History of Women of Color in U.S. Politics

For information on women of color currently serving in elective office click here. For a quick list of "firsts" for women of color in politics, visit our Milestones for Women in American Politics timeline page.

Vice President

Kamala Harris (D) currently serves as Vice President. She is the first woman of color, the first Black person, and the first South Asian person elected to this office.

U.S. Senate

Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL), a Black woman, was the first woman of color elected to the U.S. Senate, serving from 1993-1999. Mazie Hirono, an Asian Pacific Islander, was elected in 2012 and is currently serving. Three women; Tammy Duckworth (D-IL, Asian Pacific Islander), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV, Latina) and Kamala Harris (D-CA, Black and South Asian) were elected in 2016.

Black – 1 (1D)
Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) 1993-1999

Asian Pacific Islander – 2 (2D)
Mazie Hirono (D-HI) 2013-Present
Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) 2017-Present

Latina – 1 (1D)
Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) 2017-Present

Multiracial – 1 (1D)
Kamala Harris (D-CA) 2017-2021

U.S. House of Representatives

Patsy Takemoto Mink (D-HI), an Asian Pacific Islander, was the first woman of color elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1965-77 and again from 1990-2002. The first Black woman elected to the House was Shirley Chisholm (D-NY), who served from 1969-83. The first Middle Eastern/North African woman elected to the House was Mary Rose Oakar (D-OH) who served from 1977-1993. The first Latina elected to the House was Ileana Ros Lehtinen (R-FL), who was elected in 1989 and served until 2019. The first Native American/Native Alaskan women, Sharice Davids (D-KS) and Debra Haaland (D-NM), elected to the House were elected in 2019. Davids currently serves and Haaland served from 2019-2021.

A total of 83 women of color have served in the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition to the women currently serving (listed here), they are:

Black – 21 (20D, 1R)		Asian Pacific Islander – 6 (5D, 1R)
Shirley Chisholm (D-NY)	1969-83	Patsy Takemoto Mink (D-HI)	1965-77; 1990-2002
Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (D-CA)	1973-79	Patricia Fukuda Saiki (R-HI)	1987-91
Barbara Jordan (D-TX)	1973-79	Mazie Hirono (D-HI)	2007-2013
Cardiss Collins (D-IL)	1973-97	Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)	2013-2017
Katie Hall (D-IN)	1982-85	Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI)	2011-2015; 2016-19
Barbara-Rose Collins (D-MI)	1991-97	Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)	2013-2021
Eva M. Clayton (D-NC)	1992-2003
Carrie Meek (D-FL)	1993-2003	Latina – 7 (6D, 1R)
Denise Majette (D-GA)	2003-2005	Loretta Sanchez (D-CA)	1997-2017
Cynthia McKinney (D-GA)	1993-2003; 2005-07	Hilda Solis (D-CA)	2001-2009
Corrine Brown (D-Fl)	1993-2017	Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-CA)	2013-2015
Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)	1996-2007	Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)	1989-2019
Julia Carson (D-IN)	1997-2007	Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM)	2013-2019
Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH)	1999-2008	Debbie Muscarsel-Powell (D-FL)	2019-2021
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI)	1997-2011	Xochitl Torres Small (D-NM)	2019-2021
Diane Watson (D-CA)	2001-2011
Laura Richardson (D-CA)	2007-2013	Middle Eastern/North African – 2 (2D)
Donna Edwards (D-MD)	2008-2017	Mary Rose Oakar (D-OH)	1977-1993
Mia Love (R-UT)	2015-2019	Donna Shalala (D-OH)	2019-2021
Brenda Jones (D-MI)*	2018-2019*
Marcia Fudge (D-OH)	2013-2021	Native American/Native Alaskan 1 (1D)
		Debra Haaland (D-NM)	2019-2021
* Brenda Jones was elected to a partial term (11/29/18 to 01/03/19).

Statewide Elective Executive Offices

One woman of color currently serves as governor. Four women of color currently serve as lieutenant governor in addition to the seven who have already served.

Black – 17 (12D, 5R)
Velvalea "Vel" Phillips (D-WI)
Pamela Carter (D-IN)
Vikki Buckley (R-CO)
Denise Nappier (D-CT)
Karen Freeman-Wilson (D-IN)
Jennette Bradley (R-OH)
Jennette Bradley (R-OH)
Velda Jones Potter (D-DE)
Sandra D. Kennedy (D-AZ)
Jennifer Carroll (R-FL)
Jenean Hampton (R-KY)
Sheila Oliver (D-NJ)
Tish James (D-NY)
Juliana Stratton (D-IL)
Sandra Kennedy (D-AZ)
Carolyn Stanford Taylor (D-WI)
Shirley Weber (D-CA)

