Barbara Mikulski
The mentor from Maryland
Native Baltimorean Barbara Mikulski was a scrappy congresswoman from a working-class district when she made history in 1986 by becoming the first Democratic woman elected to the Senate in her own right. EMILY’s List was with her then, and we’re with her now. Dean of the Senate women, Mikulski is fighting for a fifth term.
A trailblazing and tireless advocate
Few have done more than Mikulski to improve the lives of women. She fought for funding for women's health research – since the early 1990s, funding for breast cancer research increased by 700 percent -- and to ensure women were included in the National Institutes of Health's clinical trials. During the debate over health care reform, she sharpened the focus on women's needs and called for an end to gender inequity in coverage.
History in the making
If she wins in 2010, Mikulski will be on track to make history once again – by surpassing Margaret Chase Smith, former Republican senator from Maine, as the longest-serving female senator in history.
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