Women in Politics

Each section has information about women in politics by office, race, sexuality, and sense of self in relation to gender. This includes women in each office that were the first to do so, made a significant contribution to the advancement and/or representation of women in American Politics, or are relevant to current political studies. This is not a definitive list of women in America holding these positions, but may serve as a starting point for research. 

To provide information about each person, names are hyperlinked to a news source that captures biographical, historical, descriptions, or quotes about the person. 

Note: * indicates politician was the first in history to gain this office.

Historical Notes: 

• Nancy Pelosi (CA) was the first and currently only female speaker of the US House. 
• Madeleine Albright was the first female Secretary of State. 
• Hillary R Clinton was the first and only woman to be nominated by a major party for the office of the President of the USA.
• Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman to be nominated by a major party to be Vice President of the United States.  
• Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman to serve on the US Supreme Court. 
• Ella Grasso (CT) was the first woman elected as governor. 
• Sarah Palin was the first woman to be nominated by a major party (R) to be Vice President of the United States.  
• Frances Perkins was the first woman to serve in the US Cabinet as Secretary of Labor. 
• Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to Congress. 
• Eleanor Roosevelt, former first lady who changed the role of the position, served as the first chair of the President's Commission on the Status of Women under JFK. 
• Nellie Taylor Ross (WY) was the first female governor. 
• Esther Hobart Morris (WY) was the first female justice in America. 
• Genevieve Rose Cline was the first woman to serve at a federal court, serving on the US Customs Control Court. 
• Hattie Wyatt Caraway was the first woman elected to the Senate. 

Note: * indicates politician was the first in history to gain this office.

Historical Notes: 

• Lori Lightfoot (Mayor of Chicago) currently holds the title as the first lesbian, African American woman to be Mayor of Chicago and the only LGBTQ person to preside over one of America's largest cities, a title previously held by former Mayor of Houston, Annise Parker. 
• Tammy Baldwin (WI) was the first out LGBTQ person elected to both the House and Senate. 
• Sharice Davids (KS) was the first Native American lesbian elected to Congress. 
• Kate (Kay) Brown (OR) was the first LGBTQ Governor elected in America. 
• Deborah Batts (NY)  was the first African American LGBTQ person to serve as a judge. 
• Roberta Achtenberg was the first LGBTQ person to hold a sub-cabinet level appointment after Senate confirmation. 
• Danica Roem (VA) was the first transgender politician to win a seat in a state legislator and to be re-elected. 
• Phyllis Frye was the first openly transgender judge appointed in America. 

Note: * indicates politician was the first in history to gain this office.

Historical Notes: 

• Nydia Valezquez (NY) was the first Puerto Rican American woman to Serve in Congress. 
• Linda Sanchez (CA) was the first woman of color to have a leadership position in Congress. 
• Susana Martinez (NM) was the first Hispanic American woman elected as governor. 
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) is the youngest person ever elected to Congress. 
• Antonia C Novell was the first woman and Hispanic person to serve as Surgeon General. 
• Sonia Sotomayor was the first Latina Supreme Court justice. 
• Aida Alvarez was the first Latina to hold a Cabinet  level position in America. 
• Hilda Solis was the first Latina to serve in the California State Assembly and in the US Cabinet as Secretary of Labor. 
• Nelli Gorbea was the first Latina to hold a statewide office in all of New England as Secretary of State of Rhode Island. 
• Cecilia Altonaga was the first Cuban American woman appointed a federal judge.

Note: * indicates politician was the first in history to gain this office.

Historical Notes: 

• Carol Moseley Braun (IL) was the first African American woman to be elected to the Senate, and then served as US Ambassador to New Zealand for Clinton. 
• Shirley Chisholm (NY) was the first black woman elected to Congress. 
• Condoleezza Rice was the first African American woman to serve as both the National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. 
• Kamala Harris (CA) was the first black-South Asian American woman elected to the Senate. 
• Vel Phillips (WI) was the first African American woman to serve as a state level Secretary of State.
• Pamela Carter (IN) was the first black woman to serve as a state's Attorney General. 
• Crystal Bird Fauset (PA) was the first African American woman elected to a state legislature in the USA. 
• Karen Bass (CA) was the first black woman to lead a state legislature. 
• Lottie Shackelford was the first African American woman to serve on the Overseas Private Investment Corporation Board under Clinton.  
• Sharon Pratt (DC) was the first African American woman to be mayor of a major US city. 
• Maxine Waters (CA) was the first woman and African American to chair the House Financial Services Committee.
• Patricia Roberts Harris was the first African American woman to serve in the US Cabinet. 
• Loretta Lynch was the first African American woman Attorney General of the USA. 
• Amalya Lyle Kearse was the first African American woman to serve on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. 
• Ann Claire Williams was the first woman of color to serve on on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals

Note: * indicates politician was the first in history to gain this office.

Historical Notes: 

• Elaine Chao was the first Asian American and Chinese woman appointed to the Cabinet, serving as Labor Secretary for Bush and Transportation Secretary from Trump. 
• Pasty Mink (HI) was the first woman of color, Asian American, and woman from Hawaii to serve in Congress. 
• Pramilia Jayapal (WA) was the first Indian American woman elected to Congress. 
• Mazie Horino was the first Asian American woman to serve in the US Senate. 
• Nikki Haley was the first female governor of South Carolina and the first Indian American woman governor, and she also served as US Ambassador to the United Nations for Trump. 
• Tina Maharath (OH) was the first woman elected to the Ohio Assembly and the first Laotian American woman elected to public office. 
• Eunice Sato (Longbeach) was the first Asian American woman mayor of a major city. 
• Stephanie Murphy (FL) was the first Vietnamese American woman to serve in Congress. 
• Tammy Duckworth (IL) was the Director of the Illinois Department of Veteran's Affairs, the first Thai-American woman and disabled woman elected to Congress and the Senate. 
• Susan Oki Mollway (HI) was the first Asian American woman appointed to a federal bench. 
• Jacqueline Nguyen (CA) was the first Asian American woman to serve as an Appellate judge. 
• Marc Fong Yu (CA) was the first Asian American woman to hold an elected state wide office as Secretary of State. 
• Colleen Hanabusa (HI) was the first Asian American woman to lead a state legislature. 

Note: * indicates politician was the first in history to gain this office.

Historical Notes: 

• Cora Belle Reynolds Anderson (MI) was the first Native American woman elected to state office. 
• Denise Janeau (MT) was the first Native American woman to win statewide office. 
• Sharice Davids (KS) and Deb Haaland (NM) were the first Native American women elected to Congress. 
• Tasha Cerda (Gendena) was the first person of Native American decent to be elected as Mayor in California. 
• Ruth Buffalo (ND) was thr first Democrat Native American woman elected to the State House in North Dakota. 
• Diane Humetewa (AZ) was the first Native American woman federal judge in US History. 
• Brenda Itta (AK) was the first Native American woman elected to the Alaska State Legislature. 
• Ada Deer was the first Native American woman to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs.