THE AMERICA ONE NEWS
Jun 6, 2025  |  
0
 | Remer,MN
Sponsor:  QWIKET 
Sponsor:  QWIKET 
Sponsor:  QWIKET: Elevate your fantasy game! Interactive Sports Knowledge.
Sponsor:  QWIKET: Elevate your fantasy game! Interactive Sports Knowledge and Reasoning Support for Fantasy Sports and Betting Enthusiasts.
back  
topic
America One News
cawp.rutgers.edu
20 Jul 2024


NextImg:Widows Who Succeeded Their Husbands in Congress

A total of 48 women have been elected or appointed to fill congressional vacancies created by the deaths of their husbands, 8 to the U.S. Senate and 40 to the U. S. House of Representatives.

U.S. Senate - 8*
Name (Party)Year(s) ServedState
Hattie Wyatt Caraway (D)1931-1945Arkansas
Rose McConnell Long (D)1936-1937Louisiana
Vera Cahalan Bushfield1948South Dakota
Maurine Brown Neuberger (D)1960-1967Oregon
Muriel Buck Humphrey (D)1978-1979Minnesota
Maryon Pittman Allen (D)1978-1979Alabama
Jocelyn Birch Burdick (D)1992North Dakota
Jean Carnahan (D)2001-2002Missouri
U.S. House of Representatives – 40**
Name (Party)Year(s) ServedStateNotes
Mae Ella Nolan (R)1923-1925California
Florence Prag Kahn (R)1925-1937California
Edith Nourse Rogers (R)1925-1960Massachusetts
Pearl Peden Oldfield (D)1929-1931Arizona
Effiegene Locke Wingo (D)1930-1933Arkansas
Willa McCord Blake Eslick (D)1932-1933Tennessee
Marian Williams Clarke (R)1934-1935New York
Elizabeth Hawley Gasque (D)1938South Carolina
Florence Reville Gibbs (D)1940-1941Georgia
Clara Gooding McMillan (D)1940-1941South Carolina
Margaret Chase Smith (R)1940-1949MaineSmith also served in the U.S. Senate 1949-1973.
Frances Bolton (R)1940-1969Ohio
Katharine Edgar Byron (D)1941-1943Maryland
Veronica Grace Boland (D)1942-1943Pennsylvania
Willa Lybrand Fulmer (D)1944-1945South Carolina
Vera Daerr Buchanan (D)1951-1955Pennsylvania
Marguerite Stitt Church (R)1951-1963Illinois
Maude Elizabeth Kee (D)1951-1965West Virginia
Leonor K. Sullivan (D)1952-1975MissouriLeonor Sullivan did not succeed her husband directly, having lost the special election primary. She won the subsequent general election for the seat he had held.
Mary Elizabeth Pruett Farrington (R)1954-1957HawaiiFarrington was a non-voting delegate to U.S. House of Representatives because Hawaii was not yet a state.
Kathryn Elizabeth Granahan (D)1957-1963Pennsylvania
Edna Oakes Simpson (R)1958-1961Illinois
Catherine Dorris Norrell (D)1961-1963Arkansas
Louise Goff Reece (R)1961-1963Tennessee
Corinne Boyd Riley (D)1962-1963South Carolina
Irene Bailey Baker (R)1964-1965Tennessee
Lera Millard Thomas (D)1966-1967Texas
Elizabeth B. Andrews (D)1972-1973Alabama
Corinne "Lindy" Boggs (D)1973-1991Louisiana
Cardiss Collins (D)1973-1997Illinois
Shirley N. Pettis (R)1975-1979California
Beverly Barton Butcher Byron (D)1979-1993Maryland
Jean Ashbrook (R)1982-1983Ohio
Sala Burton (D)1983-1987California
Catherine S. Long (D)1985-1987Louisiana
Jo Ann Emerson (R)1996-2013Missouri
Mary Bono (R)1998-2013California
Lois Capps (D)1998-2017California
Doris Matsui (D)2005-presentCalifornia
Julia Letlow (R)2021-presentLouisianaLetlow won a special election to replace her husband who died days before officially swearing in.

*Of the 8 women who took Senate seats after the death of their husbands, six were appointed to their deceased husband’s seats and one won a special election. In addition, Jean Carnahan was appointed to the Senate seat won posthumously by her husband.

**Of the 40 women who filled vacancies caused by the deaths of their husbands, 39 won special elections; the exception is Leonor Sullivan (see above). Also, Elizabeth Hawley Gasque (D-SC) was never sworn in or seated since Congress was not in session between her special election and the expiration of her term.

In addition to the 40 widows in the House, Debbie Dingell (D-MI, 2015 – present) succeeded her living husband after his retirement, the only woman to date to do so.

Sources: Women in the United States Congress, Congressional Research Service and the Center for American Women and Politics fact sheet, Women in the U.S. House of Representatives 2005.