Elected to the Texas Senate on November 8, 1966, becoming the first Black state senator in Texas since 1883 and the first Black woman in the state legislature.
On November 8, 1966, Barbara Jordan won election to the Texas Senate, becoming the first Black woman elected to the Texas Legislature and the first Black person to serve in the Texas Senate since Reconstruction-era senator Walter Burton left office in 1883.
Jordan's victory came after two unsuccessful campaigns for the Texas House of Representatives in 1962 and 1964. Her win was made possible in part by federal redistricting that created a new senate district encompassing a diverse, urban section of Houston. She campaigned on issues including labor rights, minimum wage increases, and workers' compensation, appealing to a broad coalition of voters.
Her election was historically monumental: for over eighty years, no Black Texan had held a seat in the state's upper legislative chamber, a direct consequence of Jim Crow-era voter suppression, poll taxes, and racial gerrymandering. Jordan's victory signaled a crack in the wall of institutional racism that had defined Texas politics since Reconstruction's end.
Once in office, she quickly gained respect from her colleagues, eventually being named an outstanding freshman senator. Her legislative acumen and ability to build coalitions across racial and party lines set the stage for her subsequent, even more historic achievements, including her election as president pro tempore of the Senate just six years later.