Mary is Italian on her mother side and her family was among the large wave of Sicilian immigrants that came to Louisiana during the nineteenth century. Her mother, Verna Satterlee Landrieu, was the daughter of Kent Satterlee and Olga Helen Macheca. 

Mary has been repeatedly highlighted by the Order Sons of Italy in America as the first woman of Italian-American heritage to become a United States Senator.

Mary L. Landrieu has been fighting and winning for Louisiana since she was first elected to the Louisiana state legislature at the age of 23. After serving eight years as a state representative and two terms as State Treasurer, in 1996 she was elected to the US Senate. Mary’s key leadership positions in the Senate have allowed her to successfully advocate for and protect the interests of the people Louisiana and the nation at large:

• Secured countless jobs & funds to encourage economic growth throughout Louisiana. In 2009, she received the Federal Leadership in Economic Development Award for her efforts in promoting successful entrepreneurship.  This past year, she supported the transportation bill that provided over $700 million to Louisiana to build roads, bridges, and critical infrastructure.

•  Created numerous policies and established provisions to help communities & families rebuild in the face of the devastating hurricanes, oil spill, and flooding of the Mississippi. Mary has led the charge to pass bipartisan, comprehensive flood insurance to protect the nearly 500,000 families and business in Louisiana that need affordable insurance in order to help rebuild the coastal region.

• Helped secure affordable universal health care while introducing measures to reduce our nation’s health care spending over the long term. Along with her fellow female members of the Senate, she led the #HerHealth initiative to insure that no company could deny women coverage simply because of her gender.