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April 21, 1995

FACT SHEET ON WOMEN'S POLITICAL PROGRESS

In the 1994 elections, women held their own in a tough political year, 
increasing their numbers slightly in Congress and winning a record number 
of important state constitutional offices.


WOMEN IN THE U.S. SENATE

A record eight women serve in the U.S. Senate, five Democrats and 
three Republicans.  This compares to the seven women who served in the 
103rd Congress (five Democrats and two Republicans):

	Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
	Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL)
	Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
	Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX)
	Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS)
	Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
	Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
	Patty Murray (D-WA)


WOMEN IN THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Forty-seven women serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, 30 
Democrats* and 17 Republicans.  This is the same number who served in 
the 103rd Congress (35 Democrats* and 12 Republicans):

	Corrine Brown (D, FL-03)
	Helen Chenoweth (R, ID-01)
	Eva Clayton (D, NC-01)
	Barbara-Rose Collins (D, MI-15)
	Cardiss Collins (D, IL-07)
	Barbara Cubin (R, WY-AL)
	Pat Danner (D, MO-06)
	Rosa DeLauro (D, CT-03)
	Jennifer Dunn (R, WA-08)
	Anna Eshoo (D, CA-14)
	Tillie Fowler (R, FL-04)
	Elizabeth Furse (D, OR-01)
	Jane Harman (D, CA-36)
	Eddie Bernice Johnson (D, TX-30)
	Nancy Johnson (R, CT-06)
	Marcy Kaptur (D, OH-09)
	Sue Kelly (R, NY-19)
	Barbara Kennelly (D, CT-01)
	Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D, AR-01)
	Sheila Jackson Lee (D, TX-18)
	Zoe Lofgren (D, CA-16)
	Nita Lowey (D, NY-18)
	Carolyn Maloney (D, NY-14)
	Karen McCarthy (D, MO-05)
	Cynthia McKinney (D, GA-11)
	Carrie Meek (D, FL-17)
	Jan Meyers (R, KS-03)
	Patsy Mink (D, HI-02)
	Susan Molinari (R, NY-13)
	Connie Morella (R, MD-08)
	Sue Myrick (R, NC-09)
	Nancy Pelosi (D, CA-08)
	Deborah Pryce (R, OH-15)
	Lynn Rivers (D, MI-13)
	Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R, FL-18)
	Marge Roukema (R, NJ-05)
	Lucille Roybal-Allard (D,CA-33)
	Patricia Schroeder (D, CO-01)
	Andrea Seastrand (R, CA-22)
	Louise Slaughter (D, NY-28)
	Linda Smith (R, WA-03)
	Karen Thurman (D, FL-05)
	Nydia Velazquez (D, NY-12)
	Barbara Vucanovich (R, NV-02)
	Enid Greene Waldholtz (R, UT-02)
	Maxine Waters (D, CA-35)
	Lynn Woolsey (D, CA-06)

-Eleven new women were elected to the U.S. House in 1994, the 
second highest number in history.  The highest was in 1992, when 24 
new women were elected.  The new women offset the loss of 11 
incumbents (eight were defeated; two ran for higher office and one 
retired), maintaining the number at 47*.  Of the 11 new women, three 
won as challengers, and eight women open seats.

-Nine African-American women*, three Hispanic women and one Asian-
Pacific woman serve in the U.S. House.  This is the highest number of 
women of color to serve in the U.S. House.

-------
*Plus Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), a delegate from the District of 
Columbia.


WOMEN LEADERS IN THE 104TH CONGRESS

	Standing Committees

-U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS) is the first woman to head a 
major Senate committee.  She is the chair of the Senate Labor and 
Human Resources Committee.  The only other woman to chair a Senate 
committee was U.S. Senator Hattie Wyatt Caraway (D-AR), who chaired 
the Committee on Enrolled Bills from 1933-45.

