One state delegation has more experience in the Senate than 37 other U.S. Senators combined

tomharkin10.jpgWith a dozen Senators out the door and replaced due to retirements and defeat in the 2012 election cycle and two more new faces in the Senate due to the resignation of Jim DeMint and the death of Daniel Inouye, there has been a shake up in the leader board of the most seasoned state delegations in the nation’s upper legislative chamber.

In a matter of a few weeks, Hawaii’s delegation dropped from the longest-serving in the nation with over 72 years of experience between Inouye and Daniel Akaka all the way down to #50 – with just 18 days of collective Senate service as of Monday between newly-elected Mazie Hirono and the appointed Brian Schatz.

Rising to #1 is the Iowa delegation of Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin, who now have the most collective days of Senate service under their belts at 21,925 collectively, or 60.1 years.

Smart Politics recently profiled Grassley and Harkin, who just reached the #5 all-time mark for the longest consecutive service in the Senate for a state delegation duo of 28+ years.

No other delegation comes close to Iowa in the 113th Congress with Michigan’s Carl Levin (12,424 days) and Debbie Stabenow (4,388) coming in a distant second with 16,812 days, or 46.1 years.

Rounding out the Top 10 for delegations with the most years of collective service in the Senate are Vermont at #3 (44.1 years), Alabama at #4 (42.1), California at #5 (40.2), Montana at #6 (40.1), Mississippi at #7 (39.1), Utah at #8 (38.1), New Jersey at #9 (35.0), and Maryland at #10 (32.1).

In addition to Hawaii, two other states fell out of the Top 10 since the convening of the 112th Congress two years ago:

· Indiana: Falling from #3 to #34 after the primary defeat of long-serving Republican Richard Lugar.

· Arizona: Dropping from #5 to #17 with the retirement of Republican Jon Kyl.

After Hawaii, the greenest U.S. Senate delegations are Connecticut (739 days), North Dakota and Wisconsin (741 days), and Nebraska, New Mexico, and Virginia (1,471 days).

Iowa is also the only Senate delegation in which both of its members have logged in at least 10,000 days of service with Grassley at 11,693 and Harkin at 10,232 through Monday.

Other members of the 10K club include Vermont’s Patrick Leahy (13,885 days), Utah’s Orrin Hatch (13,154), Montana’s Max Baucus (12,443), Mississippi’s Thad Cochran (12,431), Michigan’s Carl Levin (12,424), New Jersey’s Frank Lautenberg (10,241), Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell (10,232), Massachusetts’ John Kerry (10,232), and West Virginia’s Jay Rockefeller (10,220).

Meanwhile, 44 U.S. Senators have currently served less than a full term of six years.

Grassley and Harkin have served more days in the Senate than the entire delegations of 12 states combined: Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The 21,925 days logged by the Iowa delegation are also more than the following 37 U.S. Senators, who have collectively served 21,895 days through Monday: Kelly Ayotte, Tammy Baldwin, Mark Begich, Michael Bennet, Roy Blunt, Richard Blumenthal, John Boozman, Chris Coons, Ted Cruz, Joe Donnelly, Deb Fischer, Jeff Flake, Al Franken, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kay Hagan, Martin Heinrich, Heidi Heitkamp, Dean Heller, Mazie Hirono, John Hoeven, Ron Johnson, Tim Kaine, Angus King, Mark Kirk, Mike Lee, Joe Manchin, Jeff Merkley, Jerry Moran, Chris Murphy, Rand Paul, Rob Portman, Jim Risch, Marco Rubio, Brian Schatz, Tim Scott, Pat Toomey, and Elizabeth Warren.

