Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun, also sometimes
Moseley-Braun (born August 16, 1947), is an American politician and lawyer who represented
Illinois in the
United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. She was the first and to date only female
African-American Senator, the first African-American U.S. Senator for the Democratic Party, the first woman to defeat an incumbent U.S. Senator in an election, and the first and to date only female Senator from Illinois. From 1999 until 2001, she was the
United States Ambassador to New Zealand. She was a candidate for the Democratic nomination during the
2004 U.S. presidential election. Following the public announcement by
Richard M. Daley that he would not seek re-election, in November 2010, Braun began her
campaign for Mayor of Chicago. The former Senator
placed fourth in a field of six candidates, losing the February 22, 2011, election to
Rahm Emanuel.