-U.S. Rep. Jan Meyers (R, KS-03) is chair of the House Small Business 
Committee.  She is the first woman to chair a House standing committee 
since U.S. Rep. Leonor K. Sullivan (D, MO-03) chaired the Merchant 
Marine and Fisheries Committee from 1973-77.  Five women have 
chaired standing committees in the U.S. House.

	Party Leadership

-U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) is the Senate Democratic 
Conference Secretary.

-U.S. Rep. Barbara Kennelly (D, CT-01) is Vice-Chair of the House 
Democratic Conference.

-U.S. Rep. Susan Molinari (R, NY-13) is Vice-Chair of the House 
Republican Conference.

-U.S. Rep. Barbara Vucanovich (R, NV-02) is the House Republican 
Conference Secretary.


WOMEN WHO HOLD STATEWIDE EXECUTIVE OFFICE

-A record 84 women hold statewide elected office in 1995.  In 1994, 
72 women held statewide elected office.

-An additional number of women hold major executive offices in states 
where these offices are appointive rather than elective offices.

-Forty-two of the 50 states have at least one women serving in 
statewide constitutional office.

-In nine of the 50 states, women hold at least half of the statewide 
constitutional offices.

	Governor

-Christine Todd Whitman (R-NJ) is the only woman governor.  The number 
of women governors decreased from four in 1994 to one in 1995.  Gov. 
Ann Richards (D-TX) lost her re-election bid and Govs. Barbara Roberts 
(D-OR) and Joan Finney (D-KS) retired.

	Lt. Governors

-A record 19 women serve as lieutenant governor, an increase from the 
record 11 women who served in 1994.  Seven are Democrats and 12 
Republicans.  They are:

	Joanne Benson (R-MN)
	Connie Binsfield (R-MI)
	Joy Corning (R-IA)
	Mary Fallin (R-OK)
	Sheila Frahm (R-KS)
	Carole Hillard (R-SD)
	Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
	Nancy Hollister (R-OH)
	Elizabeth McCaughey (R-NY)
	Ruth Ann Minner (D-DE)
	Rosemarie Myrdal (R-ND)
	Jodi Rell (R-CT)
	Kim Robak (D-DE)
	Gail Schoettler (D-CO)
	Melinda Schwegmann (D-LA)
	Barbara Snelling (R-VT)
	Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D-MD)
	Fran Ulmer (D-AK)
	Olene Walker (R-UT)

	Attorneys General

-Eleven women serve as attorney general in 1995; nine were elected 
and two appointed.

-Of the nine elected women who serve as attorney general, five are 
Democrats and four Republicans.  They are:
	Jane Brady (R-DE)
	Pamela Carter (D-IN)
	Frankie Sue Del Papa (D-NV)
	Jan Graham (D-UT)
	Christine Gregoire (D-WA)
	Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)
	Betty Montgomery (R-OH)
	Gale Norton (R-CO)
	Carla Stovall (R-KS)

-Margery Bronster (HI) and Deborah Poritz (NJ) are appointed attorneys 
general.  

	Treasurers

-Sixteen women serve as treasurer in 1995; 13 were elected by voters, 
two elected by the state legislatures and one appointed.

-Of the thirteen women treasurers elected by the voters, eight are 
Democrats and five Republicans.  They are:

	Lucy Baxley (D-AL)
	Joyce Brinkman (R-IN)
	Lydia Justice Edwards (R-IN)
	Jimmie Lou Fisher (D-AR)
	Kathi Gilmore (D-ND)
	Catherine Baker Knoll (D-PA)
	Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
	Nancy Mayer (R-RI)
	Frances Jones Mills (D-KY)
	Janet Rzewnicki (R-DE)
	Sally Thompson (S-KS)
	Judy Baar Topinka (R-IL)
	Martha Whitehead (D-TX)

-Lois Menzies (MT) is the appointed Director of the Department of 
Administration and the Ex Officio state Treasurer.  Lucille Maurer (MD) 
and Georgie Thomas (NH) were both elected by their state legislatures.

	Secretaries of State

-Fourteen women serve as secretary of state in 1995; 10 were elected 
and four appointed.

