2 States Have Never Sent a Woman to Congress

Two states—Vermont and Mississippi—have never sent a woman to Congress.[1]

Currently, 22 out of 100 U.S. senators are women. So are 84 of the 435 U.S. representatives. On top of that, there are six women serving as governor of a state.

The first woman to serve in Congress, Montana’s Jeannette Rankin, was elected in 1916.[2] That was four years before the constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote.[3] Prior to congressional action, many states granted women the right to vote. In fact, by the time the amendment became law, women were able to vote in about half of all congressional districts.

Politico is running a project during Election 2018 tracking the number and success of women candidates.

Footnotes:

1. Politico, "More are running, but will women win?" March 8, 2018
2. Wikipedia, "Jeannette Rankin," accessed March 12, 2018
3. State of Indiana, "Voting Amendments in the U.S.," accessed March 12, 2018

Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology. Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.​

Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is the author of "Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System," "In Search of Self-Governance," and "The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt." Read more reports from Scott Rasmussen — Click Here Now.