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Recently, I've read an interesting article about US political dynasties:

It is perhaps not very surprising that so many children of politicians go into politics. After all, it’s daddy’s business. Lots of doctors’s children go to medical school.

Let's use definition from the wiki:

A political family (also referred to as political dynasty) is a family in which several members are involved in politics — particularly electoral politics. Members may be related by blood or marriage; often several generations or multiple siblings may be involved.

Note: a political dynasty means any family with two or more people in a elected position.

Is there any information about how many current senators are NOT from such families?

Ekadh Singh - Reinstate Monica
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user2501323
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    Better, but it’s still unclear how many family members are needed to be a dynasty. Some are clear, your Kennedy’s, Bush’s, and Cheney’s, but there’s a lot of people who would be borderline. – divibisan Jun 03 '21 at 14:07
  • Are we to count politicians with relatives who are politics-adjacent? Lobbyists, financiers, organizers, etc? – Ryan_L Jun 03 '21 at 16:34
  • @Ryan_L Senator Gillibrand is a good example of that and I put her in a "Borderline" category. I think they really have to be part of the political machine to count, though. Simply being politics-adjacent is too broad a category, I think, if the goal is to see whether political family connections are associated with being elected to office. – divibisan Jun 03 '21 at 18:34
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    This is a very good question in my mind, but I think we can make it even better if we expand it to include the House and cabinet positions, and maybe Federal judges and state governors. I mean the same kind of question could be asked of all these positions, may as well put them all in the same question. – Ryan_L Jun 03 '21 at 18:52
  • We need a clear definition here of what counts as a political family, e.g. "several". Otherwise it's like "which Presidents aren't related?" (to which the answer is none by many of the more common metrics, but not all of the metrics). – TylerH Jun 04 '21 at 14:03
  • Dynasty implies more than one generation, a hereditary democracy if you like... – user_1818839 Jun 04 '21 at 20:54
  • This is Stack Exchange: your question needs to show what research you already did. – RedSonja Jun 07 '21 at 11:18

1 Answers1

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As this is the sort of question that would benefit from group research and updating as the Senate changes, here is a wiki answer. Please update this if you find any senators who have been missed, who are no longer in office, or who have political relatives who have been omitted.

How to define a "dynasty" is unclear. In the interests of definiteness, this list will include all senators who have/had spouses, parents, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and (first) cousins who hold/held an elected position in the United States. This is admittedly a broader definition than most people would give for a "dynasty", but it allows for a more definite answer.

Current senators with relatives in politics

Questionable or Borderline Cases

  • Mark Kelly, (D-AZ). Husband of Gabby Giffords, former US Representative from Arizona. Neither of them have family political connections, though, so it's more of a husband-wife team than a dynasty.
  • Kirsten Gillibrand, (D-NY). While her family, going back to her grandparents, was deeply involved in Democratic party politics, none of them ran for political office themselves.

Current Senators without relatives in politics

Ekadh Singh - Reinstate Monica
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Michael Seifert
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