“Til death do us part” is not an oath that applies to congressional seats.
Should Victoria Reggie Kennedy decide to seek the Senate post held by her late husband, Edward M. Kennedy, she would be following a well-worn path. The first woman to do so was Hattie Wyatt Caraway of Arkansas, who became a senator in 1931 after her husband Thaddeus died of a blood clot.
Vicki Kennedy
Of the 260 women who have served in Congress, 46 directly succeeded their late husbands. Three others, including Rep. Niki Tsongas of Massachusetts, went to Congress after their husband’s death, although not in direct succession.
The numbers favor Democrats, who accounted for 30 of the 46 successions. Just eight of the seats were in the Senate.
Some political widows, such as Margaret Chase Smith, went on to long careers in Congress. Smith was chosen in a special election in 1940 and was re-elected to the House four more times. She later served in the Senate.
Others had shorter stays. Muriel Humphrey was appointed to the Senate after the death of her husband, Hubert. She served 10 months, but did not seek election to the post.
Mary Bono was elected to the House in 1998, after her husband, Sonny Bono, died in a skiing accident. She has since been re-elected six times and married Rep. Connie Mack IV. (The Macks, by the way, had established a political dynasty long before Mary Bono’s arrival.)
As in Bono’s case, the deaths of sitting senators is sometimes sudden and unanticipated. Shirley Pettis and Jean Carnahan assumed congressional seats after their husbands were killed in plane crashes.
The death of Edward Kennedy, who had been diagnosed with brain cancer a year ago, was widely anticipated. Last month Kennedy had asked that state law be changed to permit an interim appointee. Otherwise, the position remains vacant until a special election on Jan. 19.
President Obama embraces Vicki Kennedy after delivering eulogy for her husband, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy
Source: White House
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Monday that he would work toward such a change. Although Patrick said Vicki Kennedy is not interested in the job, speculation continues that either she or Kennedy’s nephew, Joseph P. Kennedy II, could fill the vacancy.
It has not yet happened that a husband has assumed a position held by his late wife. According to the House clerk, these women all entered Congress upon the death of their husbands:
| 1st elected Congress |
Name | Party-state | Chamber | |
| 67th | Mae Ella Nolan | R-CA | House | |
| 69th | Florence P. Kahn | R-CA | House | |
| 69th | Edith Nourse Rogers | R-MA | House | |
| 70th | Pearl Oldfield | D-AR | House | |
| 71st | Effiegene Locke Wingo | D-AR | House | |
| 72nd | Hattie Wyatt Caraway | D-AR | Senate | |
| 72nd | Willa McCord Blake Eslick | D-TN | House | |
| 73rd | Marian Williams Clarke | R-NY | House | |
| 74th | Rose McConnell Long | D-LA | Senate | |
| 75th | Elizabeth H. Gasque | D-SC | House | |
| 76th | Frances Payne Bolton | R-OH | House | |
| 76th | Florence Reville Gibbs | D-GA | House | |
| 76th | Clara G. McMillan | D-SC | House | |
| 76th | Margaret Chase Smith | R-ME | House | |
| 77th | Veronica Grace Boland | D-PA | House | |
| 77th | Katharine Edgar Byron | D-MD | House | |
| 78th | Willa Lybrand Fulmer | D-SC | House | |
| 80th | Vera Cahalan Bushfield | R-SD | Senate | |
| 82nd | Vera Daerr Buchanan | D-PA | House | |
| 82nd | Marguerite Stitt Church | R-IL | House | |
| 82nd | Maude Elizabeth Kee | D-WV | House | |
| 83rd | Mary E. Farrington | R-HI | House | |
| 84th | Kathryn E. Granahan | D-PA | House | |
| 86th | Maurine B. Neuberger | D-OR | Senate | |
| 86th | Edna O. Simpson | R-IL | House | |
| 87th | Catherine D. Norrell | D-AR | House | |
| 87th | Louise G. Reece | R-TN | House | |
| 87th | Corinne Boyd Riley | D-SC | House | |
| 88th | Irene Bailey Baker | R-TN | House | |
| 89th | Lera Millard Thomas | D-TX | House | |
| 92nd | Elizabeth Bullock Andrews | D-AL | House | |
| 93rd | Lindy Boggs | D-LA | House | |
| 93rd | Cardiss Collins | D-IL | House | |
| 94th | Shirley N. Pettis | R-CA | House | |
| 95th | Maryon Pittman Allen | D-AL | Senate | |
| 95th | Beverly Butcher Byron | D-MD | House | |
| 95th | Muriel Humphrey | D-MN | Senate | |
| 97th | Jean Spencer Ashbrook | R-OH | House | |
| 98th | Sala Galante Burton | D-CA | House | |
| 99th | Catherine S. Long | D-LA | House | |
| 102nd | Jocelyn Birch Burdick | D-ND | Senate | |
| 104th | Jo Ann Emerson | R-MO | House | |
| 105th | Mary Bono Mack | R-CA | House | |
| 105th | Lois Capps | D-CA | House | |
| 107th | Jean Carnahan | D-MO | Senate | |
| 109th | Doris Matsui | D-CA | House |
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