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TIME History politics Heres What Barbara Mikulski Told People Who Said She Didnt Look Like a Senator Terry AsheThe LIFE Images Collection/Getty Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski speaking during a Senate Labor Committee hearing in 1987 In her winning 1986 campaign, the Maryland Democrat spoke out against 'code words' that held people back

When Barbara Mikulski the 78-year-old Maryland Democrat and longest serving woman in Congress, who announced Monday that she will retire in 2016 ran for Senate in 1986, some people told her she didnt look like a Senator.

Though she had already spent a decade in Congress, and though she had gotten her start as a community organizer and councilwoman in Baltimore, and though her run for Senate was one of three national contests that year in which both major candidates were women, gender and appearance still played into coverage of the race.

But, as Mikulski made clear, conversation about whether she or any of the other female candidates looked like voters ideas of what a politician should be was just a way to keep that image from changing. As TIME wrote then:

In Maryland, Mikulski and [Republican nominee Linda Chavez] are waging tough, no-holds-barred campaigns. Although both women come from ethnic, working-class backgrounds, we are as different as two people can be, says Chavez, 39, a cool Hispanic American who is married and makes much of being the mother of three sons. Mikulski, 50, is single, a self-styled scrapper with the sturdy perseverance of a tugboat. She sharply turns aside comments that she does not look senatorial. Says the candidate: A lot of Americans, black or white or female, are always told that they dont look the part. Its one of the oldest code words.

Mikulski won and became the first female Democrat to hold a seat in the Senate not previously held by her husband. As TIME put it back then, she had abandoned petticoat politics an appropriate tactic for the woman who brought the pantsuit to the Senate.

Read the full 1986 story, here in the TIME Vault: No More Petticoat Politics

Read next: How Barb Mikulski Paved the Way for Hillary Clintons Pantsuits

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Heres What Barbara Mikulski Told People Who Said She Didnt Look Like a Senator

Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski has worked to unite female senators since 1987.

When Maryland's Barbara Mikulski steps down in January 2017, she'll close a chapter in Senate history. The diminutive Democrat, who will announce her decision not to run for reelection Monday, holds a passel of congressional records, including as the longest-serving woman in Congress and the longest-serving female senator.

At 78, Mikulski's retirement isn't a total surprise. But the change between the Senate she joined in 1987 and the Senate today is a little jarring. "Women were so rare even holding statewide political office," she told The Washington Post in 2011. "I was greeted with a lot of skepticism from my male colleagues. Was I going to go the celebrity route or the Senate route? I had to work very hard."

There was only one other woman in the chamber; Mikulski was only the 16th in history, and many of her predecessors had entered office through circumstances like filling their deceased husbands' seats. Senator Nancy Kassebaum noted to Mikulski that women weren't allowed in the Senate gym.

Do Women Make Better Senators Than Men?

The Baltimore native has since become the dean and convener of women in the Senate. As the number of women in the body has grown, she's worked to gather senators from both partiesa rare point of bipartisan contact, and one that the women says makes them better dealmakers.

The progress on women's representation since Mikulskialready a five-term U.S. representativewon election to the Senate in 1986 is both striking and underwhelming, depending on your perspective. There are 20 women in the Senate, the most ever, but that still lags far behind the demographics of the general population. And as late as 2008, the Senate pool was male onlybecause, Liza Mundy reported, some male members liked to swim nude.

"I would have a more 'glass is half empty' outlook on this one," Jennifer Lawless, director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University, told the Post in 2011. "When we are 52 percent of the population and only 17 percent of the Senate, it's difficult to say we've made so much progress, especially when that number has plateaued."

With California Senator Barbara Boxer's announcement earlier this year that she, too, will not run for reelection, the old guard among women is fading. But there is a large crop of younger female senators, ranging the political spectrum from New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand to Iowa Republican Joni Ernst.

In the Senate, Mikulski fought for equality issues in the Senate and has been a reliable liberal. She was perhaps the original Senate Democratic community organizer, rising to prominence as a champion of ethnic communities in the U.S. Coming from a strong Polish background, she argued that white working-class ethnics were pushed around by the political system, accused of racism, and discriminated against by white liberals.

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'The Dean of Senate Women' Is Leaving Washington

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, the Maryland Democrat who is the longest-serving woman in congressional history, announced Monday that she will leave the Senate next year at the end of her fifth term.

Mikulski, 78 and in good health, departs the way she came in with a sharp tongue, an unabashed liberalism, and a reputation for straight talk. She won all ten of her elections to the House and then the Senate with support from more than 60 percent of voters.

