Incoming senators are nearly 15 years younger than departing ones, on average. But the chamber’s overall age isn’t shifting much.
Nov. 7, 2026Updated 3:17 p.m. ET
When the new Senate convenes in January, it will welcome some (relatively) young new legislators. A few are even millennials, including James Talarico of Texas, 37, and Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, 42, two Democrats who may have energized young voters to turn out.
But their effect on the average age of the Senate — which has crept up over the last few decades — will be small. The senators of the 120th Congress will be less than a year younger, on average, than the Senate’s current members were at the start of the 119th Congress two years ago. That’s because so many sitting senators are old, and getting older.
These numbers assume that Mary Peltola and Scott Colom will win their races in Alaska and Mississippi; they were both ahead in the vote count Saturday. (If both lose, the Senate’s average age will land at 63.6.)
65 should be the maximum for newly elected officials, forced retirement at 70, and strict term limits. They can hold advisory roles after that, but should be excluded from directly making decisions which they’ll never experience the consequences of.
Don’t set a definitive age. Pin it to some percentage of life expectancy; say, 90%. Want to stay in office longer? Make it so everyone lives longer.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯, that’s an implementation detail.
A ‘career politician’ should be socially, utterly untenable.
That’s not really related to the maximum age thing.