Widow's succession is a political practice prominent in some countries commonly used in the early part of the 20th century, by which a politician who died in office was directly succeeded by hiswidow, either through election or direct appointment to the seat.[1] Many of the earliest women to hold political office in the modern era attained their positions through this practice.
There have also sometimes been instances of politicians being directly succeeded by their wives when they had merely stepped down from office rather than dying, but this is not the same phenomenon as widow's succession.
In earlier years, women who held office through widow's succession rarely became prominent as politicians in their own right, but were regarded merely asplaceholders whose primary role was to retain a seat and a vote for the party rather than risk a protracted fight for the nomination between elections.[1] The practice was also sometimes seen as a way to provide the woman with financial support due her family's primary income declining.[2]
The expectation was that a widow would serve only until the next election, at which time she would resign and allow her party to select a new candidate. Upon the retirement ofEffiegene Locke Wingo from theUnited States House of Representatives in 1932, theNew York Sun wrote,
Some of the women who have inherited a seat in Congress have demonstrated their individual ability, but of most of them it can be said that they submitted with dignity and good taste to a false code of chivalry, served unostentatiously and departed the Capitol quietly, wondering what the men who invented the term-by-inheritance thought they were doing.[3]
In one unusual Canadian instance,Martha Black succeeded her husbandGeorge Black in theHouse of Commons of Canada when he had not died, but merely resigned temporarily for health reasons; in the next election, George returned to office and Martha retired. Another unusual circumstance occurred in the United States whenKatherine G. Langley was elected to her still-living husbandJohn W. Langley's former congressional seat after he was convicted of selling alcohol duringProhibition.
With the evolving role of women in politics, however, a number of women who first took office under widow's succession went on to build long and distinguished careers in their own right.Margaret Chase Smith became the longest-serving woman in the history of theUnited States Senate and the first woman ever to have her name placed in nomination for thePresidency of the United States at a major party's convention, serving 9 years in the House after replacing her deceased husband, and then serving in the Senate for 24 more years.[1][4]Edith Nourse Rogers became the longest-serving woman in the history of theUnited States House of Representatives, andMary Ellen Smith earned the distinction of becoming the first woman ever appointed to a cabinet position, as well as the first woman ever to become speaker of a legislature, in both Canada and the entireBritish Empire.
InSri Lanka,Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who succeeded her assassinated husband, was a long-serving prime minister and party leader.
While widows are occasionally still appointed or elected to political positions following their husbands' deaths, the practice is not as common in the modern era, in which women have been able to take on increasingly prominent roles in politics based on their own talents and experience rather than as "placeholders". Additionally, some figures, such asSonia Gandhi in India andGrace MacInnis in Canada, have happened to hold political office and to be the widow of an earlier officeholder, but are not true "widow's successions" as they were not their husband's immediate successor.
Includes politicians from theIrish Free State andRepublic of Ireland.[6]
In the Philippines, a candidate that has died up until midday of election day can be substituted by someone who has the same surname as him or her, almost always the spouse.
Historically, women would get into politics by taking the seat of her husband.Nancy Astor became the first ever British femaleMember of Parliament to take her seat after her husbandWaldorf was appointed to theHouse of Lords. Astor was the MP forPlymouth Sutton in Devon.
At the2019 general election, twoConservative MPs resigned amidst controversy and were succeeded by their wives.
The following is a list of the women in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives who have succeeded their spouses in Congress.[9]
Nellie Tayloe Ross was the firstfemale governor of a U.S. state, serving as Governor of Wyoming from 1925 to 1927. Her husbandWilliam B. Ross was governor from 1923 until his death in October 1924, at which point secretary of stateFrank Lucas succeeded him. Nellie Tayloe Ross was elected to replace her husband in aNovember 1924 special election.
Florence Shoemaker Thompson, ofDaviess County, Kentucky, was the first femalesheriff to carry out an execution, and oversaw the hanging ofRainey Bethea in 1936, which was the last public execution in American history.Andrea Seastrand succeeded her husbandEric Seastrand as the member of theCalifornia State Assembly for the29th district in 1990. WhenJoseph Crouch died in 1989, his wifeJoyce Crouch replaced him in the22nd district in theVirginia House of Delegates.[10]
In January 2001,Jean Carnahan was appointed to the Senate to replace her husbandMel Carnahan, who had been posthumously elected to the Senate in November 2000 after dying in aplane crash three weeks earlier. In 2007,Niki Tsongas was elected to a house seat that was held by her deceased husbandPaul Tsongas between 1975 and 1979.
In 2015,Deborah Dingell became the first wife to succeed her living husband in the House of Representatives afterJohn Dingell Jr. retired in 2014. He had succeeded his deceased father,John Dingell Sr. in a special election for the same seat in 1955. As of 2025, the Dingell family has represented the southeastern Michigan area for 96 consecutive years.[11][12]
In 2021,Julia Letlow ran for and won a House seat in Louisiana that was vacant due to the death of her husbandLuke Letlow the year prior. Unusually, Luke Letlow died before actually being sworn in to office, having won an election to succeed a retiring Congressman. The same year, Texas congressmanRon Wright died in office. His wifeSusan Wright ran in thespecial election to succeed him but came in second place toJake Ellzey.