Asian Pacific Islander – 9 (6D, 3R)
March Fong Eu (D-CA)
Jean Sadako King (D-HI)
Cheryl Lau (R-NV)
Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Mona Pasquil (D-CA)
Nikki Haley (R-SC)
Betty Yee (D-CA)
Fiona Ma (D-CA)
Kimberly Yee (R-AZ)

Latina – 23 (18D, 5R)
Soledad Chacon (D-NM)
Margaret Baca (D-NM)
Elizabeth F. Gonzales (D-NM)
Jessie M. Gonzales (D-NM)
Clara Padilla Jones (D-NM)
Stephanie Gonzales (D-NM)
Lena Guerrero (D-TX)
Gloria Tristani (D-NM)
Patricia Madrid (D-NM)
Rebecca Vigil-Giron (D-NM)
Mary Herrera (D-NM)
Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV)
Susan Castillo (D-OR)
Dianna Duran (R-NM)
Susana Martinez (R-NM)
Nellie Gorbea (D-RI)
Evelyn Sanguinetti (R-IL)
Susanna Mendoza (D-IL)
Stephanie Garcia Richard (D-NM)
Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM)
Jeanette Nunez (R-FL)
Lea Marquez Peterson (R-AZ)
Anna Tovar (D-AZ)

Native American/Native Alaskan –
4 (3D, 1NP)
Sandy Garrett (D-OK)
Denise Juneau (D-MT)
Valerie Davidson (NP-AK)
Peggy Flannagan (D-MN)

Multi-racial – 2 (D)
Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Kathleen McGuiness (D-DE)

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1979-1983
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State Legislatures

The first women of color to serve in state legislatures, listed in chronological order, were:

Black


Asian Pacific Islander

Latina

Native American/Native Alaskan

Minnie Buckingham Harper (R-WV House) appointed 1928
Crystal Dreda Bird Fauset (D-PA House) elected 1938

Patsy Takemoto Mink (D-HI Senate) elected 1962

Fedelina Lucero Gallegos (R-NM House) elected 1930
Porfirria Hidalgo Saiz (D-NM House) elected 1930

Cora Belle Reynolds Anderson (R-MI House) elected 1924

(Information from Elizabeth M. Cox, Women State and Territorial Legislators, 1895-1995, McFarland & Company, Inc., 1996.)

State Legislative Leadership

State senator Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI) was the first woman of color and the first Asian Pacific Islander woman to lead either house of a state legislature; she served as Hawaii's Senate president from 2007-2011. Karen Bass (D-CA) was the first woman of color and first Black woman to serve as a House speaker, leading California's Assembly from 2008-2010. Crisanta Duran (D-CO) was the first Latina to serve as a House Speaker, serving from 2017 to 2019.

Mayors

Women of color who have served as mayors in the nation’s 100 largest cities are:

Black Lottie Shackleford Carrie Saxon Perry Sharon Pratt Kelly Sharon Sayles Belton Shirley Franklin Sheila Dixon Yvonne Johnson Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Muriel Bowser Paula Hicks-Hudson Ivy Taylor Catherine Pugh Sharon Weston Broome London Breed (acting) Vi Alexander Lyles Keisha Lance Bottoms LaToya Cantrell London Breed Lori Lightfoot Kim Janey, acting	Little Rock, AR Hartford, CT Washington, DC Minneapolis, MN Atlanta, GA Baltimore, MD Greensboro, NC Baltimore, MD Washington, DC Toledo, OH San Antonio, TX Baltimore, MD Baton Rouge, LA San Francisco, CA Charlotte, NC Atlanta, GA New Orleans, LA San Francisco, CA Chicago, IL Boston, MA	1987-1991 1987-1993 1991-1995 1994-2001 2001-2009 2007-2010 2008-2010 2010-2016 2015-present 2015-2018 2014-2017 2016-2019 2017-present** 2017-2018* 2017-present 2018-present 2018-present 2018-present* 2019-present 2021-present	Asian Pacific Islander Eunice Sato Jean Quan Lily Mei Karen K. Goh Farrah Khan Latina Heather Fargo Nelda Martinez Mary Casillas Salas Regina Romero Paulette M. Guajardo	Long Beach, CA Oakland, CA Fremont, CA Bakersfield, CA Irvine, CA Sacramento, CA Corpus Christi, TX Chula Vista, CA Tucson, AZ Corpus Christi, TX	1980-1982 2011-2015 2016-present 2017-present 2020-present 2001-2009 2014-2016 2015-present 2019-present 2021-present
* London Breed served as acting mayor of San Francisco from 12/12/17-1/23/18. She was subsequently elected and took office on 7/11/18. ** Sharon Weston Broome is still serving but Baton Rouge is no longer in the top 100 most populated cities according to the 2019 U.S. Census data.