Mary Peltola Becomes First Woman in the U.S. House from Alaska

Representative Mary Peltola (D) was sworn in today as the first woman member of the U.S. House from the state of Alaska. She is also the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress. Peltola won a special election to fill the seat held by former Representative Don Young (R), who passed away earlier this year after serving in the House for nearly half a century. Peltola previously served as a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009. With Peltola joining Congress, there are now:

• 147 women in Congress (27.5%), which matches the previous record high.
• 107 Democratic women in Congress, which marks a new record high.
• 123 women in the U.S. House (28.3%), which matches the previous high.
• 91 Democratic women in the U.S. House, which marks a new record high.
• 2 Native American/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian women serving in the U.S. House. No Native American/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian woman has ever served in the U.S. Senate.

There are now three states that have never sent a woman to the U.S. House: Mississippi, North Dakota, and Vermont. Vermont is the only state that has never sent a woman to either chamber of Congress.

Find the latest data on women serving in political office in America from the CAWP website.