A week ago, members of the Kentucky House of Representatives adopted House Resolution 7, which states that Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo, D-Lexington, is the longest-serving female now in that body.

For 20 years, Palumbo has served the 76th District, elected a few times without opposition and most of the time without raising or spending much money.

"I did (spend money) the first time because I was running against an incumbent," Palumbo said last week, adding that she has recycled her campaign signs through the years.

"Besides, I'm not a good promoter of myself," she said. "I like to try to solve the problem issues that come every single day about people who need help."

Before she has to recycle those campaign signs again, Palumbo will reach another historical marker.

In January 2012, she will become Kentucky's longest-serving woman in the General Assembly, surpassing a record set by the late Rep. Dottie Priddy of Louisville, who served from January 1970 until January 1991.

Palumbo, elected in 1990, began serving in January 1991. By the end of the next General Assembly, she will have served a few months longer than Priddy.

"For her to have been in there that long and to have stuck with it is wonderful," said Kathy Groob, publisher of Elect Women Magazine, which offers information and resources to encourage women to run for public office. "We need more people like Ruth Ann."

More women especially.

The number of women running for office peaked after the 1991 confirmation hearing for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, Groob said. Women were displeased with the confrontational atmosphere surrounding Anita Hill's testimony against Thomas by male senators, she added.

"It was called the 'Year of the Woman,' " Groob said. "But we don't have any more serving now that we did then."

During the last election, 53 percent of the voters were women, but only 18 percent of the state legislators in Kentucky are female. And that number is higher than it has been in the past.

Still, Kentucky ranks 41st among the states for the number of women in public office. The increase is due largely to the recruitment and support for Republican women candidates, Groob said.

"It is so hard to break in," she said. "If there is an open seat and the power structure doesn't come to you, you don't get much of a chance."

Women also don't think they are qualified, don't think they can raise the money, and often they have other family responsibilities, she said.

Groob co-founded Emerge Kentucky, a seven-month training program for Democratic women, to equip women with the know-how to run for office.

Groob ran for a state Senate seat but lost. "I know what it takes and how hard it was," she said. "There is a learning curve. That's why I started Emerge."

Palumbo does her part in encouraging more women to run for office, said Groob, adding that Palumbo often allows women to shadow her.

To her, holding office is a calling.

"When I was younger I felt I might need to be a missionary," she said. "I thought all missionaries went overseas. But then I met a home missionary.

"To me, this is missions work at home," she said. "I see people who go through tragedies right here in our communities."

Palumbo, married, the mother of three sons and grandmother of four, said she is following the lead of such powerful women as Priddy and Sen. Georgia Powers, who served in the state Senate from 1968-88.

One of the feats she is most proud of is the passage of the Women's Health Act of 1998. "It made sure women could have reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy and the insurance companies would pay for it," she said.

Before passage of that bill, it was considered cosmetic surgery and not vital to the woman's health. Other issues she has championed include more thorough investigations of child sexual abuse; Kentucky's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the removal of offensive descriptors of the disabled in Kentucky laws; and sponsorship of bills to protect the elderly in nursing homes.

"When you solve one thing, something else pops up," she said. "The Medicaid crisis is critical right now."

Before entering politics, Palumbo volunteered in the Lexington community, particularly with the American Cancer Society and for the Lexington Philharmonic Ball. Now, she plays a role in getting money sent back to the areas she deems most in need, which is health care and ensuring every woman has access to mammograms.

Palumbo plans to serve the 76th District as long as the voters want and "as long as I feel that it is what I'm supposed to be doing.

"I have faith we are called to do certain things," she said. "And when and if I am to be doing something else, I will be doing it by God's will."