Markey's loss would have put him in a rarefied group-incumbents who lost reelection with over 40 years of congressional experience (Markey has been in Congress since 1976). The reality is that at the end of this term just 11 incumbents will have served in Congress (7 senators, 4 House members) for 40+ years, and at least one of them is retiring (Sen. Pat Roberts), and only one of them (Rep. Don Young) is in what is considered a competitive House race for reelection.
Young, should he lose, despite having been in the House for nearly fifty years, would not be the longest-serving member of Congress to lose reelection, though he'd be close. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the men he might be joining (and Markey nearly joined) today with a peak at the ten longest-serving members of Congress to not leave through retirement or death, but instead somehow serving decades in Congress, and then losing their seats in the process. Take a look:
Party: Democrat
State: Ohio
Congressional Service: 38 years (House: 1913-19, 1923-55)
What Happened: Crosser is the first of several men on this list who didn't lose in the general election, but instead was ousted in the primary. In 1954, former Ohio State Senator Charles Vanik joined a three-person primary against the aging Crosser. Vanik's campaign was unusual in that both he and Crosser had relatively progressive records (Crosser was famous for his votes in favor of interracial marriage and women's suffrage during his first tenure in the House, Vanik would become a crusader for fairer tax laws for corporations). It appears from what limited things I can find that it was more based on geography and age than anything else. Vanik would hold the seat for several decades before an unsuccessful run for Lieutenant Governor, Crosser died just two years after his loss.
Party: Democrat
State: West Virginia
Congressional Service: 38 years (House 1977-2015)
What Happened: Rahall came into Congress in an era where Republicans simply didn't win in the blue-collar communities of West Virginia. He held onto his seat when the man he succeeded, Ken Hechler (longtime Secretary of State for West Virginia) tried to take it back. However, as West Virginia turned redder, Rahall's ability to win over voters continued to diminish. He muddled through a rough year in 2010 with a decent victory, but in 2012 it got lower, and by 2014, six years into the Obama presidency (in a state that loathed the president), it wasn't enough for Rahall to be able to stay in office. He lost by 11-points to Evan Jenkins, who would resign the seat in 2018 to become a judge on the West Virginia Supreme Court.
Party: Republican/Independent
State: Nebraska
Congressional Service: 40 years (House: 1903-13, Senate 1913-43)
What Happened: Norris is considered by many historians to be one of the best senators of his era. He was instrumental in creating the seniority system while he was still in the House, where a person's time in office dictated someone moving up in committee rankings, rather than whether or not the leaders liked him (to a large extent, this is still the case today), and was a "maverick," endorsing Teddy Roosevelt in 1912 instead of his party's nominee William Howard Taft. Norris, though, by the mid-1930's was basically a Democrat, supporting FDR's New Deal, and switched to being an Independent in 1936 (he got chairmanships from the Democrats, so think an "Angus King" situation here). His reelection in 1942 wasn't able to attract enough support from the Democrats (they had their own candidate), and so future Senate Minority Leader Kenneth Wherry beat him as a Republican. Norris, then in his 80's, would've died just two years into his new term had he won.
Party: Democrat
State: California
Congressional Service: 40 years (House: 1973-2013)
What Happened: Stark's entry into the US House would eventually come back to bite him. He competed against incumbent Rep. George P. Miller, 40 years his senior, who lost largely because Stark ran against him as "the new face" of the Democratic Party, claiming that Miller was too old to still represent the district. Stark made a name for himself as a strong progressive; he opposed the Iraq War from the start, and was a huge proponent of expanding health insurance access to all Americans. He also had a long history of making controversial statements, many of which toed the line into homophobic, anti-seminitic, or sexist. Stark had a moment of hubris, though, in his final run for office in 2012, when Eric Swalwell, then a city councilman, challenged Stark as a Democrat in the state's blanket primary. A nasty campaign ensued, with Swalwell highlighting Stark's advanced age (Swalwell was fifty years younger than Stark), and Stark lost by less than 10,000 votes. He passed away earlier this year from leukemia; Swalwell is still in the House, though made an ill-advised run for the presidency last year.
Party: Republican
State: Alaska
Congressional Service: 41 years (Senate: 1968-2009)
What Happened: If you follow modern politics, Stevens is arguably the most well-known of these ten men, having served his entire career in the Senate (which tends to attract more headlines because there are fewer senators) and because of his long leadership career in the upper chamber. He was the Republican leader briefly in the late 1970's, the Senate whip for almost a decade, and the Chair of both the Rules & Appropriations Committees (not to mention the President Pro Tempore) in the later years of his service. Stevens' loss happened for two reasons. The first was that in 2008, it was difficult in general for Republicans to hold Senate seats. They would lose eight seats that night (and a ninth when Arlen Specter switched parties), and so pretty much any Republican on the ballot was in trouble. But the big reason was that Stevens' was under indictment for failing to report gifts that he had received (a felony) and suffered a guilty verdict just days before the November elections. Both Barack Obama & John McCain called for him to resign afterward, as did then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (there was some speculation at the time that Palin might run for Stevens' seat if he won reelection & then was expelled from the Senate). All of this contributed to Stevens' losing reelection to Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. Stevens' indictment was later overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct, and despite his advanced age he intended to run for a rematch in 2014, though before that happened he died in 2010 in a plane crash at the age of 86.
