Former US Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker Dies At 94

Former Republican Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker, who was the first woman elected to the Senate without a husband who previously served in Congress, passed away earlier this week at 94 years old.

Nancy Kassebaum Baker, the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate without a husband previously serving in Congress, has died at 94 of natural causes.

The Kansas Republican served three terms from 1978 to 1997, winning re-election with 76% and 74% of the vote. She built a… pic.twitter.com/GpRcSvEmxX

— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) August 22, 2026

CNN/AP: Nancy Kassebaum Baker, a Kansas governor’s daughter who became the first woman elected to the US Senate without following a spouse into office, has died.

She was 94.

Link to article: https://t.co/1fssPbnmeL pic.twitter.com/KHC8WJFXeA

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Kassebaum Baker was a moderate who won her Senate seat in Kansas in 1978, serving three terms in the post. She was the daughter of 1936 Republican presidential nominee and the 26th governor of Kansas Alf Landon.

Kassebaum Baker made headlines for supporting a number of liberal causes during her time in office, including the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban heavily pushed by the Clinton administration and she became a proponent of same-sex marriage after leaving office. Since 2018, she had endorsed a litany of Democrats running in both Kansas and nationally, including Laura Kelly and Kamala Harris.

While in office, she would marry former Republican Senate majority leader Howard Baker, who died in 2014. She had four children from a previous marriage, one of whom served as a Republican state representative in Kansas.

Kassebaum Baker died in Manhattan, Kansas on August 21, 2026.

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