-Of the ten elected women who serve as secretary of state, three are 
Democrats and seven Republicans.  They are:

	Vicki Buckley (R-CO)
	Sue Ann Gilroy (R-IN)
	Stephanie Gonzales (D-NM)
	Joan Growe (D-MN)
	Joyce Hazeltine (R-SD)
	Jane Dee Hull (R-AZ)
	Candice Miller (R-MI)
	Sandra Mortham (R-FL)
	Diana Ohman (R-WY)
	Sharon Priest (D-AR)

-Betsy Davis Beamer (VA), Lonna Hooks (NJ) and Yvette Kane (PA) are 
appointed secretaries of state.  Rebecca Cook (MO) was appointed to 
fill a vacant elected position.


WOMEN STATE LEGISLATORS:

-Twenty-one percent of all state legislators in 1995 are women.  A total 
of 1536 women serve in state legislatures; 845 are Democrats, 675 
Republicans, four Independents and 12 non-partisan.

-In 1995, more Republican women serve in the state legislature than ever 
before.  Republican women comprise 44 percent of all women state 
legislators, up from 38 percent in 1994.  Democratic women comprise 55 
percent, compared to 62 percent in 1994.

Top Ten States	 		% of Women

1.  Washington			39.5
2.  Nevada			34.9
3.  Colorado			31.0
4.  Arizona			30.0
4.  Vermont			30.0
6.  New Hampshire		30.0
7.  Oregon			28.9
8.  Maryland			28.7
9.  Idaho			28.6
10.  Kansas			27.9

Bottom Ten States		% of Women

1.  Alabama			 3.6
2.  Kentucky			 8.0
3.  Louisiana			 9.7
4.  Oklahoma			10.7
5.  Virginia			11.4
6.  Mississippi			11.5
7.  Pennsylvania		11.9
8.  South Carolina		12.4
9.  Arkansas			12.6
10.  New Jersey			13.3


Source:  Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP), Rutgers 
University

Note:  States with exactly the same percentage (AZ and VT) are given 
the same rank; since there is a tie, there is no fifth rank.  States which 
round out to the same figure (AZ, NH & VT), but are not exactly the 
same, are ranked differently.


WOMEN MAYORS

-The number of women mayors in cities with populations over 30,000 has 
increased from 35 (4.6%) in 1975 to 178 (18.3%) in 1995.

-In 1995, 38 states have women mayors of cities with populations over 
30,000.


WOMEN AS VOTERS IN THE 1994 ELECTIONS

Women comprised a majority of voters in the 1994 elections, buy by a 
slightly smaller percentage than in 1992, according to Voter News 
Service, a pool owned by the news networks.  Women made up 51 
percent of the electorate voting in the U.S. House races in 1994, up 
from 50 percent from 1990, but down from 52 percent in 1992.  _The 
New York Times_ reported that 54 percent of women voted for 
Democratic candidates for the U.S. House while 46 percent supported 
Republicans.  The numbers for men were exactly opposite:  54 percent 
voted for Republicans and 46 percent for Democrats.


PRO-CHOICE WOMEN'S MAJORITY

All eight of the women who serve in the U.S. Senate define themselves 
as pro-choice.  Thirty-nine of the 47 women who serve in the U.S. House 
define themselves as pro-choice, including nine of the 17 Republicans 
women.  The nation's only female Governor, Republican Christine Todd
Whitman of New Jersey, is pro-choice.


				###

Founded in 1971, the National Women's Political Caucus is the only
national grassroots membership organization dedicated to identifying, 
recruiting, training and supporting women candidates for elected and 
appointed office at all levels of government, regardless of party 
affiliation.  With a national headquarters in Washington, D.C., NWPC 
has more that 300 chapters across the country, all working to get more 
women involved in the political process.

NWPC would like to acknowledge the Center for American Woman and 
Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers 
University, for its help in compiling the information contained in this 
factsheet.


National Women's Political Caucus
1211 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite 425
Washington, D.C.  20036
202/785-1100
202/785-3605 fax