Five Percent and Rising

The victory by Massachusetts Democrat Katherine Clark in Tuesday’s 5th Congressional District special election marked the 32nd time a U.S. House seat was won by a woman in the Bay State. Since the first woman was elected to the chamber in 1916 (Montana’s Jeannette Rankin), Massachusetts has held 627 seats across the subsequent 49 Congresses. Women have been elected to 5.1 percent of these seats, which is the 21st highest rate in the nation. In addition to Clark, four other female U.S. Representatives have served from Massachusetts: Republican Edith Nourse Rogers (18 terms, 1925-1960), Republican Margaret Heckler (eight terms, 1967-1983), Democrat Louise Day Hicks (one term, 1971-1973), and Democrat Niki Tsongas (four terms, 2007-present).