Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine served in the U.S. House of Representatives for sixteen years before becoming the second woman elected to the U.S. Senate representing the state. (Margaret Chase Smith represented Maine in the Senate from 1949 to 1973, and as a Member of the House of Representatives from 1940 to 1948).

According to Senator Snowe’s website:

“Senator Snowe is only the fourth woman in history to be elected to both houses of Congress and the first woman in American history to serve in both houses of a state legislature and both houses of Congress.”