Minnesota’s ‘Youthful’ U.S. House Delegation

A recent article at CQ Politics profiled the potential competitiveness of Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District race in 2010. That district’s Representative, freshman GOPer Erik Paulsen, is one of several dozen new faces elected to D.C. during the past two election cycles.

Overall, 114 Representatives, or more than 25 percent of the U.S. House, are members serving in only their 1st or 2nd term. Many of these representatives hail from the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Florida, where Democrats have staged pick-ups in swing districts during the tsunamis of 2006 and 2008.

In Minnesota, for reasons of retirement (Jim Ramstad, Martin Olav Sabo), failed attempts at higher office (Mark Kennedy) and unsuccessful reelection bids (Gil Gutknecht), the Gopher State now has half of its districts represented in D.C. by members in the freshman or sophomore classes.

In fact, at 50 percent, no state with a population of 5 million or more has a larger percentage of 1st or 2nd year Representatives comprising their U.S. House delegation.

Percentage of Freshman and Sophomore U.S. Representatives Among the 20 Most Populous States

State	Districts	Number	Percent
Minnesota	8	4	50.0
Ohio	18	9	50.0
Indiana	9	4	44.4
Maryland	8	3	37.5
Arizona	8	3	37.5
Virginia	11	4	36.4
Florida	25	8	32.0
Pennsylvania	19	6	31.6
Illinois	19	6	31.6
New York	29	9	31.0
New Jersey	13	3	23.1
Tennessee	9	2	22.2
Georgia	12	2	16.7
North Carolina	13	2	15.4
Michigan	15	2	13.3
Wisconsin	8	1	12.5
California	52*	6	11.5
Missouri	9	1	11.1
Massachusetts	10	1	10.0
Texas	32	1	3.1
Washington	9	0	0.0

* California has 53 districts, but its 10th District is currently vacant with Rep. Ellen Tauscher resigning earlier this year.

It is, in fact, Minnesota’s newer members, notably Keith Ellison and Michele Bachmann, that have generated most of the national headlines among the state’s congressional delegation during the past year (for both personal and policy reasons). The two Representatives, serving the 5th and 6th districts respectively, could not be much more divergent on the ideological spectrum: National Journal rated Ellison’s 2008 voting record as the 13th most liberal in the country and Bachmann’s as the 31st most conservative.

The four fresh faces in the Minnesota U.S. House delegation (Paulsen, Ellison, Bachmann, and Tim Walz) serve along side two of the more experienced and powerful members of the institution, committee chairs Jim Oberstar and Collin Peterson – giving the Gopher State a potent mixture of the old and the new.

Overall, Minnesota ranks almost exactly in the middle for the average number of terms of service for its members of its U.S. House delegation. At 5.5 terms, Minnesota ranks #26 in the nation, well behind the neighboring state of Wisconsin (#6 at 8.75 terms).

Average Terms of Service by U.S. House State Delegation

Rank	State	Districts	Terms	Average
1	Alaska	1	19	19.00
2	West Virginia	3	36	12.00
3	Michigan	15	153	10.20
4	Delaware	1	9	9.00
4	North Dakota	1	9	9.00
6	Wisconsin	8	70	8.75
7	Massachusetts	10	87	8.70
8	California	52*	387	7.44
9	Washington	9	66	7.33
10	South Carolina	6	43	7.17
11	New Jersey	13	92	7.08
12	New York	29	198	6.83
13	Texas	32	215	6.72
14	Oregon	5	33	6.60
15	Tennessee	9	59	6.56
16	Virginia	11	72	6.55
17	Hawaii	2	13	6.50
17	Rhode Island	2	13	6.50
19	Indiana	9	57	6.33
20	North Carolina	13	80	6.15
21	Arkansas	4	24	6.00
22	Missouri	9	53	5.89
23	Georgia	12	69	5.75
23	Mississippi	4	23	5.75
25	Maryland	8	45	5.63
26	Kansas	4	22	5.50
26	Minnesota	8	44	5.50
28	Florida	25	137	5.48
29	Pennsylvania	19	104	5.47
30	Kentucky	6	32	5.33
31	Illinois	19	98	5.16
32	Montana	1	5	5.00
33	Iowa	5	23	4.60
33	Oklahoma	5	23	4.60
35	Arizona	8	36	4.50
36	Alabama	7	30	4.29
37	Connecticut	5	21	4.20
38	South Dakota	1	4	4.00
39	Ohio	18	69	3.83
40	Nebraska	3	11	3.67
41	Idaho	2	7	3.50
42	Utah	3	10	3.33
43	Nevada	3	9	3.00
44	Maine	2	5	2.50
45	Colorado	7	17	2.43
46	Louisiana	7	15	2.14
47	New Hampshire	2	4	2.00
47	Vermont	1	2	2.00
49	New Mexico	3	3	1.00
49	Wyoming	1	1	1.00

* California has 53 districts, but its 10th District is currently vacant with Rep. Ellen Tauscher resigning earlier this year.

As profiled yesterday at Smart Politics, Minnesota’s U.S. Senate delegation has the second lowest seniority in the country.

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