--- description: Cindy Hyde-Smith is expected to replace Republican Sen. Thad Cochran, which would make her Mississippi's first woman in Congress. title: This Is the Last State to Not Send a Woman to Congress image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt381c3e38e6ee1c38/69892b5fbc6cfc4c803e566e/cindy-hyde-smith.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is the Last State to Not Send a Woman to Congress  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 21, 2018 2:14 AM CUT  State Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Cindy Hyde-Smith speaks about the positive actions of her department to protect and enhance the lot of the state's farmers during her address at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Miss., . Known as "Mississippi's Giant Houseparty," the fair is an annual gathering where hundreds of extended families live in brightly painted cabins for more than a week and among the featured events are two days of political speaking Neshoba County Fair, Philadelphia, USA - 27 Jul 2017 State Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Cindy Hyde-Smith speaks about the positive actions of her department to protect and enhance the lot of the state's farmers during her address at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Miss., . Known as "Mississippi's Giant Houseparty," the fair is an annual gathering where hundreds of extended families live in brightly painted cabins for more than a week and among the featured events are two days of political speaking Neshoba County Fair, Philadelphia, USA - 27 Jul 2017AP—REX/Shutterstock  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 21, 2018 2:14 AM CUT [Mississippi](http://time.com/tag/mississippi/ "undefined") is expected to send its first woman to Congress soon. Republican State Governor Phil Bryant [will reportedly appoint](http://time.com/5207203/the-senate-could-soon-have-a-record-number-of-women-thanks-to-mississippi/ "undefined") Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, the state’s current Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner, to replace Republican Sen. Thad Cochran in the U.S. Senate. Cochran [announced](http://time.com/5186820/thad-cochran-senate-resignation/ "undefined") earlier this month that he would resign on April 1 due to health problems. Her appointment would bring the number of women currently serving in the U.S. Senate to 23, a record high. Hyde-Smith would be the first woman from Mississippi to serve in either chamber of Congress. Her appointment leaves Vermont as the only other state to not have any female representatives in either the U.S. House of Representatives or U.S. Senate, according to [Rutgers’ Center for American Women and Politics](http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/women-us-congress-2018 "undefined"). Delaware as also on the list until it elected Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester to the U.S. House of Representatives in [November 2016](https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a8245213/lisa-blunt-rochester-elected-delaware-house-representatives/ "undefined"). (She is also the [state’s first African-American representative](https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2017/01/03/lisa-blunt-rochester-sworn-makes-history/96108934/ "undefined").) California has sent the most women — 41 — to Congress than any other state, according to Rutgers. Hyde-Smith would have to run for re-election on Nov. 6 to serve the remainder of Cochran’s term. The [cattle farmer](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/03/20/mississippi-gov-bryant-expected-pick-cindy-hyde-smith-thad-cochrans-seat/441601002/ "undefined") had previously served in the Mississippi State Senate as a Democrat before switching parties in 2010, [according to the _Clarion-Ledger._](https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/03/20/bryant-senate-appointment-cochran-cindy-hyde-smith/439071002/ "undefined") In 2011, she became the first woman elected as the state’s Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5207264/mississippi-women-congress/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5207264/mississippi-women-congress/"},"headline":"This Is the Last State to Not Send a Woman to Congress","datePublished":"2018-03-21T02:14:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:42:35.069Z","description":"Mississippi is about to take itself off the list","url":"https://time.com/5207264/mississippi-women-congress/","keywords":["Congress"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt381c3e38e6ee1c38/69892b5fbc6cfc4c803e566e/cindy-hyde-smith.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt381c3e38e6ee1c38/69892b5fbc6cfc4c803e566e/cindy-hyde-smith.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Neshoba County Fair, Philadelphia, USA - 27 Jul 2017","caption":"Neshoba County Fair, Philadelphia, USA - 27 Jul 2017","creditText":"AP—REX/Shutterstock","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5207264/mississippi-women-congress/","name":"This Is the Last State to Not Send a Woman to Congress"}}]}] ```