Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio will shatter records Sunday by becoming the longest-serving woman in the history of the House of Representatives.
Kaptur took office in January 1983 as the representative of Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, which includes a good part of the coastline of Lake Erie, including Toledo. Recruited to run by the Lucas County Democratic Party against first-term Republican Ed Weber, she ran an economy-centered campaign during the recession of 1982.
Kaptur has been outspoken about environmental issues, especially preventing the pollution of the Great Lakes. She is also an advocate of tightening restrictions on campaign donations.
Kaptur’s length of service in Congress surpasses that of the late former Republican Rep. Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts, who served in Congress from 1925 to 1960.
At about three months in, 2018 has been a record-shattering year for women in Congress. When Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota was sworn in to office in January to replace former Sen. Al Franken, who resigned, it brought the number of women currently serving in the US Senate to 22. The previous high was in January 2017, when the number of female senators grew from 20 to 21.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, meanwhile, set the record for the longest speech on the House floor in February when she spoke for a little more than eight hours to oppose the budget deal to lift spending caps and avert a government shutdown because it did not address immigration issues, including protections for young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.
In addition, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois is expected to be the first woman to give birth while serving in the Senate.