Women In The Senate

Since women won the right to vote in 1920 they have come a long way in the Maine Senate.

The first two female Senators were elected in 1927. In 1999, seventy-two years later, there are sixteen women serving in the Senate.

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The numbers continue to grow. With this growth, the responsibilities and positions women hold in the legislature is changing. Until 1976 women legislators were assigned matters such as:

collecting money for flowers and gifts;
selling tickets to the annual Spring Dance;
and choosing a color for the 2-year license plate for legislators.

Today you will see women as Committee Chair persons and Majority and Minority Floor Leaders.

1927
First Women Senators Elected
(83rd Legislature)

(left) Dora Pinkham of Fort Kent (R)
was the first woman elected
to the Maine House of Representatives in 1923.
Dora was then elected, along with
Katherine C. Allen of Hampden (R), (left)
as the first women to the
Maine Senate in 1927.

1957
First Assistant Secretary
(98th Legislature)

Beatrice C. Gidney of Augusta
was temporarily appointed when
the permanent Assistant Secretary
took over while the Secretary
was on his honeymoon.

May Ross of Augusta
was the first woman elected
as a Senate Officer.
She became the first woman elected
as Assistant Secretary in 1973
(106th Legislature).

Pamela Lovley of Portland
is the longest serving woman in this position,
10 years, from 1986 to 1995
(112th - 116th Legislature).

1965
First Democrat Senator
(102nd Legislature)

Mary Chisholm of Cape Elizabeth
was the first woman Democrat
to serve in the Maine Senate.

1975
Assistant Majority Floor Leader
(107th Legislature)

Minette H. Cummings of Newport (R)
was the first woman to be elected
as Assistant Majority Floor Leader in the Senate.

Nancy Randall Clark of Freeport
was the first woman Democrat to hold
the position in the Senate in 1985
(112th Legislature).





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1976
First Secretary of the Senate
(108th Legislature)

May Ross of Augusta
was the first woman elected
by the Senate as its Secretary.

Joy J. O'Brien of Portland (left),
the only other woman to hold the position
of Senate Secretary,
is also the longest serving woman
as a Senate Officer.







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1983
Assistant Minority Floor Leader
(111th Legislature)

Barbara A. Gill of South Portland (R)
was the first woman to be elected
as Assistant Minority Floor Leader in the Senate.
She served two terms in this position.

Beverly Miner Bustin of Augusta (left)
was the first woman Democrat
to hold the position in the Senate in 1995
(117th Legislature).

1987
Senate Majority Floor Leader
(113th Legislature)

Nancy Randall Clark of Freeport (D)
was the first woman to be elected
by the Senate as a Floor Leader.

She held that position for three terms,
the longest held Leadership position
in the Legislature for a woman.

1991
Most Women
In A Legislative Session
(115th Legislature)

62 of 186 House/Senate Seats

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Longest Legislative Service

Georgette B. Berube of Lewiston (D)
is the longest serving woman
in the Legislature
with 24 years of service
12 terms - 1,786 days

She served in the House from 1971 to 1981 and
in the Senate from 1985 to 1995.
Elected to the Senate again in 1998,
Senator Berube served her 13th term
before retiring.

1993
Senate Minority Floor Leader
(116th Legislature)

Pamela L. Cahill of Woolwich (R)
also served two terms as the Assistant Minority Floor Leader
before being chosen as the first woman
Minority Floor Leader in the Senate.

1995
Both Assistant Floor Leaders
(117th Legislature)

Beverly Miner Bustin of Augusta (D)
and Jane A. Amero of South Portland (R)
were the first women to hold both
Assistant Floor Leader positions
in the Senate during the same session.

SENATE SERVICE

The longest Senate service for a woman
to date is 14 years.
This is held by three Senators.

Beverly Miner Bustin of Augusta (D)
who served in the Senate from 1983 to 1995
(111th - 117th Legislature)

Nancy Randall Clark of Freeport (D)
who served in the Senate from 1979 to 1991
(109th - 115th Legislature)

Barbara A. Gill of South Portland (R)
who served in the Senate from 1979 to 1991
(109th - 115th Legislature)

1995
First Independent Senator
(117th Legislature)

Jill Goldthwait of Bar Harbor,
the first Independent woman Senator,
is the third Independent
to serve in the Maine Senate to date.

1998
Most Women Elected
To The Senate
(119th Legislature)

16 of 35 Senate Seats

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1997
Assistant and Majority
Floor Leader
(118th Legislature)

Chellie Pingree of North Haven (D) (left)
and Anne M. Rand of Portland (D) (left)
are the first women to hold both
Assistant and Floor Leader positions
during the same session.

1997
First Constitutional Officer

Dale McCormick of Hallowell (D)
became the first woman elected
as a Constitutional Officer.

McCormick served in the Maine Senate
for three terms before being elected
by the 118th Legislature
to the position of State Treasurer.

1997
First Statutory Officer

The 118th Legislature also elected
the first woman to the position of
State Auditor,
Gail Chase (D) of South China.


Produced and Distributed by
the Secretary of the Senate