I have a confession to make: I think I accidentally created a deathnote that’s been killing the remaining members of the 93rd Congress.
Shortly after Joe Biden took office as our oldest president, I was curious about how many people were left in politics from his first term in congress. I made a list, and found out he was not only the last one left in politics by a wide margin, but that only 12 of his colleagues from the 93rd Senate were even alive at the inauguration. Literally the same day I made this list, Bill Brock died. Coincidence? Maybe. Then Walter Mondale died. Then Mike Gravel died. All in a couple of months. James Abourzek makes 6/12 dead in less than 2 years. I’ve considered deleting the list on multiple occasions, but worry that it would only make things worse.
Biden is the earliest serving member of congress still in politics. Elizabeth Holtzman won in 1972 and tried to make a comeback last year, but failed. Chuck Grassley has a longer career though, dating to 1959 in the Iowa House of Representatives. Bernie Sanders ran unsuccessfully for congress in 1972.
