Minnesota Delegation Has 2nd Lowest Collective Seniority Ranking in U.S. Senate

The soon-to-be seated DFL U.S. Senator Al Franken will now be able to assist Senior Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar with the state’s constituency caseload, but will not enhance the state’s collective seniority ranking in Capitol Hill’s upper chamber.

Minnesota has the 2nd lowest level of seniority among the 50 states, with Klobuchar at #82 and Franken with the distinction of holding the lowest level of seniority – #100 out of 100 Senators. Only the Senators from the state of Colorado (Democrat’s Mark Udall and Michael Bennett, who filled the seat vacated by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on January 21st) have a collective lower seniority ranking (averaging #92.5) than Minnesota (#91).

Had Franken been able to avoid the recount and be sworn in on January 3rd with the rest of the country’s newly-minted Senators from the 2008 election, he would have been ranked #94 in seniority – ahead of Oregon’s Jeff Merkely, Alaska’s Mark Begich, and appointed Senators Roland Burris (Illinois), Ted Kaufman (Deleware), Bennett (Colorado), and Kristin Gillibrand (New York).

However, even if that had been the case, the Gopher State’s average seniority ranking between Klobuchar and Franken of #88 still would have landed them as the second lowest in the nation.

By contrast, the delegations from the Upper Midwestern states of Iowa (#3), North Dakota (#7), and Wisconsin (#8) all rank among the Top 10 states for collective seniority.

U.S. Senate Seniority Rankings, by State Delegation

Rank	State	Senior Senator	Junior Senator	Average
1	Massachusetts	2	14	8.0
2	West Virginia	1	17	9.0
3	Iowa	11	15	13.0
4	Hawaii	3	26	14.5
5	Connecticut	10	25	17.5
6	Utah	6	33	19.5
7	North Dakota	23	28	25.5
8	Wisconsin	24	31	27.5
9	California	27	29	28.0
10	Arizona	20	37	28.5
11	Indiana	5	53	29.0
12	Alabama	19	45	32.0
13	Michigan	9	56	32.5
13	Kentucky	16	49	32.5
15	Nevada	21	57	39.0
16	Kansas	39	40	39.5
17	Vermont	4	76	40.0
18	Maine	36	46	41.0
19	Pennsylvania	12	78	45.0
19	Washington	32	58	45.0
21	Montana	7	84	45.5
22	Maryland	18	75	46.5
23	Mississippi	8	86	47.0
24	Texas	34	65	49.5
25	New Mexico	13	88	50.5
26	Missouri	22	81	51.5
27	Oklahoma	35	69	52.0
28	South Dakota	42	70	56.0
29	Louisiana	44	72	58.0
30	Arkansas	51	66	58.5
31	New Hampshire	30	90	60.0
32	Rhode Island	43	83	63.0
33	Florida	54	73	63.5
34	Ohio	52	77	64.5
35	South Carolina	63	68	65.5
36	Oregon	38	94	66.0
36	Wyoming	47	85	66.0
38	Georgia	62	71	66.5
39	New Jersey	61	74	67.5
40	Illinois	41	96	68.5
41	Idaho	50	92	71.0
42	Tennessee	64	80	72.0
43	New York	48	99	73.5
44	Nebraska	59	89	74.0
45	Delaware	55	97	76.0
46	Alaska	60	95	77.5
47	North Carolina	67	93	80.0
48	Virginia	79	91	85.0
49	Minnesota	82	100	91.0
50	Colorado	87	98	92.5

Data compiled by Smart Politics.

The collective 2.5 years of service logged in by Minnesota’s Senate delegation is also the 2nd lowest in the nation. By contrast, West Virginia’s two Senators (Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller) have 75.0 collective years of service, followed by Massachusetts’ Ted Kennedy and John Kerry (71.2 years), and Hawaii’s Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka (65.6 years).

In the Upper Midwest, Iowa’s delegation of Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin come in at #4 with 53.0 years of service, with North Dakota’s delegation of Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan at #8 (39.1 years) and Wisconsin’s Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold at #10 (37.0 years).

Years of Service by U.S. Senate State Delegation

Rank	State	Senior Senator	Junior Senator	Total
1	West Virginia	50.5	24.5	75.0
2	Massachusetts	46.7	24.5	71.2
3	Hawaii	46.5	19.1	65.6
4	Iowa	28.5	24.5	53.0
5	Utah	32.5	16.5	49.0
5	Connecticut	28.5	20.5	49.0
7	Indiana	32.5	10.5	43.0
8	North Dakota	22.5	16.6	39.1
9	Michigan	30.5	8.5	39.0
10	Vermont	34.5	2.5	37.0
10	Arizona	22.5	14.5	37.0
10	Wisconsin	20.5	16.5	37.0
13	Kentucky	24.5	10.5	35.0
13	Alabama	22.5	12.5	35.0
15	California	16.7	16.5	33.2
16	Montana	30.6	2.5	33.1
17	Mississippi	30.6	1.6	32.2
18	Nevada	22.5	8.5	31.0
18	Pennsylvania	28.5	2.5	31.0
20	New Jersey	24.5	3.5	28.0
21	New Mexico	26.5	0.5	27.0
21	Maine	14.5	12.5	27.0
23	Kansas	12.7	12.5	25.2
24	Maryland	22.5	2.5	25.0
24	Missouri	22.5	2.5	25.0
24	Washington	16.5	8.5	25.0
27	Texas	16.0	6.5	22.5
28	Oklahoma	14.7	4.5	19.2
29	New Hampshire	16.5	0.5	17.0
29	South Dakota	12.5	4.5	17.0
29	Louisiana	12.5	4.5	17.0
29	Arkansas	10.5	6.5	17.0
33	Rhode Island	12.5	2.5	15.0
34	Wyoming	12.5	2.0	14.5
35	Oregon	13.3	0.5	13.8
36	Illinois	12.5	0.5	13.0
36	Ohio	10.5	2.5	13.0
36	Florida	8.5	4.5	13.0
39	Idaho	10.5	0.5	11.0
39	New York	10.5	0.5	11.0
39	Georgia	6.5	4.5	11.0
39	South Carolina	6.5	4.5	11.0
43	Delaware	8.5	0.5	9.0
43	Nebraska	8.5	0.5	9.0
43	Tennessee	6.5	2.5	9.0
46	Alaska	6.6	0.5	7.1
47	North Carolina	4.5	0.5	5.0
48	Virginia	2.5	0.5	3.0
49	Minnesota	2.5	0.0	2.5
50	Colorado	0.5	0.5	1.0

Data compiled by Smart Politics.

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