Former Republican Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker dies at age 94 after serving 19 years in the U.S. Senate.
Former Republican Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker died of natural causes on Friday at the age of 94. She was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate without a husband who had previously served in Congress. During her 19-year tenure in the Senate, Kassebaum Baker established a reputation as a moderate Republican who was willing to break with her party when necessary. She was known for her political independence and for working across party lines, notably co-authoring a landmark 1996 health insurance law with Senator Ted Kennedy. After leaving office in 1997, she continued to serve the public in various capacities, including a bipartisan commission on campaign finance reform. In her later years, she increasingly broke with the Republican Party's direction and endorsed Democrats in several Kansas races. She also called for President Trump's impeachment following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Before retiring from public life, she remained deeply connected to her home state of Kansas.