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Women in the United States House of Representatives

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Women have served in the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United States Congress, since 1917 following the election of Republican Jeannette Rankin from Montana, the first woman in Congress.[1] In total, 396 women have been U.S. representatives and eight more have been non-voting delegates. As of January 3, 2025, there are 125 women in the U.S. House of Representatives (not including four female non-voting delegates), making women 28.7% of the total. Of the 404 women who have served in the House, 269 have been Democrats (including four from U.S. territories and the District of Columbia) and 135 have been Republicans (including three from U.S. territories, including pre-statehood Hawaii). One woman was the 52nd Speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California.

Women have been elected to the House of Representatives from 49 of the 50 states. Mississippi is the only state that has not elected a woman to the House of Representatives, though it has elected a woman to the United States Senate. In 1917, Montana was the first state to send a woman to the House of Representatives and to Congress; in 2025, North Dakota became the most recent state to send its first woman to the House. Women have also been sent to Congress from five of the six territories of the United States; the final territory to send a woman to the House of Representatives is the Northern Mariana Islands, also in 2025. California has elected more women to Congress than any other state, with 50 U.S. representatives elected since 1923. To date, no woman who has served in the House has ever previously served in the Senate, has been elected to represent more than one state in non-consecutive elections, switched parties, or served as a third-party member in her career, although one was reelected as an independent.

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Firsts

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Sometimes called the "Lady of the House", Jeannette Rankin entered the House of Representatives in 1917 as the first woman in Congress.
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Alice Mary Robertson became the first woman to preside over the House or either chamber of Congress in 1921. In addition, she was the first woman elected from the American South (Oklahoma) and the first woman to defeat an incumbent representative.
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Nancy Pelosi, 52nd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (2007–2011, 2019–2023), the only woman to hold the position.

The first woman to be elected to Congress was Montana's Jeannette Rankin, a Republican, in the 1916 House elections;[2] notably, this occurred before the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which prohibits the federal government or any state from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of sex.[3] On April 2, 1917, she took her oath of office along with the other members of the 65th Congress.[4]

Mae Nolan entered the House of Representatives in 1923 as the first Catholic woman in either chamber of Congress.[5] Clare Boothe Luce, who converted to the Catholic Church in 1946 before retiring as a Congresswoman, was the first female Catholic convert in either chamber.[6]

Florence Prag Kahn entered the House of Representatives in 1925 as the first Jewish and thus non-Christian woman in either chamber of Congress.[5]

Chase G. Woodhouse, born in Canada to American parents, entered the House of Representatives in 1945 as the first woman born outside the United States elected to either chamber of Congress. She went to become the first woman in congressional party leadership when elected secretary of the House Democratic Caucus in 1949. Lynn Morley Martin became the first Republican woman elected to a House leadership position as vice chair of the House Republican Conference in 1985.

Margaret Chase Smith became the first woman elected in both chambers of Congress; she first entered the House of Representatives in 1940, before her election into the Senate in 1948.[7]

Representative Vera Buchanan died in 1955, making her the first woman in either chamber of Congress to die in office.[8]

Patsy Mink, an Asian American, entered the House of Representatives in 1965 as the first woman of color in either chamber of Congress.[9][10]

Shirley Chisholm entered the House of Representatives in 1969 as the first African-American woman in either chamber of Congress.[10][11]

In 1969, Representative Charlotte Reid became the first woman to wear pants in the House of Representatives or Senate.[12]

In 1973, Representative Yvonne Brathwaite Burke became the first member of either the House of Representatives or Senate to give birth while in office, and she was the first member of Congress to be granted maternity leave, with the birth of her daughter Autumn.[13][14]

Mary Rose Oakar in 1977 became the first Arab-American woman elected to Congress.

The gym of the House of Representatives (with the exception of its swimming pool) first opened to women in 1985, the gym having previously been male-only. The swimming pool opened to women in 2009, the pool having previously been male-only.[15]

Barbara Vucanovich entered the House of Representatives in 1983 as the first Hispanic or Latina woman in either chamber of Congress.

