New Hampshire among states with female Senate leader

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire's Senate president, Donna Soucy, is among at least 34 women nationwide to hold a top legislative spot this year. It's a new role for her but not an unfamiliar scenario for the state.

In 1999, New Hampshire became the first state to have a female governor (Jeanne Shaheen), Senate president (Beverly Hollingworth) and House speaker (Donna Sytek) at the same time. Ten years later, it became the first state to have a female majority in its state Senate. In 2013, New Hampshire became the first state to have an all-female congressional delegation when the state was represented in the Senate by Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte, and in the House by Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Annie Kuster.