Baucus Retirement Opens Up 2nd Longest Democratic-Held Senate Seat

It has been 36,577 days (March 3, 1913) since the last time a Republican sat in Montana’s Class II U.S. Senate seat, behind only Louisiana’s Class II seat (47,534 days, March 3, 1883)

The announcement by Max Baucus on Tuesday that he would not seek a seventh term in the U.S. Senate adds another name to an ever-growing list of seasoned Democratic members of the nation’s upper legislative chamber who won’t be back in 2015.

The retirement of the senior Senator from Montana makes an even half-dozen members from the Democratic side of the aisle who will be stepping down at the end of their term in less than two years – each with at least 18 years in the chamber under their belt at that time.

Although Baucus’ popularity with his constituents may have been waning a bit in recent years, his departure opens up a seat that has been particularly elusive for the Republican Party over the decades.

In fact, it is one of just two seats the GOP hasn’t claimed in more than a century.

A Smart Politics analysis finds that Democrats have held Montana’s Class II Senate seat for a longer stretch than all but one seat of the 53 it holds in the 113th Congress at 100 years, 1 month, and 21 days through Tuesday, or 36,577 days.

Baucus is one of six elected and appointed Montana Democrats to hold the seat since the introduction of direct elections a century ago, along with Thomas Walsh, John Erickson, James Murray, Lee Metcalf, and Paul Hatfield.

(Note: The seat was vacant for just over a week after the deaths of Walsh in 1933 and Metcalf in 1978 before the appointments of Erickson and Hatfield respectively).

The last Republican to hold Montana’s Class II seat was Joseph Dixon, who went on to become governor of the Treasure State later in his political career.

Dixon served from 1907 until the end of the 62nd Congress in March 1913 when Walsh won the seat for the Democrats – and the Party has not relinquished it ever since.

The only other Senate seat that Democrats have held for a longer stretch is Louisiana’s Class II seat currently occupied by Mary Landrieu (who is also up for reelection in 2014).

The last Republican to hold that seat was William Kellogg at the end of the 47th Congress in March 1883, or 130 years, 1 month, and 21 days ago (47,534 days).

Overall, four of the five longest held Democratic seats will be on the ballot in 2014:

· #1: Louisiana, Class II, Mary Landrieu (March 1883)
· #2: Montana, Class II, Max Baucus (March 1913)
· #3: Rhode Island, Class II, Jack Reed (January 1937)
· #5: West Virginia, Class II, John Rockefeller (November 1958)

More than one-third of the Democrat’s 53 U.S. Senate seats (18) have been under the party’s control (when not vacant) since the 1970s.

Length of Democratic Control of Current U.S. Senate Seats

Rank	State	Class	Currently held by	Since
1	Louisiana	2	Mary Landrieu	March 1883
2	Montana	2	Max Baucus	March 1913
3	Rhode Island	2	Jack Reed	January 1937
4	Wisconsin	1	Tammy Baldwin	August 1957
5	West Virginia	2	John Rockefeller	November 1958
6	West Virginia	1	Joe Manchin	January 1959
7	Hawaii	3	Brian Schatz	August 1959
8	North Dakota	1	Heidi Heitkamp	August 1960
9	Connecticut	3	Richard Blumenthal	January 1963
10	California	3	Barbara Boxer	January 1969
11	Delaware	2	Chris Coons	January 1973
12	Vermont	3	Patrick Leahy	January 1975
13	Hawaii	1	Mazie Hirono	January 1977
13	Maryland	1	Ben Cardin	January 1977
13	New York	1	Kirsten Gillibrand	January 1977
16	Massachusetts	2	Mo Cowan	January 1979
16	Michigan	2	Carl Levin	January 1979
16	New Jersey	2	Frank Lautenberg	January 1979
19	New Jersey	1	Robert Menendez	December 1982
20	New Mexico	1	Martin Heinrich	January 1983
21	Illinois	2	Dick Durbin	January 1985
21	Iowa	2	Tom Harkin	January 1985
23	Maryland	3	Barbara Mikulski	January 1987
23	Nevada	3	Harry Reid	January 1987
23	Washington	3	Patty Murray	January 1987
26	California	1	Dianne Feinstein	November 1992
27	Oregon	3	Ron Wyden	February 1996
28	South Dakota	2	Tim Johnson	January 1997
29	New York	3	Chuck Schumer	January 1999
30	Delaware	1	Tom Carper	January 2001
30	Florida	1	Bill Nelson	January 2001
30	Michigan	1	Debbie Stabenow	January 2001
30	Minnesota	1	Amy Klobuchar	January 2001
30	Washington	1	Maria Cantwell	January 2001
35	Arkansas	2	Mark Pryor	January 2003
36	Colorado	3	Michael Bennet	January 2005
37	Missouri	1	Claire McCaskill	January 2007
37	Montana	1	Jon Tester	January 2007
37	Ohio	1	Sherrod Brown	January 2007
37	Pennsylvania	1	Bob Casey	January 2007
37	Rhode Island	1	Sheldon Whitehouse	January 2007
37	Virginia	1	Tim Kaine	January 2007
43	Alaska	2	Mark Begich	January 2009
43	Colorado	2	Mark Udall	January 2009
43	New Hampshire	2	Jeanne Shaheen	January 2009
43	New Mexico	2	Tom Udall	January 2009
43	North Carolina	2	Kay Hagen	January 2009
43	Oregon	2	Jeff Merkeley	January 2009
43	Virginia	2	Mark Warner	January 2009
50	Minnesota	2	Al Franken	July 2009
51	Connecticut	1	Chris Murphy	January 2013
51	Indiana	1	Joe Donnelly	January 2013
51	Massachusetts	1	Elizabeth Warren	January 2013

Note: Excludes vacancies. Table compiled by Smart Politics.

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