Sen. Patty Murray’s history-making 10,000th vote in the Senate last week as the first woman to reach that mark is the latest milestone in a long career that has seen her break several records in the chamber long dominated by men.
The Washington Democrat also was the first woman to lead the Senate Veterans Affairs and Budget committees, and the first woman to serve as president pro tempore.
“It’s significant in some ways that it is her,” says Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “Besides all of the substantive things that she’s accomplished, she really symbolizes a moment for women’s political history.”