Apart from single-member House delegations, the first all-woman delegation in either chamber of Congress was from Hawaii, in late 1990—Pat Saiki and Patsy Mink. They were also the first all-woman of color delegation in either chamber.[16] In 2013, New Hampshire became the first state to have an all-woman delegation in both houses of Congress.[16]

Enid Greene Waldholtz entered the House of Representatives in 1995 as the first Mormon woman in that chamber; however, she was the second Mormon woman in Congress, after Senator Paula Hawkins of Florida.[17]

Jo Ann Emerson entered the House of Representatives in 1997 as the first and, so far, only woman (re)elected as neither a Democrat nor a Republican from any state to either chamber of Congress.[18] She won two elections scheduled on November 5, 1996: a special election to fill out the remainder of her husband's term in the 104th Congress, and a general election for a full term in the 105th Congress. Emerson received the Republican nomination for the unexpired term; however, the party slot for the regular election was already filled by another contender. According to Missouri law, she was ineligible to run as a GOP candidate, so she sought reelection and won her first full term as an independent.[19] Emerson was sworn into office as such before rejoining the Republicans a few days later.

Tammy Baldwin, a lesbian, entered the House of Representatives in 1999 as the first openly LGBT woman in either chamber of Congress.[20]

Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, rose through the ranks of her party leadership to be elected House whip in 2002,[21] before being elevated to House floor leader and minority leader the following year;[22] making her both the first woman whip and the first woman floor leader in either chamber of Congress. On January 4, 2007, she was elected the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House.[23][24] On January 3, 2019, Pelosi became the seventh person and first woman to reclaim the speakership.[24][25]

Mazie Hirono entered the House of Representatives in 2007 as one of the first two Buddhists (alongside Hank Johnson) and first Buddhist woman elected in either chamber of Congress.[26]

In 2011, the House of Representatives got its first women's bathroom near the chamber (Room H-211 of the Capitol building); women in the Senate have had their own restroom off the Senate floor since 1993.[27]

Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War combat veteran, entered the House of Representatives in 2013 as the first woman with a disability in either chamber of Congress.[28]

Tulsi Gabbard entered the House of Representatives in 2013 as the first Hindu person in either chamber of Congress.[29] Kyrsten Sinema also entered the House that same year as the first openly bisexual person in either chamber of Congress.[30]

In the 2018 House elections, there was a wave of firsts elected to the House of Representatives for the 116th Congress. A record-breaking 103 women were elected or reelected to the House, causing many to call it the "Year of the Woman" in a reference to the first such year, the 1992 Senate elections.[31][32][33] Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland became the first Native American women ever elected to either house of Congress.[34] Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib became the first Muslim women elected to either chamber, with Tlaib the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress and Omar the first Somali-American of either sex to be elected.[35] Angie Craig became the first lesbian mother to be elected. Additionally, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Donna Shalala became, respectively, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress and the oldest woman to be elected to Congress for the first time.[36][37]

Also in 2018, Jacky Rosen became the first sitting female House one-termer to be elected to the Senate.[38]

In 2020, Republican Stephanie Bice was elected to become the first Persian American, Pakistani American, and first woman of Persian parentage and Pakistani ancestry in Congress,[39][40] and her fellow Republican, Yvette Herrell, was also elected as the first Native American woman from the party in Congress.[41] Additionally, Republicans Michelle Steel and Young Kim, and Democrat Marilyn Strickland were the first Korean-American women elected.[42] Strickland is also the first Afro-Asian woman elected to the House of Representatives.[43]

Mary Peltola entered the House of Representatives on September 13, 2022, after winning a special election on August 16, as the first Alaska Native person in either chamber of Congress.[44]

In 2024, Sarah McBride was elected to the House, becoming the first transgender person ever elected to either chamber of Congress.[45] Her membership in the House was not well received by some of her Republican colleagues, as they referred to her as "the gentleman from Delaware" or as "Mr. McBride".[46] Even prior to the commencement of her service, Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, issued a ruling barring McBride from using the women restrooms in the House.[47]

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Length of service

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Representative Marcy Kaptur, the longest serving woman in the chamber's history, has represented Ohio's 9th congressional district since 1983

Representative Marcy Kaptur, who has served in the House since January 3, 1983, has the longest-serving tenure of any female member in the chamber's history.[48] In 2018, she surpassed the record previously held by Edith Nourse Rogers, who served in the House from 1925 until her death in 1960.[49] She went on to surpass the record previously held by Barbara Mikulski, who served in the House and Senate for a combined 40 years, thus making her the longest-serving woman in congressional history.[50]

Pat Saiki (born 1930) is currently the oldest living former female member of the House. Yvonne Brathwaite Burke is the former member having survived longest since her first election (1973).

