US House Tenure Varies Wildly Across the 50 States Throughout History

U.S. Representatives from western states serve an average of 2.9 years longer than those from northeastern states throughout history

Already four-dozen U.S. Representatives who were sworn in at the beginning of the 112th Congress will not be back in the nation’s lower legislative chamber on January 2013 when the next Congress convenes – due to resignations, retirement, primary losses, death, or deciding to seek another office.

With that number bound to grow substantially in the coming months due to more incumbent-versus-incumbent matchups as well as several other members likely to lose in the general election due to redistricting and a strong anti-incumbent sentiment in the electorate, it is certain that the 113th Congress will look quite different than the 112th.

High turnover in the U.S. House in back-to-back cycles is not unusual, but neither are periods of relative stability in its membership.

However, the amount of turnover in the House has varied quite significantly from state to state across history, with the difference between the longest and shortest average state delegation U.S. House tenures at nearly 10 years.

A Smart Politics review of the tenures of the more than 10,700 U.S. Representatives who have served since 1789 finds that the average length of service is just shy of 3.5 terms.

According to data constructed by Smart Politics from information provided in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, there have been 10,758 individuals who have served in the House across the 50 states, at an average length of 3.39 terms per member, or approximately 6.8 years.

Alaska leads the way with an average of 6.75 terms – buoyed by the nearly 40 years of service by its current at-large representative, Republican Don Young.

Alaska’s representatives have served an average of 9.7 years longer (13.5 years) than bottom-ranking Delaware (3.8 years, 1.89 terms).

With its 62 U.S. representatives who have served the state throughout history, Delaware’s House members have tallied an average of just 1.89 terms since statehood.

Texas comes in second and is tops among states in the southern region with a 5.74-term average.

A total of 250 individuals have served the Lone Star State across the 1,434 seats that it has been allotted across 80 election cycles.

Texas saw its delegation to the House double from the 1900 (16 seats) to the 2000 (32 seats) Censuses.

Two other states that, like Texas, witnessed a population explosion in the 20th Century come next on the list with Florida at #3 (5.25 term average) and California at #4 (5.13 terms).

Rounding out the Top 10 are Arizona at #5 (4.74 terms), Washington at #6 (4.71 terms), Oklahoma at #7 (4.38 terms), Hawaii at #8 (4.33 terms), Arkansas at #9 (4.27 terms) and Minnesota at #10 (4.26 terms).

Northeastern Region

The highest ranking state from the northeast is Massachusetts at #26 with its U.S. House members serving an average of 3.48 terms.

In general, states with the shortest average length of service for its U.S. Representatives come from the northeast, with most among the oldest in the nation: New Hampshire at #49 (2.27 terms), Maine at #48 (2.47), New York at #47 (2.64), Vermont at #45 (2.78), Connecticut at #43 (2.79), and Pennsylvania at #42 (2.85).

For many of these northeastern states, service of its members was cut short due to reapportionment, with Pennsylvania losing 17 seats through the 2010 cycle from its peak of 36 and New York shedding 16 seats from its peak of 45.

Overall, representatives from states in the northeastern region have served an average of just 2.85 terms, compared to 4.43 terms for the Western region, 3.66 terms for the South, and 3.55 terms for the Midwest.

Average Length of Service for U.S. Representatives by Region, 1789-Present

Region	Seats*	# Reps	Ave. Terms
West	3,510	792	4.43
South	12,122	3,314	3.66
Midwest	9,830	2,771	3.55
Northeast	11,056	3,881	2.85

* Calculated by the total of number seats allotted to each state in the region for each election cycle. Data compiled by Smart Politics.

Western Region

Meanwhile, representatives from newer, western states tend to have longer average tenures, as these states have generally grown in population and not lost members due to reapportionment.

Six western states rank among the Top 15 with Alaska at #1, California at #4, Arizona at #5, Washington at #6, Hawaii at #8, and Colorado at #14.

The glaring exception to this rule is Nevada, which comes in at #46 – the lowest ranking Western state with Montana the second lowest at #37.

The Silver State’s 35 U.S. Representatives since statehood have served an average of just 2.71 terms.

Nevada began with eight different individuals representing the state in the lower legislative chamber across the first 11 election cycles from 1864 to 1882.

Nevada also had a stretch with five different at-large representatives in the House during a five-cycle period spanning the elections of 1940 to 1948 (Democrat James Scrugham, Democrat Maurice Sullivan, Democrat Berkeley Bunker, Republican Charles Russell, and Democrat Walter Baring).

