Debbie Dingell could make history

Debbie Dingell could be the first woman to immediately succeed her still-living husband in Congress, according to a report by the University of Minnesota’s Smart Politics blog.

{mosads}The Hill reported on Tuesday Dingell will run for retiring Rep. John Dingell’s (D-Mich.) seat, and she’ll likely be the heavy favorite to succeed him in Congress.

According to the study, she’d be the first woman ever to immediately win the seat her husband held without him first passing away.

Dozens of women have followed their husbands in Congress, but in all previous examples, their spouse either died, or there was a gap between the husband and wife holding office.

That list includes 37 congresswomen and seven senators. Former Rep. Mary Bono (R-Calif.) succeeded her husband, former Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Calif.), after he died in a skiing accident, for example. Only one other woman, former Rep. Katherine Langley (R-Ky.), has even won a seat vacated by her still-living husband. Langley won the seat in 1926, a year after her husband, John, was convicted of trying to sell more than 1,000 bottles of whiskey during prohibition and sent to prison.

Dingell would also continue a historic eight-decade streak of Dingells in the House. John Dingell, first elected in 1954, is the longest-serving member in congressional history, and his father held the seat from 1933 until he died and the younger Dingell won the seat.