Nancy Kassebaum Baker, Senate Trailblazer, Dies at 94

Nancy Kassebaum Baker, a Kansas Republican who served three Senate terms (1978–1997), died August 21, 2026, at 94. She was the first woman elected to the Senate without following a spouse into office. Daughter of 1936 GOP nominee Alf Landon, she co-authored the Kassebaum-Kennedy health insurance portability law and chaired the Labor and Human Resources Committee.