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List of states represented by women

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List of territories and the District of Columbia represented by women

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Family ties and widow's succession

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Winnifred Sprague Mason Huck of Illinois, the third woman ever elected to Congress, became the first woman followed into national office due to family connections. She succeeded her father into the House in the wake of his death in 1921; Huck won a special election to fill out the remainder of his term, but lost a primary election for renomination in her own right, so she served just 14 weeks.[51][52] In 1990, Rep. Susan Molinari become the first woman elected to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of her father rather than his death.[53]

Mae Nolan of California becomes the first woman elected to Congress to fill the vacant seat caused by the death of her husband in 1922, which is sometimes known as the widow's succession.[52][54] In the early years of women in Congress, such a seat was usually held only until the next general election, and the women retired after that single Congress, thereby becoming a placeholders to finishing elected terms of their husbands.[54] As the years progressed, however, more and more of these widow successors sought reelection. These women began to win their own elections, with Florence Prag Kahn of California becoming the first woman to do it. After entering the House of Representatives in 1925 to replace her late husband, she established herself as an effective legislator in her own right and would go on to win reelection five more times.[54][55] Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan succeeded her living spouse after his retirement, becoming the first woman to do it.[56]

To date, 45 women have directly succeeded their late husbands in Congress, with 38 of them seated in the House and eight in the Senate.[51] The only current example is Representative Doris Matsui of California.[b] One of the most prominent examples was Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, who served a total of 32 years in both the House and the Senate and been the first woman to do so. She began the end of McCarthyism with a famous speech, "The Declaration of Conscience", became the first major-party female presidential candidate and the first woman to receive votes at a national nominating convention, and was the first (and highest ranking to date) woman to enter the GOP Senate leadership (in the third-highest post of Chairwoman of the Senate Republican Conference).

Frances P. Bolton of Ohio became the first woman overlapping a tenure with her child in either chamber of Congress. She served alongside her son in the House of Representatives from 1953 to 1957 and again from 1963 to 1965; making them the first mother-son team ever to be simultaneously elected.[51][57]

In 1965, Elizabeth Kee of West Virginia became the first woman who directly preceded her own child in any chamber of Congress; event occurred after she stepped down from the House and her son was elected to a vacant seat.[58] Congresswomen Loretta and Linda Sánchez, both of California, served along each other from 2003 to 2017; making them the first pair of sisters elected to either chamber.[51][59]

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Number of women

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Number of women in the United States House of Representatives and Senate by Congress

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Women U.S. representatives of the 113th Congress
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Gender of the members of the House of Representatives.
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The number of women who sought and won election to Congress in each election cycle from 1974 to 2018.[60] [61]

Number of women in the United States Congress (1917–present):[62][63]

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Number of women in the United States House of Representatives by party

Notes: "% of party" is taken from voting members at the beginning of the Congress, while numbers and "% of women" include all female House members of the given Congress

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Percentage of women by party and year


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Showing the data tabulated above (as of the 117th Congress) as a graph.
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List of female members

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This is a complete list of women who have served as U.S. representatives or delegates of the United States House of Representatives. Members are grouped by the apportionment period during which such member commenced serving. This list includes women who served in the past and those who continue to serve in the present.

Female members whose service began between 1917 and 1932

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Female members whose service began between 1933 and 1942

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Female members whose service began between 1943 and 1952

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Female members whose service began between 1953 and 1962

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Female members whose service began between 1963 and 1972

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Female members whose service began between 1973 and 1982

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Female members whose service began between 1983 and 1992

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Female members whose service began between 1993 and 2002

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Female members whose service began between 2003 and 2012

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Female members whose service began between 2013 and 2022

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Female members whose service began between 2023 and present

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Current female members

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Women who gave birth while serving in the House

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There have been 14[fi] women who gave birth at least once during their tenure as members of the House of Representatives.[51] Two women gave birth multiple times, each giving birth three times while in office; one woman gave birth twice, once while serving in the House, and once while serving in the United States Senate.

