State Senators by Age – Updated

Posted by Danny, on October 8th, 2009, at 12:41 pm

While I thought the list of Senators’ ages was interesting, I was pleased to get feedback from a number of readers who also found it interesting.

So when reader Joe was able to track down the missing birthdates for the six Senators whose ages had been estimated, I decided to update the list with the accurate information. I was happy to find that our estimates based on biographical details had been accurate within a year. For whatever it’s worth, with the precise ages we can look at accurate averages, so here’s the update.

DIST.	NAME	PARTY	HOMETOWN	FIRST ELECTED	AGE
11	Jim Preuitt	D	Talladega	1980	74
16	J.T. Waggoner	R	Birmingham	1990	73
5	Charles Bishop	R	Jasper	2006	72
9	Hinton Mitchem	D	Union Grove	1978	71
1	Bobby Denton	D	Muscle Shoals	1978	71
30	Wendell Mitchell	D	Luverne	1982	69
8	Lowell Barron	D	Fyffe	1982	67
27	T.D. Little	D	Auburn	1990	67
25	Larry Dixon	R	Montgomery	1982	67
23	Hank Sanders	D	Selma	1982	67
19	Priscilla Dunn	D	Bessemer	2009	66
2	Tom Butler	D	Madison	1994	65
31	Jimmy Holley	R	Elba	1998	65
10	Larry Means	D	Attalla	1998	62
14	Henry Erwin, Jr.	R	Montevallo	2002	61
20	Linda Coleman	D	Birmingham	2006	60
18	Rodger Smitherman	D	Birmingham	1994	57
6	Roger Bedford, Jr.	D	Russellville	1982	53
12	Del Marsh	R	Anniston	1998	53
13	Kim Benefield	D	Woodland	2006	53
33	Vivian Davis Figures	D	Mobile	1997	53
35	Ben Brooks	R	Mobile	2006	51
21	Phil Poole	D	Moundville	1994	51
32	Trip Pittman	R	Eastern Shore	2007	50
29	Harri Anne Smith	R	Slocumb	1998	48
24	Bobby Singleton	D	Greensboro	2005	48
15	Steve French	R	Birmingham	1998	47
3	Arthur Orr	R	Decatur	2006	45
34	Rusty Glover	R	Semmes	2006	43
7	Paul Sanford	R	Huntsville	2009	42
4	Zeb Little	D	Cullman	1998	41
26	Quinton Ross	D	Montgomery	2002	41
17	Scott Beason	R	Gardendale	2006	40
28	Myron Penn	D	Union Springs	2002	38
22	Marc Keahey	D	Grove Hill	2009	29

---

The averages (using actual ages to the day, i.e. today) look like this.

Average Senator’s Age:	56.0
Average DEM Senator’s Age:	57.3
Average GOP Senator’s Age:	54.1

If you move Democrat Jim Preuitt from the Democratic caucus into the minority coalition caucus, you get this.

Average Age in Democratic Caucus:	56.5
Average Age in minority coalition caucus:	55.5

Thanks, Joe.

Related Articles:

• State Senators Listed by Age

Category: AL Senate, Top 10

4 comments to State Senators by Age – Updated

• JD

  October 8, 2009 at 1:19 pm

  One item I’ve had problems in tracking is the lenght of time in the Legislature.

  In Phil Poole (D-Moundville)case he was elected to the Senate in 1994, but served from 1982-1994 in the House. This time should be shown as the true time feeding at the State Trough.

  27 of his 50 years (54%) in the Legislature.

  If we assume an adult at 18 (questionable in Poole’s case) 27 of 32 years. 84%

• William

  October 12, 2009 at 9:19 am

  Either way – too long!

• State Representatives Listed by Age | Doc's Political Parlor

  May 3, 2010 at 10:48 am

  [...] looked at the Senate already. Thanks to reader Joe, we can look at the House. To the best of my understanding this [...]

• State Senators Listed by Age | Doc's Political Parlor

  June 3, 2010 at 1:02 pm

  [...] State Senators Listed by Age Posted by Danny, on October 5th, 2009, at 10:15 am Update: The list below has been updated at this link. [...]

Copyright © 2012 Doc's Political Parlor - All Rights Reserved