Category: State Senator / page 4

Karin Housley
Karin Housley


Karin Housley has served in the Minnesota Senate since 2013. She ran unsuccessfully in the special election to fill the United States Senate seat previously held by Senator Al Franken, but lost to Tina Smith, who was appointed to fill the seat after Franken's 2017 resignation. Housley was born on January 20, 1964, in South St. Paul, Minnesota. She received a Bachelor of Arts in communication studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1988. After college, she worked as a television news producer and eventually hosted […]
Cindy Hyde-Smith
Cindy Hyde-Smith


Cindy Hyde-Smith was appointed on April 9, 2018, to fill the U.S. Senate seat for Mississippi vacated by Thad Cochran, who resigned for health reasons. Hyde-Smith is the first women to represent Mississippi in Congress. She also won the 2018 special election for the remainder of Cochran's term, and in 2020 was elected for a full term. Hyde-Smith was born on born May 10, 1959, in Brookhaven, Mississippi. She is a graduate of Copiah-Lincoln Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi. Prior to her appointment to the U.S. Senate, […]
Pramila Jayapal
Pramila Jayapal


Pramila Jayapal assumed office in the U.S. House of Representatives for Washington's 7th congressional district in January 2017. She is the first woman elected to Washington's 7th Congressional District, the first person of color elected to the Washington State Democratic delegation, and the first Indian American woman in Congress. Jayapal was born on September 21, 1965 in Chennai, India and raised in Indonesia and Singapore. She came to the United States in 1982 to attend college, earning a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from Northwestern University. She […]
Lynn Jenkins
Lynn Jenkins


Lynn Jenkins represented the 2nd District of Kansas in the United States House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019. Jenkins was born June 10, 1963, in Holton, Kansas. She completed a degree in accounting, with a minor in economics, from Kansas State University and Weber State College. Jenkins served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1998 to 2000, the Kansas State Senate from 2000 to 2002, and served as the 37th Kansas state treasurer from 2003 to 2008. For information on Jenkin's policy subject areas, committee appointments and sponsored/co-sponsored […]
Pam Jochum
Pam Jochum


Pam Jochum is among the top ranking senators currently serving in the Iowa state Legislature. She is a member of the Democratic Party and represents the people of Dubuque. Jochum was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2008 and was re-elected to her second term in 2012 after serving in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1993-2009. Before serving as a state legislator, Jochum earned her associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in speech communication from Loras College in Dubuque. Prior to being elected, she worked at Loras College in a […]
Eddie Bernice Johnson
Eddie Bernice Johnson


Eddie Bernice Johnson represented the 30th congressional district of Texas in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 until her retirement from the House in 2023. In 2021, Johnson became the first African American and first female ranking member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. She was also the first nurse elected to Congress. Johnson was born December 3, 1935, in Waco, Texas. She received a nursing certificate from St. Mary's College at the University of Notre Dame, her bachelor's degree in nursing at Texas Christian […]
Barbara Jordan
Barbara Jordan


Barbara Jordan represented the 18th District of Texas in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979. Jordan is remembered for her eloquent opening remarks on the impeachment against President Richard Nixon for crimes associated with the Watergate scandal in 1974, as well as being the first woman and first African American keynote speaker at a Democratic National Convention in 1976. Jordan was born on February 21, 1936 in Houston, Texas. She completed a Bachelor of Arts at Texas Southern University in 1956 and graduated with a law […]
Patty Judge
Patty Judge


Patty Judge served as Iowa's lieutenant governor from 2007 to 2011. She was the 2016 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate from Iowa, but lost to incumbent Senator Charles Grassley. Judge was born November 2, 1943, in Fort Madison, Iowa. She earned her Registered Nursing degree from Iowa Methodist School of Nursing; she also attended the University of Iowa. She earned her real estate broker's license and set up a small business specializing in selling and appraising farms. In the 1980’s, she served as a mediator for the Iowa Farmer Creditor […]
Laura Kelly
Laura Kelly


Laura Kelly assumed office as governor of Kansas on Jan. 14, 2019. Kelly was born January 24, 1950, in New York City. She earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology at Bradley University and a Master of Science in therapeutic recreation at Indiana University. Before entering politics, Kelly worked as a recreation therapist and as a director of recreation therapy and physical education. She was the executive director of the Kansas Recreation and Park Association from 1988-2004. Kelly served in the Kansas Senate from 2005-2019. Sources: Ballotpedia (n.d.). Laura Kelly […]
Molly Kelly
Molly Kelly


Molly Kelly is an attorney and former state legislator in New Hampshire. She ran unsuccessfully for governor of New Hampshire in 2018. Kelly was born on September 15, 1949, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She earned her Associate of Arts in mental health technology from Purdue University, her Bachelor of Arts from Keene State College in 1983, and her Juris Doctor from The University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce Law Center in 1985. Kelly served in the New Hampshire Senate from 2006 to 2016. In addition to her service in the […]