Midwest Region

Minnesota is tops in the Midwest at 4.26 terms per member – just ahead of Michigan at #11 (4.16) and Wisconsin at #12 (4.04).

The Gopher State recently saw the departure from its delegation of 18-term DFL U.S. Representative Jim Oberstar – defeated in 2010 by Republican Chip Cravaack.

Other long-serving Minnesota U.S. Representatives over the years that beefed up its tenure average include 16-term Republicans Harold Knutson (1916-1946) and August Andresen (1924-1930, 1934-1956) and 14-term DFLer Martin Sabo (1978-2004).

Michigan’s standing on the list is bolstered by having two of the Top 10 longest-serving U.S. Representatives in the history of the chamber in Democrats John Dingell (#1, 56+ years) and John Conyers (#7, 47+ years).

The lowest ranking state from the Midwest is Nebraska at #40 with an average of 3.05 terms per U.S. House member with Ohio right ahead at #39 and 3.10).

Southern Region

Tenure in the U.S. House among the nation’s 16 southern states is a mixed bag.

Five states appear in the Top 15: Texas at #2, Florida at #3, Oklahoma at #7, Arkansas at #9, and Mississippi at #13.

Meanwhile, three states rank in the Bottom 10: Kentucky at #41 and the south Atlantic states of Maryland at #43 and Delaware at #50.

With the exception of West Virginia (at #30), the older southern states fall toward the bottom of the historical average tenure list, with the younger states in the upper half.

Average Length of Service for U.S. Representatives by State, 1789-Present

Rank	State	Region	Statehood	Seats*	# Rep	Terms
1	Alaska	West	1959	27	4	6.75
2	Texas	South	1845	1,434	250	5.74
3	Florida	South	1845	661	126	5.25
4	California	West	1850	1,785	348	5.13
5	Arizona	West	1912	166	35	4.74
6	Washington	West	1889	372	79	4.71
7	Oklahoma	South	1907	355	81	4.38
8	Hawaii	West	1959	52	12	4.33
9	Arkansas	South	1836	406	95	4.27
10	Minnesota	Midwest	1858	571	134	4.26
11	Michigan	Midwest	1837	1,114	268	4.16
12	Wisconsin	Midwest	1848	728	180	4.04
13	Mississippi	South	1817	508	127	4.00
14	Colorado	West	1876	274	69	3.97
15	Illinois	Midwest	1818	1,807	463	3.90
16	Alabama	South	1819	708	184	3.85
17	Oregon	West	1859	237	62	3.82
17	North Dakota	Midwest	1889	107	28	3.82
19	Louisiana	South	1812	604	164	3.68
20	Kansas	Midwest	1861	427	118	3.62
21	North Carolina	South	1789	1,159	326	3.56
22	Tennessee	South	1796	950	268	3.54
22	Georgia	South	1788	984	278	3.54
24	Iowa	Midwest	1846	638	181	3.52
24	New Mexico	West	1912	102	29	3.52
26	Massachusetts	Northeast	1788	1,444	415	3.48
27	Wyoming	West	1890	62	18	3.44
27	Utah	West	1896	124	36	3.44
29	New Jersey	Northeast	1787	1,068	313	3.41
30	West Virginia	South	1863	340	100	3.40
31	Idaho	West	1890	112	33	3.39
31	Virginia	South	1788	1,401	413	3.39
33	South Carolina	South	1788	726	218	3.33
34	South Dakota	Midwest	1889	119	36	3.31
35	Missouri	Midwest	1821	991	303	3.27
36	Indiana	Midwest	1816	1,029	317	3.25
37	Montana	West	1889	102	32	3.19
38	Rhode Island	Northeast	1790	232	73	3.18
39	Ohio	Midwest	1803	2,015	650	3.10
40	Nebraska	Midwest	1867	284	93	3.05
41	Kentucky	South	1792	982	340	2.89
42	Pennsylvania	Northeast	1787	2,926	1,026	2.85
43	Maryland	South	1788	787	282	2.79
43	Connecticut	Northeast	1788	605	217	2.79
45	Vermont	Northeast	1791	267	96	2.78
46	Nevada	West	1864	95	35	2.71
47	New York	Northeast	1788	3,797	1,439	2.64
48	Maine	Northeast	1820	386	156	2.47
49	New Hampshire	Northeast	1788	331	146	2.27
50	Delaware	South	1787	117	62	1.89
	Total			36,518	10,758	3.39

* Calculated by the total of number seats allotted to each state each election cycle. Data compiled by Smart Politics.

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