Sylvia Larsen DEMDemocrat

Sylvia Bravo Larsen is a New Hampshire politician who was a Democratic member of the New Hampshire Senate and its longest serving Democratic female leader. She represented New Hampshire's 15th State Senate District for 20 years, from 1994 through 2014. From 2006 through 2010, during the period when Democrats had regained control of the chamber, Larsen served as Senate President. Between 2008 and 2010, Larsen made history as she led the nation's first female majority legislative body with 13 women and 11 men. Larsen served ten terms representing District 15 which includes the state's capital City of Concord, along with Henniker, Hopkinton and Warner. Prior to retiring in 2014, she was the Vice Chair of the Capital Budget Committee and also a long-term member of the Senate Finance and Joint Fiscal Committees. Larsen was Senate Democratic Leader for over a decade, becoming Senate President Pro Tem and later was New Hampshire's longest serving female Senate President from 2006–2010. For two of those years, 2008–2010, she led the nation's first legislative body to include a majority of women with 13 female senators elected to the 24 member body. In the course of her 20 years in the Senate, Larsen was the prime sponsor of a first-in-the-nation tax-free college tuition savings plan, the $10 billion Unique Plan. She sponsored laws establishing the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP), Healthy Kids and workforce housing opportunities.