Denise Moreno Ducheny is an American lawyer and former politician from California. She is a former California State Senator who represented Senate District 40, which includes southern San Diego County, part of Riverside County, and all of Imperial County. Ducheny is a Democrat. She lives with her husband, Al, in San Diego, California. She is now a senior policy advisor at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego.
Nelida "Nellie" Avila Pou is an American civil servant and politician currently serving as the U.S. Representative from New Jersey’s 9th congressional district. Pou, a Democrat, previously served in the New Jersey Senate from 2012 to 2025 and the New Jersey General Assembly from 1997 to 2012, representing the 35th Legislative District. When Pou was sworn into the Assembly on January 29, 1997, to succeed Bill Pascrell, she became the first woman and the first Hispanic to represent the 35th district.
The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the state Senate, representing 30 districts across the state, each with a population of 141,242. The state Senate meets in the east wing of the Oregon State Capitol in Salem.
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.
Frances J. "Fran" Pavley is an American politician who served two terms in the California State Senate and three terms in the California State Assembly. A Democrat, she last represented the 27th Senate District, which encompasses the Conejo Valley, and portions of the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys. Due to term limits in California, Senator Pavley completed her legislative career in 2016. She is currently working as the Environmental Policy Director for the USC Schwarzenegger Institute.
Verna L. Jones-Rodwell is an American politician who represented the 44th legislative district in the Maryland State Senate. Senator Jones-Rodwell was also the chair of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland from 2007 to 2008.
Jennifer Ann Oropeza was the California State Senator for the 28th district which included the cities of Carson, El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance; the Los Angeles communities of Cheviot Hills, Bel Air, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Lennox, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Palms, Playa del Rey, Rancho Park, San Pedro, West Los Angeles, Westchester, Wilmington and Venice; and part of the city of Long Beach.
David Ellis Cogdill Sr. was an American politician who served in the California State Legislature. He served in the California State Senate from the 14th district for one term from 2006 to 2010 and in the California State Assembly from 2000 to 2006. He was the Republican Minority Leader in the State Senate from 2008 to 2009.
Susan "Su" Ryden is a former legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. Elected to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2008, Ryden represented House District 36, which encompasses eastern Aurora, Colorado. Term limited, she did not run for re-election to the State House in the 2016 election. However, she ran for State Senate in District 29 but lost in the Democratic primary to Rhonda Fields. Her term in the State House ended in January, 2017. She currently serves as Public Trustee of Arapahoe County, Colorado, having been appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper in 2017 and re-appointed by Gov. Jared Polis in 2019.
Hannah-Beth Jackson is an American politician who served in the California State Senate from 2012 to 2020. A Democrat, she represented the 19th Senate District, encompassing Santa Barbara County and most of Ventura County.
Harriette L. Chandler is an American politician who was the 94th President of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts State Senator for the 1st Worcester district, which includes parts of the city of Worcester, where she resides, and the towns of Boylston, Holden, Princeton, and West Boylston, and parts of Clinton and Northborough. She is a Democrat who has served since January 2001. From 1995 to 2001 she was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Prior to serving in the Massachusetts legislature, she was a member of the Worcester school committee from 1991 to 1994. She is the first woman from Worcester ever to be elected to the Massachusetts Senate.
Katrina Frye Shealy is an American politician, and a member of the South Carolina State Senate. She is a Republican but was elected as a petition candidate from District 23 in Lexington County. At the time of her election in 2012, she was the only woman in the South Carolina Senate and in May of 2023, was one of six women serving in the South Carolina State Senate. She was defeated in a runoff in 2024.
Beth Bernstein is a Democratic member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, representing House District 78, Richland County, Columbia, SC. She was first elected in November 2012.
Stephanie Gray Chang is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Michigan Senate, representing the 3rd district. She previously served in the Michigan House of Representatives representing the 6th District.
Teresa Patterson Hughes was an American politician and educator. A member of the Democratic Party, she served from 1992 to 2000 as a California State Senator, representing 25th district. Prior to joining the Senate, from 1975 to 1992, Hughes represented the 47th Assembly District. Hughes is renowned for her substantial contributions to the improvement of elementary, secondary and post-secondary education in California and championing educational policy and reform.
Becky Harris is the former chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and a former state senator.
Cindy F. Friedman is an American politician currently serving as a state senator representing the 4th Middlesex District in the Massachusetts Senate. Friedman's district comprises Arlington, Billerica, Burlington, Lexington, and Woburn. She has been serving since 2017. Prior to becoming a state senator, Friedman worked as a public school teacher and as a senior manager in the high-tech industry and later served for nearly a decade as chief of staff to the late state senator Ken Donnelly. During her first term, Friedman served as the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery. For the 191st General Court, Friedman serves as the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing and is vice chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.
Rebecca Beth Bauer-Kahan is an American attorney and politician who has served as a member of the California State Assembly from the 16th district since 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, her district extends from Lamorinda to the Tri-Valley region of the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been described as a women's rights advocate.
Susan Rubio is an American politician serving in the California State Senate. She represents the 22nd Senate District in eastern Los Angeles County and is a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to being elected to the California Legislature in 2018, she was an elected official for the City of Baldwin Park for 13 years and a public school teacher for 17 years.
Pauline Menes (1924–2009) served in the Maryland House of Delegates for 40 years. In the 1970s she co-founded the Maryland Women's Legislative Caucus, the first caucus of its kind in the United States; founded the Women's Network of the National Conference of State Legislatures; and was the first woman to serve on the state Judiciary Committee. Over the years she helped pass more than 2,000 bills and policy changes. She was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame in 2008.
