Patricia Schroeder

Patricia Nell Scott Schroeder (born July 30, 1940) is an American former politician who represented Colorado in the United States House of Representatives from 1973–1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Schroeder was the first woman elected to Congress from Colorado.

Early years

Born in Portland, Oregon, she moved to Des Moines, Iowa, with her family as a child. After graduating from Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1958, she left Des Moines and attended the University of Minnesota, where she majored in history. She graduated with a B.A. in 1961 and later earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1964. Moving to Denver, Colorado, she worked for the National Labor Relations Board from 1964 to 1966. She later worked for Planned Parenthood and taught in Denver's public schools. Patricia Schroeder is a member of Chi Omega sorority.

U.S. Representative

In 1972, Schroeder won election for Congress in Colorado's first district, based in Denver, over freshman Republican incumbent Mike McKevitt. At age 32, Schroeder is the second-youngest woman ever elected to that body. McKevitt, previously the Denver district attorney, had been the first Republican to represent the district, regarded as the most Democratic in the Rockies, since Dean M. Gillespie in 1947. Schroeder won by just over 8,000 votes amid Richard Nixon's massive landslide that year. However, the district reverted to form, and she was reelected 11 more times against only nominal Republican opposition.