In Dirigo state, women lead

[MaineDem]

AUGUSTA - It's likely that Margaret Chase Smith, Maine's first female senator, would be delighted to know that a pair of women are leading Maine's Legislature for the first time.

Hannah Pingree of North Haven is House speaker and Libby Mitchell of Vassalboro is Senate president. Both are Democrats.

Mitchell, who served as House speaker in 1994, is the first woman in the country to have served as the top official in both state legislative houses.

Joining Pingree and Mitchell in Maine's leadership ranks is Janet Mills of Farmington, Maine's first female attorney general.

In another first, Maine's congressional delegation is the first to include a majority of women. U.S. Rep.-elect Chellie Pingree, a Democrat and Hannah's mother, will join Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe in Washington, D.C.

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/294340-3/MaineNews/In_Dirigo_state_women_lead/