During the 118th Congress, Congresswomen Anna Paulina Luna and Brittany Pettersen proposed different rule changes to allow proxy voting for new mothers (and new fathers per Pettersen's proposal).[78] Congressmembers Sara Jacobs and Mike Lawler joined the cause during the 119th Congress.[79]

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See also

Notes

  1. Farrington elected as a non-voting delegate representing Territory of Hawaii before its admission to the Union as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959; Mink became, in 1965, Hawaii's first female Representative after statehood
  2. Julia Letlow took the seat that her late husband won but who died before being seated.
  3. Only member of Congress to vote against declaration of war against Japan in 1941
    Voted against declaration of war against Germany in 1917
    First woman elected to a non-consecutive terms
    First woman elected to a national office
  4. First woman incumbent defeated in a general election
    First woman to preside over the House
    First woman to defeat an incumbent congressman
    Formerly the oldest woman elected to Congress (at age 67)
  5. First woman incumbent defeated in a primary election
    First woman to win a special election
    First woman to succeed her parent
    Succeeded her late father
  6. First woman chaired a congressional committee
    First Catholic woman elected
    First woman to succeed her spouse
    Succeeded her late husband
  7. First non-Christian (Jewish) woman elected
    Succeeded her late husband
  8. One of the first women reelected
  9. First Democratic woman elected
  10. Formerly the longest serving woman in the House and Congress (35 years, 72 days)[48]
    Succeeded her late husband
  11. Served in the same seat as her husband (although she did not directly succeed him)
    Daughter of James M. Gudger Jr.
  12. Married to Albert G. Simms
    Followed her late husband (although she did not directly succeed him)
    Daughter of Mark Hanna
  13. Later became the first woman to manage a presidential campaign
  14. Later became United States Envoy to Denmark, making her the first woman chief of mission at the minister rank in U.S. diplomatic history[64]
  15. First woman who served alongside her child
    Mother of Oliver P. Bolton
    Succeeded her late husband
  16. Mother-in-law of Beverly Byron
    Served in the same seat as her son (although she did not directly precede him)
    Succeeded her late husband
  17. Served in the same seat as her stepfather (although she did not directly succeed him)
  18. Later became United States Ambassador to Italy and to Brazil (declined second appointment)
  19. Married to Paul Douglas
  20. First woman elected to Congress leadership position (House Democratic Caucus secretary)
    First female natural-born citizen elected
    First woman born outside United States (in Canada) elected
  21. First woman to be succeeded by her child
    Preceded her son
    Succeeded her late husband
  22. Followed her late husband (although she did not directly succeed him)
  23. Only woman to sign the Southern Manifesto
  24. Succeeded her late husband
    Daughter of Guy D. Goff
  25. Formerly the oldest woman elected to Congress (at age 68)
    Succeeded her late husband
  26. Succeeded her late husband who was the nominee or a never seated member-elect
  27. Stepmother of Howard Baker
    Succeeded her late husband
  28. First Asian (Japanese) American woman elected
    First woman of color elected
  29. First African-American woman to run for major party's presidential nomination
    First African-American woman elected
  30. Formerly the youngest woman elected to Congress (at age 31)[65]
  31. Daughter of Ogden H. Hammond
  32. Shortest-statured women in Congress, at 4 feet 11 inches (1.50 m)[66][67]
  33. First Arab (Lebanese and Syrian) American woman elected
  34. First Republican woman elected to the House leadership position (House Republican Conference vice chairwoman)
  35. Longest serving woman in the House and Congress (42 years, 138 days)[48]
  36. First Hispanic and Latina American woman elected
  37. Daughter of Olin D. Johnston
  38. First Republican Asian American woman elected
  39. First woman regained speakership
    First woman elected Speaker of the House
    First woman elected floor leader (specifically minority leader)
    First woman elected whip
    Daughter of Thomas D'Alesandro Jr.
  40. First Republican woman elected to represent a former Confederate state other than Tennessee since Reconstruction
    First Cuban-American woman elected
  41. Married to Bill Paxon
    First woman to hold the distinction of "youngest member of the House"
    First woman to succeed a living parent
    Succeeded her father
  42. First Assyrian American woman elected
  43. First British/Canadian-American woman elected
  44. Later ran successfully for the 1998 United States Senate election in Arkansas
  45. Married to Edward Mezvinsky
  46. Mother of Kendrick Meek
  47. Daughter of Edward R. Roybal
  48. First Latter-day Saint (Mormon) woman elected
  49. First Independent woman (re)elected
    Succeeded her late husband
  50. Grandmother of André Carson
  51. Sister of Linda Sánchez
  52. Married to Connie Mack IV
    Succeeded her late husband
  53. First openly LGBT and lesbian woman elected
  54. Sister of Loretta Sanchez