Length of Service in the U.S. Senate by State Delegation

Rank
State
Senior
Days
Junior
Days
Total
Years
1
IA
Chuck Grassley
11,693
Tom Harkin
10,232
21,925
60.1
2
MI
Carl Levin
12,424
Debbie Stabenow
4,388
16,812
46.1
3
VT
Patrick Leahy
13,885
Bernie Sanders
2,197
16,082
44.1
4
AL
Richard Shelby
9,502
Jeff Sessions
5,849
15,351
42.1
5
CA
Dianne Feinstein
7,370
Barbara Boxer
7,310
14,680
40.2
6
MT
Max Baucus
12,443
Jon Tester
2,197
14,640
40.1
7
MS
Thad Cochran
12,431
Roger Wicker
1,835
14,266
39.1
8
UT
Orrin Hatch
13,154
Mike Lee
736
13,890
38.1
9
NJ
Frank Lautenberg
10,241
Bob Menendez
2,547
12,788
35.0
10
MD
Barbara Mikulski
9,502
Ben Cardin
2,197
11,699
32.1
11
WA
Patty Murray
7,310
Maria Cantwell
4,388
11,698
32.0
12
WV
Jay Rockefeller
10,220
Joe Manchin
785
11,005
30.2
13
KY
Mitch McConnell
10,232
Rand Paul
736
10,968
30.0
14
MA
John Kerry
10,232
Elizabeth Warren
5
10,237
28.0
15
NV
Harry Reid
9,502
Dean Heller
610
10,112
27.7
16
OK
Jim Inhofe
6,628
Tom Coburn
2,927
9,555
26.2
17
AZ
John McCain
9,502
Jeff Flake
5
9,507
26.0
18
LA
Mary Landrieu
5,849
David Vitter
2,927
8,776
24.0
18
SD
Tim Johnson
5,849
John Thune
2,927
8,776
24.0
20
RI
Jack Reed
5,849
Sheldon Whitehouse
2,197
8,046
22.0
21
WY
Mike Enzi
5,849
John Barrasso
2,024
7,873
21.6
22
OR
Ron Wyden
6,181
Jeff Merkley
1,466
7,647
21.0
23
IL
Dick Durbin
5,849
Mark Kirk
771
6,620
18.1
24
GA
Saxby Chambliss
3,658
Johnny Isakson
2,927
6,585
18.0
24
ID
Mike Crapo
5,119
Jim Risch
1,466
6,585
18.0
24
KS
Pat Roberts
5,849
Jerry Moran
736
6,585
18.0
27
NY
Chuck Schumer
5,119
Kirsten Gillibrand
1,442
6,561
18.0
28
TN
Lamar Alexander
3,658
Bob Corker
2,197
5,855
16.0
29
ME
Susan Collins
5,849
Angus King
5
5,854
16.0
30
DE
Tom Carper
4,388
Chris Coons
785
5,173
14.2
31
AK
Lisa Murkowski
3,672
Mark Begich
1,466
5,138
14.1
32
FL
Bill Nelson
4,388
Marco Rubio
736
5,124
14.0
33
AR
Mark Pryor
3,658
John Boozman
736
4,394
12.0
34
IN
Dan Coats
4,388
Joe Donnelly
5
4,393
12.0
34
NC
Richard Burr
2,927
Kay Hagan
1,466
4,393
12.0
36
TX
John Cornyn
3,691
Ted Cruz
5
3,696
10.1
37
SC
Lindsey Graham
3,658
Tim Scott
6
3,664
10.0
38
MN
Amy Klobuchar
2,197
Al Franken
1,281
3,478
9.5
39
MO
Claire McCaskill
2,197
Roy Blunt
736
2,933
8.0
39
OH
Sherrod Brown
2,197
Rob Portman
736
2,933
8.0
39
PA
Bob Casey
2,197
Pat Toomey
736
2,933
8.0
42
CO
Mark Udall
1,466
Michael Bennet
1,448
2,914
8.0
43
NH
Jeanne Shaheen
1,466
Kelly Ayotte
736
2,202
6.0
44
NE
Mike Johanns
1,466
Deb Fischer
5
1,471
4.0
44
NM
Tom Udall
1,466
Martin Heinrich
5
1,471
4.0
44
VA
Mark Warner
1,466
Tim Kaine
5
1,471
4.0
47
ND
John Hoeven
736
Heidi Heitkamp
5
741
2.0
47
WI
Ron Johnson
736
Tammy Baldwin
5
741
2.0
49
CT
Richard Blumenthal
734
Chris Murphy
5
739
2.0
50
HI
Brian Schatz
13
Mazie Hirono
5
18
0.0

* Through January 7, 2013. Table compiled by Smart Politics.

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