DATE: November 8, 2006
MEDIA CONTACT: Elizabeth Station or Scot Briggs
PHONE: 574-284-4595
E-MAIL: estation@saintmarys.edu, sbriggs@saintmarys.edu

SAINT MARY’S WOMEN RE-ELECTED TO CONGRESS
NOTRE DAME, Ind.—Three women who attended Saint Mary’s College have won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. They are:

Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Democrat from the 30th district of Texas. Her landslide victory, with 80 percent of the vote, begins her 8th term.
Congresswoman Johnson became the first woman and the first African-American to ever represent the Dallas, Texas area in Congress when she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992. Serving the constituents of the 30th Congressional District of Texas, Congresswoman Johnson was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus during the 107th Congress. In 2001 Ebony Magazine named Congresswoman Johnson one of the ten most powerful black women.

Madeleine Zeien Bordallo, a Democrat and the delegate from Guam. She ran unopposed; this begins her third term.
Delegate Bordallo became the first woman to represent Guam in the U.S. House of Representatives when she was elected in 2002. Bordallo brings to Congress more than 40 years of public service experience in the executive and legislative branches of the Government of Guam and numerous non-governmental organizations.

Donna M. Christensen, a Democrat and the delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands. This begins her 6th term.
Delegate Christensen continues to distinguish herself as a leader in the United States Congress. She is the first female physician in the history of the U.S. Congress, the first woman to represent an offshore Territory, and the first woman Delegate from the United States Virgin Islands.

A fourth Saint Mary’s alumna, Anne M. Northup, lost her bid to win a sixth term in Congress. A Republican from Kentucky's 3rd district, Northup was first elected to the House in 1996. Conceding the race to John Yarmuth, a Democrat, Northup said, “We have big challenges ahead in this country and this community. I wish John and his family the very best.” In Congress, Northup served on the prestigious Appropriations Committee, where she sat on the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; Transportation, Treasury; and Military Quality of Life, Veterans Affairs, and related subcommittees.

For election analysis contact Saint Mary’s College political science professor Sean Savage at 284-4471 or ssavage@saintmarys.edu.

For comments about the rise of women in Congress, contact political science professor Pat Pierce at 284-4469 or ppierce@saintmarys.edu.

###