Mazie Hirono Of Hawaii

US Senators 70 And Over: Most Ever!

The US Senate has 16 members over 75, more than ever before in US History.

They include:

Chuck Grassley (R) Iowa—92
Bernie Sanders (I) Vermont—84
Jim Risch (R) Idaho—83
Angus King (I) Maine—82
Richard Blumenthal (D) Connecticut—80
Ed Markey (D) Massachusetts—79
Peter Welch (D) Vermont—78
Mazie Hirono (D) Hawaii—78
Jack Reed (D) Rhode Island—76
Elizabeth Warren (D) Massachusetts (76)
Ron Wyden (D) Oregon—76
Patty Murray (D) Washington—75
Chuck Schumer (D) New York—75
John Boozman (R) Arkansas—75
Deb Fischer (R) Nebraska—75
Jim Justice (R) West Virginia—75

Risch, Markey, and Reed are running for reelection this fall, which means they would be in their early to late 80s over the next six years term.

This list does not include the following, who are retiring at the end of this year:

Mitch McConnell (R) Kentucky—84
Dick Durbin (D) Illinois—81
Jeanne Shaheen (D) New Hampshire—79

And there are four US Senators who range from age 70-75, and will be in the high 70s during their term if reelected this fall.

Susan Collins (R) Maine
John Cornyn (R) Texas
Shelley Moore Capito (R) West Virginia
Lindsey Graham (R) South Carolina

So one fifth of the US Senate (20), not counting the three Senators who are retiring, fit the definition of “senior citizens”, over the age of 70!

Nine are Republicans, nine are Democrats, and there are two Independents (Sanders and King)

Clearly, there is a dire need for a “youth movement” in the US Senate, as well as in the House of Representatives!

Foreign Born In The Upcoming 118th Congress (2023-2025)

About 30 members of the upcoming 118th Congress in the House of Representatives are foreign born, and 5 US Senators are in that category!

The Senators are:

Colorado Democratic Senator Michael Bennet
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz
Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth
Hawaii Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono
Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen

22 foreign born House members are Democrats and 8 Republican are in that category.

Among them and somewhat better known are:

Democrat Robert Garcia of California
Democrat Ted Lieu of California
Democrat Jim Himes of Connecticut
Democrat Sean Casten of Illinois
Democrat Sharice Davids of Kansas
Democrat Ilhan Omar of Minnesota
Democrat Tom Malinowski of New Jersey
Democrat Susan Wild of Pennsylvania
Democrat Pramila Jayapal of Washington
Republican Carlos Jimenez of Florida
Republican Dan Crenshaw of Texas

The Dozen “Best” Democratic Senators In The 117th Congress in 2021

Yesterday, the issue of the dozen worst Republican Senators was discussed, so today, let’s look at who this author and blogger thinks are the dozen best Democratic Senators out of the 50 in the 117th Congress.

They are listed in alphabetical order by state:

Chris Murphy of Connecticut

Mazie Hirono of Hawaii

Tammy Duckworth of Illinois

Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts

Ed Markey of Massachusetts

Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

Cory Booker of New Jersey

Chuck Schumer of New York

Sherrod Brown of Ohio

Ron Wyden of Oregon

Jeff Merkley of Oregon

Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island

13 Democratic Women Senate Candidates, 11 Running For Reelection, And 2 New Candidates Competing in Arizona And Nevada In 2018 Midterms

In 2018, the US Senate has 23 women serving in the body, including 17 Democrats and 6 Republicans.

11 of the 17 Democratic women face reelection challenges in November.

These include the following:

Dianne Feinstein of California
Mazie Hirono of Hawaii
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
Debbie Stabenow of Michigan
Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
Tina Smith of Minnesota
Claire McCaskill of Missouri
Kirsten Gillibrand of New York
Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota
Maria Cantwell of Washington State
Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin

Additionally, two women are running for election to the Senate:

Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona
Jacky Rosen of Nevada

Also, Jenny Wilson is the Democratic nominee in Utah, competing against former 2012 Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney for the seat of retiring Orrin Hatch, but seen as having no real chance to overcome the well known Romney, much admired in Mormon dominated Utah.

At this point, six weeks before the midterm elections, all of the seated Democratic women Senators seem likely to be reelected, with the most contentious challenges being Claire McCaskill in Missouri and Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota.

The odds on the two women running for election in Arizona and Nevada also look good at this point.

So the odds are heavy that there will be 25 women in the Senate in 2019, with 19 being Democrats and 6 Republicans.

And in the cases of Wisconsin and Arizona, the Republican challengers are women, so already we can add Arizona as a state which will have its first woman Senator. Additionally, Nebraska’s Republican woman Senator, Deb Fischer, has a Democratic opponent who is female, so that assures that seat will continue to have a woman as well.