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Washington (ELCA)-AL* — 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.
* Annie Lynsen is director for grassroots advocacy and communication, ELCA Washington Office.