--- description: The longest serving woman in Congress has announced her upcoming retirement title: Barbara Mikulski Retiring: Read Her 1986 Take on Looking Senatorial image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5201177caf94b166/698781aa2dce012b8e9ddd15/mikulski.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [politics](/tag/politics/) ## politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's What Barbara Mikulski Told People Who Said She Didn't Look Like a Senator  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 2, 2015 6:30 PM CUT  Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski speaking during a Senate Labor Committee hearing in 1987 Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski speaking during a Senate Labor Committee hearing in 1987Terry Ashe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 2, 2015 6:30 PM CUT When Barbara Mikulski — the 78-year-old Maryland Democrat and longest serving woman in Congress, who announced Monday that she [will retire](http://time.com/3728249/barbara-mikulski-retires/ "undefined") in 2016 — ran for Senate in 1986, some people told her she didn’t look like a Senator. Though she had already spent a decade in Congress, and though she had gotten her start as a community organizer and councilwoman in Baltimore, and though her run for Senate was one of three national contests that year in which both major candidates were women, gender and appearance still played into coverage of the race. But, as Mikulski made clear, conversation about whether she or any of the other female candidates looked like voters’ ideas of what a politician should be was just a way to keep that image from changing. As TIME wrote then: --- > “” --- Mikulski won and became the first female Democrat to hold a seat in the Senate not previously held by her husband. As TIME put it back then, she had abandoned “petticoat politics” — an appropriate tactic for the woman who [brought the pantsuit to the Senate](http://time.com/3728510/barb-mikulski-hillary-clinton-pantsuits/ "undefined"). **_Read the full 1986 story, here in the TIME Vault:_** [No More Petticoat Politics](http://time.com/vault/issue/1986-09-22/page/28/ "undefined") _Read next:_ [_How Barb Mikulski Paved the Way for Hillary Clinton’s Pantsuits_](http://time.com/3728510/barb-mikulski-hillary-clinton-pantsuits/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") ### Photos: Meet America's 10 Newest Senators  Joni Ernst A Lieutenant Colonel of the Iowa Army National Guard, Ernst has served on the Iowa State Senate since 2004. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  David Perdue A businessman from Macon, Ga., Perdue makes his political debut in the seat of retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss. David Goldman—AP  Tom CottonA U.S. Army Veteran and lawyer, Cotton has served as Representative for Arkansas's 4th district since 2012 and now moves on to the Senate. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  Cory Gardner Gardner formerly served in the Colorado House of Representatives and U.S. House of Representatives. He beat incumbent Sen. Mark Udall. David Zalubowski—AP  Thom Tillis Tillis is the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives and has served there 2006. Davis Turner—Getty Images  Mike Rounds From Huron, S.D., Rounds served as South Dakota governor from 2003 to 2011. Michael Conroy—AP  Shelley Moore Capito The daughter of former West Virginia Gov. Arch Alfred Moore, Jr., Capito has served as a U.S. Representative for West Virginia's 2nd District since 2001. Tyler Evert—AP  Steve DainesA businessman with Procter & Gamble for 13 years, Daines became a member of the House of Representatives in 2013. Michael Albans—AP  James LankfordLankford has served as Representative for Oklahoma's 5th District since 2011. Sue Ogrocki—AP  Ben Sasse The President of Midland University in Fremont, Neb., since 2010, Sasse won the Senate seat vacated by Sen. Mike Johanns. Nati Harnik—AP [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3728423/mikulski-retiring-archive/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3728423/mikulski-retiring-archive/"},"headline":"Here's What Barbara Mikulski Told People Who Said She Didn't Look Like a Senator","datePublished":"2015-03-02T18:30:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:18.215Z","description":"In her winning 1986 campaign, the Maryland Democrat spoke out against 'code words' that held people back","url":"https://time.com/3728423/mikulski-retiring-archive/","keywords":["politics","women","Congress"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5201177caf94b166/698781aa2dce012b8e9ddd15/mikulski.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5201177caf94b166/698781aa2dce012b8e9ddd15/mikulski.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barbara A. 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