  55. Married to Max Sandlin
  56. First Buddhist woman elected
    One of the first two Buddhists (alongside Hank Johnson) elected
  57. Served in the same seat as her late husband (although she did not directly succeed him)
  58. Later ran successfully for the 2020 United States Senate election in Wyoming
  59. First Chinese American woman elected
  60. Later elected Lieutenant Governor, then succeeded as Governor of New York. Ran successfully for a full term
  61. First woman with a disability elected
    First Southeast Asian-American (Thai) woman elected
    First Amerasian or Eurasian woman elected
  62. First Hindu elected
  63. Formerly the oldest woman elected to Congress (at age 71)
  64. First openly bisexual person elected
  65. First woman to succeed a living spouse
    Succeeded her husband
  66. Daughter of Bob Graham
  67. First Republican African-American woman elected
  68. Later appointed to the United States Senate and ran unsuccessfully for the 2020 United States Senate special election in Arizona
  69. Daughter of Peter Tali Coleman
  70. Formerly the youngest woman elected to Congress (at age 30)[73]
  71. Served in the same seat as her father (although she did not directly succeed him)
  72. First Indian American woman elected
  73. Tenney won the November 2020 House election in New York's 22nd congressional district, but certification was delayed due to the closeness of the race and vote-counting issues. She was certified as the winner on February 8, 2021, before being seated in the 117th Congress three days later.[74]
  74. Shortest-serving woman in the House
  75. Tallest-statured women in Congress, at 6 feet (1.83 m)[75][76]
  76. First openly LGBT woman of color elected
    First openly LGBT Native American elected
    One of the first two Native American women (alongside Deb Haaland) elected
  77. First Native Catholic woman elected
    One of the first two Native American women (alongside Sharice Davids) elected
  78. Daughter of Samuel L. Devine
  79. First woman of color to hold the distinction of "youngest member of the House"
    Youngest woman elected to Congress (at age 29)[37]
  80. First Somali American elected
    One of the first two Muslim women (alongside Rashida Tlaib) elected
  81. Oldest woman elected to Congress (at age 77)[36]
    Only female former presidential cabinet member elected
  82. First Palestinian-American woman elected
    One of the first two Muslim women elected (alongside Ilhan Omar) elected
  83. First Portuguese American woman elected
  84. First Persian American and Pakistani American elected
  85. First Cherokee woman elected
    First Republican Native American woman elected
  86. One of the first Korean American women elected
  87. First woman to graduate from the Citadel elected
  88. First Ukrainian American woman elected
    First woman born in the Soviet Union or Eastern Bloc elected
  89. First Afro-Asian American woman elected
  90. First Mexican-born woman elected
  91. First Alaska Native elected
  92. Succeeded her late mother
  93. First openly transgender person elected
  94. District previously numbered California's 5th, 8th, and 12th congressional district
  95. District previously numbered California's 29th and 35th congressional district
  96. District previously numbered New York's 12th congressional district
  97. District previously numbered California's 16th and 19th congressional district
  98. District previously numbered California's 39th congressional district
  99. District previously numbered Florida's 20th and 23rd congressional district
  100. District previously numbered California's 5th and 6th congressional district
  101. District previously numbered Florida's 11th congressional district
  102. District previously numbered New York's 11th congressional district
  103. District previously numbered California's 32nd and 27th congressional district
  104. District previously numbered Florida's 17th congressional district
  105. District previously numbered Florida's 21st congressional district
  106. Previously served as Representative from Nevada's 3rd congressional district from January 3, 2009, to January 3, 2011
  107. District previously numbered Michigan's 12th congressional district
  108. District previously numbered Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district
  109. District previously numbered Georgia's 6th congressional district
  110. District previously numbered West Virginia's 3rd
  111. District previously numbered Michigan's 13th congressional district
  112. Previously served as Representative from Colorado's 3rd congressional district until January 3, 2025
  113. District previously numbered Iowa's 1st congressional district
  114. District previously numbered California's 53rd congressional district
  115. District previously numbered California's 39th congressional district
  116. District previously numbered Michigan's 10th congressional district
  117. District previously numbered Iowa's 2nd congressional district
  118. Previously served as Representative from New York's 22nd congressional district from January 3, 2017, to January 3, 2019
  119. District previously numbered New York's 22nd congressional district
  120. First openly transgender person elected
  121. 13 full members and one non-voting delegate

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