Stephanie Herseth /

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (born December 3, 1970) is an attorney who served as the Democratic U.S. Representative for South Dakota's At-large congressional district from 2004 until 2011. She lost her seat in Congress to Republican Kristi Noem on November 2, 2010. She was the youngest female member of the House, and the first woman elected to the House of Representatives from South Dakota. Before her 2007 marriage to Max Sandlin, she was known as Stephanie Herseth. Stephanie Herseth was born on December 3, 1970, and raised on her family's farm near Houghton in a family active in South Dakota politics. Her paternal grandfather, Ralph Herseth, was the Governor of South Dakota, and her paternal grandmother, Lorna Herseth, was Secretary of State of South Dakota. Her father, Lars Herseth, served in the South Dakota State Legislature for two decades and ran for Governor in 1986. She graduated from Groton High School in Groton, South Dakota; received her B.A., from Georgetown University in 1993; and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1997. After law school, she worked as a law clerk to Judge Charles B. Kornmann of the United States District Court for the District of South