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From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues

Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie (b. 1970)

Democrat Stephanie Herseth, of South Dakota, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from June 3, 2004 to January 3, 2011. She first ran for Congress in 2002, in a contest for an open seat.

Herseth won the special election for South Dakota’s at-large congressional seat and won re-election in the 2004 general election. She is the first woman member elected to Congress from South Dakota.

As a member of Congress, Herseth advocated labeling beef products with their country of origin. “The evidence keeps mounting that opening the border presents a real and serious risk to our food supply and cattle producers,” she explained.

In the 109th Congress (2005-2006), Congresswoman Herseth introduced legislation to increase payments to two Native American tribes, both in South Dakota. Native Americans comprise about eight percent of her state’s population, making their interests among her priorities.

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Other priorities included advocating for alternative energy legislation, including renewable biofuels and wind technology. She worked to improve women veterans’ health care and to increase benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Herseth was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 2010.

Born near Houghton, South Dakota, Herseth earned a BA in government at Georgetown University in 1993 and a JD at Georgetown University Law School in 1997. A member of the Georgetown University Law Center faculty, she also taught American government classes in the Czech Republic. Herseth had a private law practice at the time of her election.

See also: Congress, Women in

References: American News (Aberdeen, South Dakota), May 17, 2002, July 22, 2004, October 28, 2005; Congress Daily, August 5, 2002; Congressional Quarterly, Politics in America 2006 (2005); “South Dakota Elects a Democrat,” National Journal, June 5, 2004: 1780.

Citation Types

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Format
MLA 9th
"Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie (b. 1970)." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, edited by Suzanne O’Dea, Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0447.
APA 7th
Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie (b. 1970). From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, In S. O’Dea (Ed.), Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0447.
CMOS 17th
"Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie (b. 1970)." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, Edited by Suzanne O’Dea. Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0447.