14 of a Kind
When Alabama Democrat Doug Jones is sworn into the U.S. Senate in the coming days he will become the 14th sitting member who won his or her first election to the chamber via special election. Jones will join California Democrat Dianne Feinstein (1992), Oklahoma Republicans James Inhofe (1994) and James Lankford (2014), Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden (1996), Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker (2008), Wyoming Republican John Barrasso (2008), Delaware Democrat Chris Coons (2010), New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand (2010), West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin (2010), Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey (2013), New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker (2013), Hawaii Democrat Brian Schatz (2014), and South Carolina Republican Tim Scott (2014).
Schatz, Barrasso, Gillibrand, Scott, and Wicker all were first APPOINTED to their respective seats, in contrast to Senator-in-waiting G. Douglas Jones and the rest, who won their first special elections without the benefit(?) of incumbency. Also, had outgoing Senator L Strange sought the seat without first accepting the “poisoned pill” appointment from disgraced Governor R Bentley, he – rather than “Doug” Jones – would be joining the aforementioned select group in the coming days.