ELCA NEWS SERVICE
December 11, 2006
Eighteen Lutherans in the 110th Congress
06-194-AL*
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- When the 110th Congress of the United
States is sworn in Jan. 3, it will include 18 Lutherans -- 11
Democrats and 7 Republicans, according to the ELCA Washington
Office, the federal public policy advocacy office of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Three Lutherans will be members of the U.S. Senate:
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)
Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.)
Tim Johnson (D-S.D.)
Fifteen Lutherans will be in the U.S. House of
Representatives:
Michele Bachmann (R-Minn., 6th)
Lois Capps (D-Calif., 23rd)
John R. Carter (R-Texas, 31st)
Norman D. Dicks (D-Wash., 6th)
Stephanie Herseth (D-S.D., at large)
Darlene Hooley (D-Ore. 5th)
Ron Kind (D-Wis., 3rd)
Tom Latham (R-Iowa, 4th)
Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif., 16th)
Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn., 7th)
Thomas E. Petri (R-Wis., 6th)
Dave Reichert (R-Wash., 8th)
John M. Shimkus (R-Ill., 19th)
Bill Shuster (R-Pa., 9th)
Tim Walz (D-Minn., 1st)
All are members of the ELCA, except Reichert and Shimkus,
who are members of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and
Bachman and Kind, who are members of the Wisconsin Evangelical
Lutheran Synod.
The longest-serving Lutheran in Congress is Dicks, who was
first elected to the U.S. House in 1976 and begins his 16th two-
year term in 2007. Bachman and Walz are beginning their first
terms, Bachman filling the seat currently held by Mark Kennedy,
who did not seek re-election in a losing bid for a U.S. Senate
seat, and Walz defeating incumbent Gil Gutknecht. Brown is moving
from the House of Representatives to the Senate, having defeated
incumbent Mike DeWine for the Senate seat.
Four Lutherans in the 109th Congress will not continue in
the 110th. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) lost re-election. Michael
Oxley (R-Ohio, 4th) and Martin Olav Sabo (D-Minn., 5th) announced
they would retire after their current terms and did not seek re-
election. Jim Nussle (R-Iowa, 2nd) made a losing bid for governor
of Iowa and did not seek re-election for his House seat.
-- -- --
Information about the ELCA Washington Office is at
http://www.ELCA.org/advocacy/ on the ELCA Web site.
* Annie Lynsen is director for grassroots advocacy and
communication, ELCA Washington Office.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
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