As the upper chamber of Congress, the United States Senate is home to some of the most powerful people in America. Since there are currently no limits on how often a senator can run for reelection, for better or worse, many successfully manage to hold on to their positions for several decades, consecutively winning reelection every six years.
Additionally, senators tend to be senior citizens, as all of the senators, who range in age from 76 to 89, on this list prove.
As of February 2023, the information on this list is as accurate as possible and will be updated as needed.
8. Ed Markey (July 11, 1946 – Present)
Current Age (as of February 2023):77 years
State: Massachusetts
Political Party: Democratic
Assumed Office: July 16, 2013
Ed Markey is another senator who is currently in their late 70s. Markey has been the junior senator from Massachusetts since 2013. He won the special election to fill John Kerry’s seat after Kerry became the Secretary of State under Barack Obama.
Markey first entered politics in 1973 as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He served in this role until 1976, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives — he was a member of the House until he became a senator.
Before becoming a politician, Markey worked as a lawyer in private practice. He also served in the United States Army Reserve from 1968 to 1973.
Did You Know?
Despite his age, Ed Markey is a progressive senator focused on climate change and energy policy; he even served as chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming from 2007 to 2011. He is also the Senate author of the Green New Deal.
7. Richard Blumenthal (February 13, 1946 – Present)
Current Age (as of February 2023): 77 years
State: Connecticut
Political Party: Democratic
Assumed Office: January 3, 2011
Richard Blumenthal recently celebrated his 77th birthday and is serving his second senate term. Blumenthal was first elected in 2010 but has held various government roles since 1977. That year, Blumenthal became the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut. He also served as the 23rd Attorney General of Connecticut from 1991 – 2011.
Following his time as the Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Blumenthal was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1984 – 1987 and the Connecticut Senate from 1987 – 1991.
Since 2013, Blumenthal has been Connecticut’s senior senator.
Did You Know?
When Richard Blumenthal was reelected in 2016, he won 63.2% of the vote, becoming the first person to receive more than a million votes in a statewide Connecticut election.
6. Dick Durbin (November 21, 1944 – Present)
Current Age (as of February 2023): 79 years
State: Illinois
Political Party: Democratic
Assumed Office: January 3, 1997
Dick Durbin is a long-serving senator from Illinois who has been in office since 1997. Before becoming a senator, Durbin served in the U.S. House of Representatives for seven terms between 1983 – 1997.
Durbin got into politics during his senior year at Georgetown University. He was an intern for Senator Paul Douglas.
After graduating from Georgetown, Durbin attended law school and started his own practice. He served as legal counsel to Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon from 1969 to 1972 and then legal counsel to the Illinois State Senate Judiciary Committee from 1972 to 1982. Durbin also worked as an adjunct professor for a few years before he won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Did You Know?
Dick Durbin has served as the Senate Democratic Whip since 2005 and chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.
5. Angus King (March 31, 1944 – Present)
Current Age (as of February 2023): 79 years
State: Maine
Political Party: Independent, but caucuses with Democrats
Assumed Office: January 3, 2013
Soon after graduating from law school, King entered private law practice in Brunswick, Maine. King served as chief counsel to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Alcoholism and Narcotics and a legislative assistant to Democratic U.S. Senator William Hathaway in the 1970s. In Maine, King was known for being a host on public television.
Did You Know?
In 1989, Angus King founded Northeast Energy Management, Inc., which developed and operated electrical energy conservation projects.
4. Jim Risch (May 3, 1943 – Present)
Current Age (as of February 2023): 80 years
State: Idaho
Political Party: Republican
Assumed Office: January 3, 2009
Although Jim Risch is currently one of the oldest senators, compared to some of the others on this list, he has only been a senator for a relatively short time. However, Risch has been in politics for several decades, first as a member of the Idaho Senate. Risch then became the Lieutenant Governor of Idaho and briefly served as the Governor when Dirk Kempthorne resigned to become U.S. Secretary of the Interior in 2006.
After graduating from law school, Risch worked as Ada County Prosecuting Attorney. Risch also taught undergraduate classes in criminal justice at Boise State College and served as the president of the state’s prosecuting attorneys’ association.
Did You Know?
During his tenure in the Idaho Senate, Jim Risch became a millionaire as one of Idaho’s most successful trial lawyers.
3. Mitch McConnell (February 20, 1942 – Present)
Current Age (as of February 2023): 81 years
State: Kentucky
Political Party: Republican
Assumed Office: January 3, 1985
Mitch McConnell is currently the senior senator from Kentucky, serving in the Senate since 1985. Although McConnell was a more moderate Republican early in his career, he has since become one of the most controversial figures ever in American politics.
McConnell has held a leadership role among the Senate Republicans for several decades (he is the longest-serving leader of U.S. Senate Republicans in history), first serving as Majority Whip, then minority leader, and eventually majority leader. Following Democratic control of the Senate after the 2020 election, McConnell is once again the minority leader.
Before politics, McConnell was in law and served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General and the Jefferson County judge/executive, the top political office in Jefferson County, Kentucky, at the time.
Did You Know?
Mitch McConnell is the second Kentuckian to serve as a party leader in the Senate and the longest-serving U.S. senator for Kentucky in history.
2. Bernie Sanders (September 8, 1941 – Present)
Current Age (as of February 2023): 82 years
State: Vermont
Political Party: Independent, but caucuses with Democrats
Assumed Office: January 3, 2007
Bernie Sanders is perhaps one of the most popular presidential candidates in recent history; he became a household name after his 2016 bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination. Sanders, the longest-serving independent in U.S. Congressional history, raised millions of dollars through grassroots fundraisers (the average donation to his campaign was only $27) rather than relying on big-money fundraisers fueled by super PACs.
Sanders was again in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 but dropped out to support Joe Biden’s run against Donald Trump.
Before his election to the Senate, Sanders had served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1990 – 2007. Sanders was also the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, from 1981 – 1989. In 2021, Sanders became the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee.
Did You Know?
Although Bernie Sanders failed to secure the Democratic presidential nomination, he is credited with influencing a leftward shift in the Democratic Party toward more progressive and socialist policies that would help all Americans.
Visit this article on the Oldest Members of the Current United States Congress by Oldest.org.
1. Chuck Grassley (September 17, 1933 – Present)
Current Age (as of February 2023): 90 years
State:Iowa
Political Party: Republican
Assumed Office: January 3, 1981
Chuck Grassley is a long-serving Republican senator from Iowa and is only a few months younger than Dianne Feinstein, the oldest senator on this list. Grassley was first elected as an Iowa senator in 1980 and has been re-elected each time he’s run for office since then.
Before becoming a senator, Grassley served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1959 – 1975 and the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 until he was elected to the Senate. In 2019, following the retirement of Orrin Hatch, Grassley became the most senior Republican in the Senate and was elected president pro tempore emeritus of the current Senate.
Did You Know?
In January 2016, Chuck Grassley set a record for the most time without a missed roll-call vote, having not missed one since July 1993. However, this streak was broken in November 2020, after over 27 years and 8,927 votes, when Grassley was quarantined after exposure to COVID-19.
Conclusion
One of the criteria to be a US Senator is to be at least 30 years of age, and the average age of US senators is 64 years. Well, these oldest members of the current US Senate are not far off. Doing what they do way past the retirement age shows their young spirits and brilliant experience.
Let us wait and see who else will make it to a 90 and still be a senator!
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