Ted Stevens

With the death of former U.S. Senator James Pearson (R-Kansas) on January 13, 2009 at age 88, New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg moves up to 20th on the list of the oldest current and former members of the world's most exclusive club: the United States Senate.

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U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, 85, with President Barack Obama, 47

U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg is 85-years-old today.   Born on January 23, 1924 in Paterson, Lautenberg founded Automated Data Processing (ADP) and served as a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey before winning election to the U.S. Senate in 1982.  He was re-elected in 1988 and 1994, and again in 2002 and 2008. 

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U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), convicted of criminal charges a few weeks ago, is trailing in his bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate seat he's held since 1968

If Republican Ted Stevens loses he'll become the fifth incumbent U.S. Senator to lose re-election in a year when a home state candidate is on the national ticket.  It happened twice in 1916, and again in 1964 and 1980.

Despite Gov. Sarah Palin's presence on the GOP ticket in Alaska, Stevens -- convicted on federal corruption charges last month -- trails Democrat Mark Begich by 814 votes, with 35,000 ballots still to be counted --

The first time that happened was in 1916, when Democrat Woodrow Wilson was re-elected to a second term as President.  But in Wilson's home state of New Jersey, Republican Joseph Frelinghuysen, a cousin of U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, ousted Democratic U.S. Sen. James Martine by a 56%-39% margin. And in Indiana, the home state of Wilson's vice president, Thomas Marshall, Republican Harry New unseated incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. John Kern by a 48%-46% margin.

Ted Stevens is the first sitting United States Senator to be convicted on corruption charges since New Jersey's Harrison Williams on May 1, 1981.  Stevens, who has represented Alaska in the Senate since 1968, was found guilty on seven counts of making false statements on his Senate financial disclosure.  Williams, who was completing his fourth term, was convicted on nine counts of bribery and extortion charges connected to the ABSCAM scandal. Five U.S. Senators have been found guilty of felony charges; Williams is one of two Senators in U.S. history to serve in prison following a conviction.