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Sen. Chuck Grassley, 88, announces he will seek another term in office

Sen. Chuck Grassley
Posted at 12:53 PM, Sep 24, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-24 14:53:10-04

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, announced Friday that he will run for another six-year term in office in office in 2022.

At 88, Grassley is already the oldest Republican member of the U.S. Senate. If he wins re-election in 2022 and serves out his term, which ends in January 2029, Grassley will be 95 years old.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, is the only senator older than Grassley. She was born 88 days before Grassley in 1933.

"As I travel throughout Iowa holding Q&As at my annual 99 county meetings, Iowans have encouraged me to continue my work representing them," Grassley said in a press release. "I'm glad to have the support of Iowans and I will work as hard as ever to earn their continued support in the months ahead. Iowans know how seriously I take my work representing them in the U.S. Senate to solve problems, which is why I never miss a vote."

Grassley was first elected to the Senate in 1980 — the same year President Ronald Reagan won his first term in office. He's served six six-year terms in the Senate and currently serves as the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

According to CNN, former Rep. Abby Finkenauer is the highest-profile Democrat thus far to announce a run opposite Grassley.

"After 47 years in Washington, D.C., Chuck Grassley has changed from an Iowa farmer to just another coastal elite," Finkenauer said in a statement Friday.

Iowa backed President Donald Trump in both the 2016 and 2020 elections. The state has not elected a Democratic senator since former Sen. Tom Harkin was re-elected for a fifth term in 2008.

According to The Washington Post, the current Senate class has the oldest average age in the chamber's history.