By Cassie Nero

Demographics of Congress

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DEMOCRAT

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Previous Political Work:

Hutchison was the first Republican Woman elected to the Texas House of Representatives.

She was also the first Republican elected as State Treasurer of Texas.

As the senior United States Senator from Texas she is the highest ranking Republican woman in Congress.

Personal Info:

Kay Bailey Hutchison was raised in La Marque, Texas and graduated from the University of Texas and UT Law School.

Thomas J. Rusk of Nacogdoches was the first Texan to hold the U.S. Senate seat she currently occupies. He and Senator Hutchison's great-great-grandfather, Charles S. Taylor, were law partners, and both signed the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Hutchison made it a goal as a State Senator and has visited all 254 countries in Texas.

Terms Served:

Hutchison was elected in 1993 and has served 30 years (5 terms) as a Texas Senator.

Texas SenatorKay Bailey Hutchison

Re-Election:

Hutchison’s term ends in 2012, leaving her to a tough decision; whether to step down or run for another 6 years.

Texas Senator

Terms Served:

Elected in 2002, Cornyn has only served 1 term in the Senate. However, he was currently elected this past year in 2008 to serve for another 6 years, earning himself a second term.

Previous Political Work:

Cornyn served in Texas as a district judge, a member of the Texas Supreme Court, and as Texas Attorney General.

Re-Election:

In 2008, Cornyn was re-elected to represent the US Senate for another 6 years leaving him up for re-election in 2014.

Personal Info:John Cornyn was born in Houston, Texas and raised in San Antonio, Texas. Cornyn is a graduate of Trinity University and St. Mary’s School of Law earning a masters in law from the University of Virginia Law School in 1995. Senator Cornyn is a married man of 29 years and has two daughters.

John Cornyn

Texas Congressman Joe Barton

Terms Served:

Barton was first elected in 1984

Personal Info:

Born in Waco, Texas, Barton grew up playing baseball. This passion soon grew to earn him a 4 year scholarship to Texas A&M University.

Later earning a Master’s of Science degree in Industrial Administration from Purdue University.

Barton returned to Texas later in life to be a natural gas decontrol consultant for Atlantic Richfield Oil and Gas Company before being elected to Congress.

Barton is married with two children, two stepchildren, and five grandchildren.

Previous Political Work:

In 2004, Barton was selected to be the Chairman of the House Committee on Energy & Commerce making him the oldest standing legislative House committee.

Barton currently serves as a Congressman over the 6th District of Texas.

Re-Election:

Barton is currently serving his

Senate Leaders

President of the Senate President Pro Tempore

Joe Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1942 and later raised in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden

currently lives with his wife and their daughter. Joe Biden was first elected to the Senate in1972,

becoming the 6th youngest senator in U.S history. In 2008, Biden ended his 6th term, focusing on starting

his seventh term in the Senate. Biden was chosen by Obama, the current President of the United States, to

become the first Roman Catholic and the first Delawarean to become the Vice President of the

United States. Biden has just begun his seventh term in office, however, he will be up for re-election in

November of 2013.

Robert Byrd was born in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina in 1917 and later raised in Southern West Virginia. Byrd now

lives with wife and two children, has two sons in law, and five living grandchildren. At age 24, Byrd realized he was born to be a leader by joining the Klu Klux Klan in 1942. Byrd was

first elected into the Senate in 1959 and is the longest-serving member in the Senate’s history. He is also the oldest current member of the U.S Congress, and is the first person to serve uninterrupted for half a century as a U.S. senator.

Byrd also served as a member of West Virginia’s 6 th Congressional district. Never losing an election, Byrd was elected into his 9th term in 2006. Byrd’s term will eventually

end this year, November 2009, and will be up for re-election.

Senate Leaders

Majority Leader Assistant Majority Leader

Harry Reid was born and raised in Searchlight, Nevada in 1939. He attended Southern Utah University and Utah State University, later earning his juris doctor from George Washington University

while paying for law school by working for the United States Capitol Police. Reid was elected into Nevada’s State Assembly in

1966 and left after being elected lieutenant governor in 1970. In 1982 Reid won the Democratic nomination for the 1st District

based in Las Vegas. From 1983-87 he served two terms in the House. From 1999-2005 Reid served as Senate Democratic Whip.

From 1999-2001 Reid served as minority whip and again from 2003-2005. From 2001-2003, he served as chairman of the

Senate Ethics Committee. Winning all 57 votes, Reid was re-elected majority leader in November 2008.Reid has served 3

terms in Congress and is currently serving his 4th term as Majority Leader. Reid’s term will end in 2011, putting him up for re-election

in November 2011. Reid currently lives with his wife and five children, two of whom are running for political positions in Nevada.

Richard Durbin was born and raised in East St. Louis in 1944. He earned a B.S from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1966.Durbin earned his J.D from Georgetown University Law Center in 1969 and admitted to the Illinois bar later that year. Richard Durbin is the senior United States Senator from Illinois and Democratic Party Whip. In 1982, Durbin won the Democratic nomination for the 20th Congressional District and has been re-elected six times since. Durbin served as Assistant Minority leader from 2004-2006, when the Democrats became the Majority party in the Senate. He then took over as Assistant Majority Leader.Durbin was the first United States Senator to support the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama.