Last week while reading The Truth About Cars web site I learned that Carl Levin, the long-time senator from Michigan, has a brother serving in Congress. That wasn’t the point of the post—it was about additional subsidies for electric vehicles proposed by U.S. Representative Sander Levin—yet it got me to wondering if there are any other siblings currently making the nation’s laws. There are, although not as many as in two previous Congresses.
From 2005 to 2009 four pairs of siblings served in Congress: the Levins, the Sanchez sisters of California, John and Ken Salazar of Colorado, and the Diaz-Balarts of Florida. The Salazars have moved on and one Diaz-Balart brother called it quits last year, so the 112th Congress, which convened January 3, 2011, is down to two sets of siblings.
However, the current Congress doesn’t lack family clans. Veteran Republican congressman and two-time presidential candidate Ron Paul (b. 1935) represents Texas’s 14th district, while his son Rand Paul (b. 1963) was elected to the Senate from Kentucky last year as a Tea Party Republican. Two cousins are serving in the Senate: Mark Udall (b. 1950) of Colorado and Tom Udall (b. 1948) of New Mexico. Both were elected in 2010. Both are Democrats.
Obviously I haven’t been paying much attention to the Michigan delegation. The Levins may be the longest-serving siblings in Congress ever. Carl Levin (b. 1934) has served in Congress since 1979. His older brother Sander Levin (b. 1931) was elected to the House in 1983. He represents Michigan’s 12th district. That’s almost 60 years of combined service from the Levin brothers.
The Sanchez sisters—Linda (b. 1969) and Loretta (b. 1960)—are the other two siblings currently in Congress. Both were elected in 2003. Linda represents California’s 39th district (southeastern Los Angeles County), while Loretta is the representative from California 47 (central Orange County). Both will need to serve at least another two decades to catch the Levins in sibling seniority, assuming the Levins retire anytime soon.
The Diaz-Balart brothers were together in Congress for eight years. Lincoln (b. 1954) represented Florida’s 21st district from 1993 to 2011. His younger brother Mario (b. 1961) was first elected to represent Florida’s 25th district in 2003. In a twist he succeeded his brother by winning Florida 21 last year. Whether that was cool with voters in the Miami district isn’t clear, as he drew no opposition in the election.
Neither Salazar brother is currently in Congress, although Ken Salazar (b. 1955) is now Secretary of the Interior in the Obama administration. John Salazar (b. 1953) lost his reelection bid in 2010.
So is all this just interesting or should we be wary of political dynasties? I suppose it depends on the person seeking office. The Kennedys are the best known dynasty, while the Bushes contributed two presidents and a governor. Obviously traits important to winning an election—drive, ambition, voter appeal—must run in some families, but name recognition helps too. I don’t worry about siblings or clan members (like the Udalls) seeking public office. I figure the decision is up to the voters.
To answer the question posed in the title, all of the siblings mentioned belong to the same political party. The Levins, Sanchezes, and Salazars are Democrats. The Diaz-Balarts are Republicans. But even so, there must be some interesting political discussions during family reunions.
Mud Bay Blog 
Interesting