Georgia was admitted to the Union on January 2, 1788. The state has had senators since the 1st Congress. Its Senate seats were declared vacant in Mar 1861 owing to its secession from the Union. They were again filled from February 1871. Rebecca Latimer Felton was the first female U.S. senator, representing Georgia in the Senate for one day in 1922, having been appointed to the seat to replace the late Thomas E. Watson.