Biden isn’t the only 80-something trying to hold on to power in Washington

Seeking reelection as an 80-something is a major challenge for President Joe Biden, with most polls showing voters have real concerns about his age. But in the seniority- and tradition-bound Senate, campaigning octogenarians are still a very common sight.

Unperturbed by a 2024 election cycle that’s remarkably focused on the advanced age of both of its presidential nominees — or the health problems that have plagued elderly senators this term — both Bernie Sanders, 82, and Angus King, 80, are asking voters to send them back to the Senate for another six years.

They’re both likely to win, too, which would rank the two Democratic-aligned independents among the chamber’s oldest members in history. Sanders would be 89 at the end of his next term, while King would be 86, Maine’s oldest senator ever.

There’s a big reason why Sanders' and King’s candidacies aren’t as eyebrow-raising as Biden’s, though: They’re dealing with much different dynamics than the president is on the national stage. On the Hill, seniority is often a selling point to voters who benefit from the home-base power afforded by leadership positions on committees and in parties. Not to mention that, while Biden took on his age directly in a recent campaign ad, lawmakers have rarely felt compelled to take on the thorny, personal topic of their advancing years.

Before Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) died at 90 after a prolonged on-and-off hospitalization, for example, she’d faced years of harsh scrutiny of her mental acuity but rarely if ever mentioned it head-on, even in prepared statements. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 82, was hospitalized for a concussion last year and later had multiple public freeze episodes, but not until the whispers became near-shouts among his members did he address his health.

And while one of Sanders and King’s contemporaries chose to hang it up this year rather than run again at their ages — Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), 80, is retiring — the oldest current sitting senator touted seniority as a leading factor in his 2022 reelection bid. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), 90, was hospitalized for an infection earlier this year but shows no regrets about seeking another term at the age that most contemporaries focus on grandkids and relaxing.

“It's got to be an individual decision and age is only a number, and very personal,” Grassley said. “For me, it was that I was going to be No. 1 in seniority in the Senate. Iowa’s No. 1 on my agenda. And I figured that I can have six years of helping Iowans have a better life.”

Even a relatively youthful senator from the opposing party, one who dinged Biden as needing a “cognitive exam” during his annual physical, dismissed the idea that Sanders and King should exit the stage at their ages.

“Do we need more young people in politics? I would say yes,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), 44. “But does that mean that Sen. King, Sen. Sanders shouldn't run for reelection? I don’t know about that." Hawley added that the two seem at the "top of their game."

King previously said that his 2018 race would likely be his last, though that didn't pan out. He responded to a question on how age factored into his decision-making this cycle with a Ronald Reagan reference: “I’m not going to raise the relative youth and inexperience of my opponent.” King faces challengers from both his right and leftthis cycle, and he's expressed some discontent over GOP candidate Demi Kouzounas being recruited by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

"Senator King has plenty of experience, unfortunately as a career politician ... it's the wrong kind of experience, marked by hyper-partisanship and complicity in a dysfunctional Congress," Kouzounas said in a statement.

Sanders, meanwhile, said in a statement “I would not have run if I did not feel that I had the strength, energy, and ability to give 100 percent to the job."

The senator added: "It is appropriate to look at age as a factor, but it’s only one factor," but said "what’s most important is what someone stands for, and their ability to fight for those views.”

The stakes for both men’s reelections are potentially very high. Senate Democrats, by most projections, will at best have a 50-50 majority next year, barring a miraculous pickup in Texas or Florida. That means one future vacancy could shift the balance of power, if even temporarily. King and Sanders are both registered independents but caucus with Democrats.

Sanders and King’s Democratic colleagues also defended their qualifications to serve for six more years, noting that the impact of age varies depending on the individual and citing their pep in the caucus. Sanders had a heart attack in 2019, but both men, at least according to publicly available information, appear in generally good health.

“Every 80-year-old isn’t the same,” said Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), who was appointed after Feinstein's death to succeed her. “And so, I think, to judge one person, or five people, or two people based on the number on their birth certificate is probably not the best representation of American freedom.”

Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), who was considered a shoo-in for Sanders’ seat if he’d opted to retire, applauded Sanders' decision to run again and said “80 is the new 50 around here." Asked if that’s a good thing, Balint replied diplomatically that what’s important is that lawmakers are “doing the work that is needed for their constituents.”

In fact, what sounds like a talking point — that aging affects every person differently — isn’t without merit based on a broad look at Congress itself. Some octogenarians and even nonagenarians have thrived in the Senate, while others haven’t. A few have taken visibly difficult turns for the worse, acuity-wise, in the middle of their terms.

“It's really hard to make any generalizations ... you cannot take a position that an octogenarian is in some way certain to be impeded in a particular function,” said Dr. Gordon Lithgow, a professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. But Lithgow added that it’s not much of a surprise the risk for chronic disease for individuals in their 80s goes “up at an exponential rate.”

It’s easy to see how seniority is particularly benefiting Sanders, who holds the coveted chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Sanders cited the urge to continue his work in the progressive movement as motivation for sticking around.

Progressive Vermont state Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, who last cycle criticized Sanders for endorsing in the state’s open Senate primary before a real competition had emerged, told POLITICO: “I sort of anticipated that [Sanders] wasn't ready to hand it off to a newbie. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I don't know.”

In addition to Cardin, a number of 70-somethings who would also have been up for reelection are following him into retirement, including Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

Past senators who’ve taken similarly timed exits rave about life after Congress. Former Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who retired last cycle at the age of 82, visited the Capitol last fall as his wife attended an event with Senate spouses. He told POLITICO it was “interesting” being back, but that he was “anxious to get back to Vermont."

Asked if more senators should consider retirement, Leahy reiterated that it’s a “choice every senator has to make.” But he’s liking it, at least.

“I've enjoyed being home,” he said.