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.
| Name (Party) | Year(s) Served | State |
|---|---|---|
| Hattie Wyatt Caraway (D) | 1931-1945 | Arkansas |
| Rose McConnell Long (D) | 1936-1937 | Louisiana |
| Vera Cahalan Bushfield | 1948 | South Dakota |
| Maurine Brown Neuberger (D) | 1960-1967 | Oregon |
| Muriel Buck Humphrey (D) | 1978-1979 | Minnesota |
| Maryon Pittman Allen (D) | 1978-1979 | Alabama |
| Jocelyn Birch Burdick (D) | 1992 | North Dakota |
| Jean Carnahan (D) | 2001-2002 | Missouri |
| Name (Party) | Year(s) Served | State | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mae Ella Nolan (R) | 1923-1925 | California | |
| Florence Prag Kahn (R) | 1925-1937 | California | |
| Edith Nourse Rogers (R) | 1925-1960 | Massachusetts | |
| Pearl Peden Oldfield (D) | 1929-1931 | Arizona | |
| Effiegene Locke Wingo (D) | 1930-1933 | Arkansas | |
| Willa McCord Blake Eslick (D) | 1932-1933 | Tennessee | |
| Marian Williams Clarke (R) | 1934-1935 | New York | |
| Elizabeth Hawley Gasque (D) | 1938 | South Carolina | |
| Florence Reville Gibbs (D) | 1940-1941 | Georgia | |
| Clara Gooding McMillan (D) | 1940-1941 | South Carolina | |
| Margaret Chase Smith (R) | 1940-1949 | Maine | Smith also served in the U.S. Senate 1949-1973. |
| Frances Bolton (R) | 1940-1969 | Ohio | |
| Katharine Edgar Byron (D) | 1941-1943 | Maryland | |
| Veronica Grace Boland (D) | 1942-1943 | Pennsylvania | |
| Willa Lybrand Fulmer (D) | 1944-1945 | South Carolina | |
| Vera Daerr Buchanan (D) | 1951-1955 | Pennsylvania | |
| Marguerite Stitt Church (R) | 1951-1963 | Illinois | |
| Maude Elizabeth Kee (D) | 1951-1965 | West Virginia | |
| Leonor K. Sullivan (D) | 1952-1975 | Missouri | Leonor 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) | 1954-1957 | Hawaii | Farrington was a non-voting delegate to U.S. House of Representatives because Hawaii was not yet a state. |
| Kathryn Elizabeth Granahan (D) | 1957-1963 | Pennsylvania | |
| Edna Oakes Simpson (R) | 1958-1961 | Illinois | |
| Catherine Dorris Norrell (D) | 1961-1963 | Arkansas | |
| Louise Goff Reece (R) | 1961-1963 | Tennessee | |
| Corinne Boyd Riley (D) | 1962-1963 | South Carolina | |
| Irene Bailey Baker (R) | 1964-1965 | Tennessee | |
| Lera Millard Thomas (D) | 1966-1967 | Texas | |
| Elizabeth B. Andrews (D) | 1972-1973 | Alabama | |
| Corinne "Lindy" Boggs (D) | 1973-1991 | Louisiana | |
| Cardiss Collins (D) | 1973-1997 | Illinois | |
| Shirley N. Pettis (R) | 1975-1979 | California | |
| Beverly Barton Butcher Byron (D) | 1979-1993 | Maryland | |
| Jean Ashbrook (R) | 1982-1983 | Ohio | |
| Sala Burton (D) | 1983-1987 | California | |
| Catherine S. Long (D) | 1985-1987 | Louisiana | |
| Jo Ann Emerson (R) | 1996-2013 | Missouri | |
| Mary Bono (R) | 1998-2013 | California | |
| Lois Capps (D) | 1998-2017 | California | |
| Doris Matsui (D) | 2005-present | California | |
| Julia Letlow (R) | 2021-present | Louisiana | Letlow 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.