Party: Democrat
State: Tennessee
Congressional Service: 41 years (House: 1911-17, Senate: 1917-53)
What Happened: McKellar was first elected in 1911 to succeed the late George Washington Gordon, who was a former Confederate General (one of the youngest to serve in the Confederate Army), and was during the Roosevelt administration a strong supporter of the New Deal. He was also a sharp ally of President Truman, sitting in on cabinet meetings (at that time, the President Pro Tempore, which McKellar was, was second-in-line to the presidency as Truman had no Vice President prior to 1949). McKellar, though a moderate, was vulnerable in 1952 as there was an appetite to throw out incumbent Democrats (the sitting-Governor at the time also lost renomination that year). Rep. Albert Gore, Sr. (the father of the future Vice President) was able to run as an early harbinger of the "New South" strategy amongst Democrats of the era and beat McKellar in an upset. McKellar, in his 80's at the time, likely wouldn't have lived through his next six-year term. He died in 1957 at the age of 88.
Party: Republican
State: Massachusetts
Congressional Service: 42 years (House: 1925-67)
What Happened: While several of the Senators on this list can boast being President Pro Tempore as a result of their long history, Martin is the only former Speaker of the House on this list, having served in that position during both the Truman and Eisenhower administrations (bookended against Sam Rayburn both times). Martin's tenure ran the line between conservatism (he was a staunch opponent to the New Deal) and more moderation (he was more from the Eisenhower wing of the party when it came to foreign policy, and would later endorse some aspects of President Johnson's Great Society reforms). He was a Republican leader in the House for twenty years, serving as Minority Leader or Speaker from 1939-1959, until the 1958 midterms, where the Republicans badly lost, causing him to lose that perch. He defied tradition afterwards by moving to be a backbencher in Congress, but was ousted in 1966 by Margaret Heckler, a prominent local Republican who was considered more liberal than Martin on a number of issues (a "Rockefeller Republican" was the term used at the time for Heckler's movement). Like many of the men on this list, one of the key aspects to Martin's loss in the primary was due to age-Heckler was 46 years younger than Martin. Martin wouldn't have lived through his next term-just 16 months after his loss, he died at the age of 83.
Party: Democrat
State: Texas
Congressional Service: 42 years (House: 1953-95)
What Happened: Brooks would have a strange legacy in the US House. Despite coming from the Southern Democratic mold (which would have implied "conservative" at the time), Brooks was a champion of Civil Rights, voting for both the 1964 & 1968 acts, as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He was also on the House Judiciary Committee when it began the impeachment process against President Richard Nixon. This is not how you know him though, as if you're trying to place the face here, it's due to him being in one of the most famous photos of the 20th Century. Brooks was part of the motorcade during President Kennedy's assassination in 1963, and was present when President Johnson was inaugurated (you can see him in this photo to the right, behind Jackie Kennedy). Brooks' career would continue to be monumentally influential, even until his last few terms (he was a big supporter of the ADA and the Assault Weapons Bans during the 1990's), but he lost in a huge upset in 1994 to Republican Steve Stockman, driven in part by a push by the NRA to replace Brooks after the Assault Weapons Ban (I've always suspected Wallace Shawn's guest spot on Murphy Brown was inspired by Stockman's upset victory). Unlike many men on this list, Brooks would go on to live almost twenty years after his defeat, though he'd never run again for public office.
Party: Democrat
State: Washington
Congressional Service: 44 years (House: 1937-44, Senate: 1944-81)
What Happened: Like several men on this list, Magnuson got his start in a special election in 1936, after the suicide of Rep. Marion Zioncheck (a story for a different day, but a good one as it's pretty off-the-wall). Magnuson was a strong supporter of the war effort, and even served in the US Navy until President Roosevelt mandated that all members of Congress stay in Washington. Magnuson was generally considered an affable man, well-liked and frequently working with his fellow Sen. Scoop Jackson on legislation, and was instrumental in the creation of PBS. He lost in 1980 to Slade Gorton, then a popular Attorney General for the state, who rode the Reagan landslide to a win despite Magnuson's longtime popularity & huge influence in DC (at the time Magnuson would've been both the President Pro Tempore and the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, meaning that Washington was getting an enormous amount of federal funding at the time). Magnuson would live to see his challenger both lose in 1986 & win yet another term in 1988 before the Democrat's death at the age of 84.
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| Rep. Emanuel Celler (D-NY) |
Party: Democrat
State: New York
Congressional Service: 50 years (House: 1923-73)
What Happened: Celler spent decades as one of the more progressive voices in the New York delegation, becoming a leader on Civil Rights. Celler was able to help craft the Voting Rights Act, both Civil Rights Acts, and the Hart-Celler Act, which made national origin something that was not considered in immigration law. However, Celler wasn't as progressive when it came to women's rights, and opposed the ERA. This cost him his seat in 1972, when he lost by just 635 votes to then-attorney Elizabeth Holtzman. Unlike many of the men on this list, Celler could have served for a few more years (he died in 1981), and became the 1970's equivalent of a "talking head" for the Watergate hearings, as well as a figure pursued by historians for discussions about his close associations with presidents from Harding to Ford. Holtzman would hold the seat until 1980, when she ran for the US Senate and lost by just 1-point to Al D'Amato; had she won, it likely would have been Holtzman, not Geraldine Ferraro, who would have been Walter Mondale's running-mate in 1984.
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