She told a news conference in Baltimore where she still lives, just five minutes from the house where she grew up that theres nothing gloomy about this announcement.... Im not frustrated with the Senate. Rather, she said, she decided that it made more sense at this stage of life to shift her focus: Do I spend my time raising money or raising hell to meet your day-to-day needs?

Mikulskis decision surprised many Maryland Democrats, and set off a potentially wild scramble to replace her. Maryland has a lot of talent and theyll be telling you about it within the next 10 minutes, Mikulski quipped.

Despite her continued political popularity at home, the first woman to chair the powerful Appropriations Committee had to give up that position this year when Democrats lost control of the Senate. And Mikulski seemed rattled by former lieutenant governor Anthony Browns loss to Republican Larry Hogan in last falls governors race despite the Democrats better than 2-to-1 advantage in party registration.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, the longest serving woman in the history of Congress, said Monday that asking herself, who am I campaigning for? led her to her decision to retire. (AP)

In the Senate, Mikulski was never one for grand legislative initiatives or globetrotting foreign policy interests. She focused on getting things done for her constituents, pushing for highway funding, environmental safeguards for the Chesapeake Bay, and security at the Port of Baltimore.

Often dubbed the Senates meanest member, she was regularly described as prickly by friends and foes alike. Yet she became a role model for generations of women in politics in both parties.

She was the second woman (and first Democratic woman) elected to the Senate who did not succeed her husband or father in elective office; Paula Hawkins, a Florida Republican,was the first, in 1980.

While I was the first, I didnt want to be the only, she said Monday. She choked up briefly as she thanked the voters who have supported her through five decades in office.

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Mikulski, a role model for generations of women in politics, to retire in 2016

The longest serving woman in Congress in U.S. history is ready to retire. Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski will not seek a sixth term in the Senate in 2016.

Mikulski made the announcement at a news conference in the Fells Point neighborhood in Baltimore Monday morning.

"I am here today ... to announce I will not be seeking a sixth term in the United States Senate," Mikulski said. "This is a hard decision to make."

"Do I spend my time raising money or spend my time raising hell?" the Maryland Democrat said is a question that factored into her decision.

Mikulski, whose direct and feisty character paved the way for women who joined the male-dominated Senate, joined the upper chamber in 1987 after ten years in the U.S. House. The 78-year old intends to serve out the remainder of her current term until January 2017.

Mikulski is currently the top Democrat on the powerful Appropriations Committee. She was the first woman to chair the committee responsible for determining and allocating government funding when she took the gavel in December of 2012.

Her retirement could open up the possibility of a contested race in the predominantly blue state, especially in the Democratic primary. Maryland voted for President Barack Obama by 62 percent in both 2008 and 2012 but just elected a Republican for governor in 2014.

It is home to powerful and dynamic politicians who could decide to run for the open seat. On the Democratic side, House Minority Whip, the second highest Democrat in the House, Steny Hoyer, represents the state as does Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who is the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee and a member of House Leadership. Rep. Donna Edwards, the first African American woman from Maryland elected to the House is a possibility and so is Anthony Brown, former Lt. Governor, who surprisingly lost the race for governor in 2014 in what became a bad year to run as a Democrat. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake could consider a run, too, as could Heather Mizeur, former member of House of Delegates and former candidate for governor.

It's also worth nothing that former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is considering a presidential run.

On the Republican side, Rep. Andy Harris is a potential contender. National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Andrea Bozek noted that Republicans will be watching what could be the Democrats' "bloody primary."

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Longest Serving Woman in Congress to Retire

Speaking at the Welsh Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in Cardiff, Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said that the Welsh NHS could benefit from up to 450m extra under his partys plans.

Accusing the Labour party of failing to support Wales health service, Nick argued that this extra investment can be used, amongst other things, to support Kirsty Williams pledge to increase the number of nurses on hospital wards.

A full transcript of Nick's speech is below:

I spend a lot of time travelling the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, but theres something about coming to Wales that always lifts my spirits that little bit higher.

You have a confidence, an optimism and a relentless desire to deliver for your communities and your country.

No one embodies that drive better than Kirsty Williams. Kirsty is an inspiration to me just as she is to people all across Wales and throughout the party.

Her commitment and sheer bloody-minded determination to get things done makes her a leader to be reckoned with and makes the Welsh Liberal Democrats a party that continues to punch above its weight.

And listening to Mark Williams and Jane Dodds just now reminds me how much incredible talent we have throughout the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

But given were in Cardiff today, I want to take the opportunity to pay a special tribute to an exceptionally talented MP Jenny Willott.

Everyone who watched the recent BBC programme Inside the Commons saw her absolutely steal the show even if she did have to share the limelight with her sons Toby and Joshua!

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Nick Clegg's Welsh Conference speech