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
| 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
|
Black – 17 (12D, 5R) Asian Pacific Islander – 9 (6D, 3R) Latina – 23 (18D, 5R) Native American/Native Alaskan – Multi-racial – 2 (D) |
Sec. of State
Sec. of State Supt. Pub. Instr.
Atty. General |
1979-1983
1975-1993 1991-2011
2011-2017 |
State Legislatures
| Black
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 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
|
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 |
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 |
| * 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. |