor is an American politician. She is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates for District 23 in Prince George's County.
