Meet the New Senators Entering Congress

A look at the new faces in the 119th Congress’s upper chamber, where Republicans will control by 53-47.

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Meet the New Senators Entering Congress — The U.S. Capitol building in Washington on Jan. 2, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

1/2/2025Updated: 1/2/2025

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There will be new faces in the Senate when the 119th Congress convenes on Jan. 3, 2025.

Thanks to flipping four seats, the GOP will control the upper congressional chamber, 53-47, for the first time since early January 2021.

Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), while they also won their elections on Nov. 5, have already been sworn into the Senate and therefore will not be considered freshmen. Both previously served in the House.

Additionally, new senators from Ohio and Florida will be appointed by their state’s governor to succeed Sens. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Vance will be sworn in as vice president on Jan. 20, while Rubio is expected to win Senate confirmation as Secretary of State.

Their resignation dates and successors have yet to be announced.

Below are the new members of what some have called the “world’s greatest deliberative body.”

Angela Alsobrooks

Angela Alsobrooks, a Democrat, will succeed Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who is leaving Congress after 37 years, 17 of them in the Senate.

She defeated former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, with 54.7 percent of the vote.

Alsobrooks, 53, previously was the executive of Prince George’s County and the county’s top prosecutor.

She comes into Congress as a progressive who, for instance, is for abolishing or reforming the filibuster, especially to codify the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade, which the Supreme Court overturned.

The filibuster requires 60 votes in order to advance most legislation in the Senate. Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has said the mechanism will remain in place.

Although Alsobrooks has called for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, she has said she backs the Jewish state’s right to defend itself. She has also called for a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

She has blamed big companies “who are receiving record profits right now” for being behind high inflation.

Alsobrooks has also expressed support for an assault weapons ban and prohibiting ghost guns.

Jim Banks

Jim Banks will replace Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who was elected governor of Indiana.

Banks, 45, a Republican, defeated Valerie McCray, a Democrat and clinical psychologist, with 58.7 percent of the vote.

A conservative, Banks heads to the Senate after serving in the House since 2017, representing Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District.

He is a staunch ally of President-elect Donald Trump, whose “complete and total” endorsement of him cleared the GOP primary field.

“Jim Banks is running for the United States Senate from the Great State of Indiana. I know Jim well, have seen him tested at the highest and most difficult levels and WIN!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“Strong on the border, crime, our military, and our vets, Jim will fight for low taxes and regulations, sanity in government, and our under-siege 2^nd Amendment.”

Banks ran on issues that included securing the border, protecting the unborn, supporting veterans, fiscal responsibility, opposing wokeness in public schools, and supporting law enforcement.

John Curtis

John Curtis, a Republican, will succeed Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who declined to run for a second term following a Senate career that included staunch criticism of Trump, and voting to convict him in both his impeachment trials.

He defeated Democrat environmentalist Caroline Gleich with 62.5 percent of the vote.

Curtis, 64, has represented Utah’s 3^rd Congressional District since 2017. He previously was mayor of Provo, Utah.

While not an opponent of Trump, he is not a staunch ally.

“I do have my own mind, and I’m not a rubber stamp. My stamp is the stamp of the state of Utah,” Curtis told ABC News.

He told the outlet that one of his disagreements with Trump is on the issue of the spending.

Trump added $7.8 trillion to the national debt during his first term, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Curtis’s message to Trump?

“Mr. President, from time to time, I’m going to disagree with you. And it will be respectful,” Curtis told ABC News. “And I think when I disagree with you, it will be helpful. And I hope you'll listen to me.”

Ruben Gallego

Ruben Gallego, a progressive Democrat, will take the seat of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), who was known for her independent streak, having been a Democrat who resisted calls to abolish the filibuster, thereby saving the institutional mechanism amid pressure from the left.

He has been in Congress, representing Arizona’s 7^th Congressional District from 2015 to January 2023 and now the state’s 3^rd Congressional District. He previously served in the Arizona House of Representatives.

Gallego, 45, defeated former TV anchor and gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, a Republican, with 50.1 percent of the vote.

He struck a critical tone toward his fellow Democrats, especially as it pertains to the Latino vote.

“There is no winning nationally without Latinos,” he told CBS News.

“Go touch grass and meet real Latinos.”

Gallego served in the Marine Corps and fought in the Iraq War.

Jim Justice

Jim Justice, currently the Republican governor of West Virginia, handily defeated Glenn Elliott, a Democrat and former mayor, with 68.8 percent of the vote.

He will succeed Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), who chose not to run for reelection after a career of more than 14 years that included going against his party on issues such as energy and the filibuster, which he was against abolishing despite left-wing pressure and intimidation.

However, Justice, 73, will not enter the Senate until after he resigns as governor on Jan. 12.

“My whole thinking behind all this is the continuity of government is essential during transitions,” he told reporters on Dec. 27.

After all, he said, the real legislating will occur when Trump takes office.

“I could move on, and I could be sworn into the Senate between Jan. 3 and when President Trump takes office,” he said.

“There’ll be some things happen, but there won’t be anything happening really until when President Trump takes office.”

Justice, a multimillionaire, was previously a coal tycoon. His English bulldog, Babydog, is a celebrity; he even appeared with Justice at the Republican National Convention.

Dave McCormick

Dave McCormick, a Republican, will enter the Senate with extensive experience in the business sector and in the federal government.

He narrowly defeated Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) with 48.8 percent of the vote, or 16,205 votes.

McCormick, who sought to cobble together a broad coalition that included pro-Trump voters and non-voters, ran on tying Casey to President Joe Biden.

He said Casey was out of touch with Pennsylvania voters.

McCormick criticized out-of-control spending and a “war on fossil fuels” for high inflation.

Additionally, he called for securing the border, treating the cartels like terrorist organizations, and therefore using military action against them, and exporting natural gas.

An Army veteran, McCormick, 59, served in the 1991 Gulf War.

He also served in multiple roles in the Bush administration.

Bernie Moreno

Businessman Bernie Moreno, a Republican, is a political newcomer. Born in Colombia, he became a U.S. citizen at age 18.

He narrowly defeated Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) with 50.2 percent of the vote, or 209,652 votes. Brown had been in Congress since 1992, and 17 of those years were spent in the Senate.

Moreno, 57, was initially a Trump critic but became a staunch supporter of the president-elect.

His campaign website includes 16 issues he cares about, including securing the border, standing with law enforcement, defending the Second Amendment, “beating Communist China,” fiscal responsibility, election integrity, and congressional term limits.

On the last point, Moreno told The Epoch he would only serve 12 years, or two terms.

Lisa Blunt Rochester

Lisa Blunt Rochester, a progressive Democrat, enters the Senate having represented Delaware’s at-large congressional district since 2017.

She defeated Republican Eric Hansen with 56.6 percent of the vote to succeed Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), who has been in the Senate since 2001.

Rochester, 62, ran on a platform of supporting abortion rights, gun control, fighting for LGBTQ rights, combating climate change, and working in a bipartisan manner.

Tim Sheehy

Tim Sheehy, a Republican, never served in public office prior to unseating Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who has served in the Senate since 2007, with 52.6 percent of the vote.

He called for securing the border, protecting the Second Amendment, fiscal responsibility, supporting veterans, opposing a national abortion ban, and combating the threat from China.

Sheehy was recruited by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) in his capacity as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the official campaign and finance arm of the Senate GOP. More than $300 million was poured into the contest in what is a solidly red state.

Sheehy, 39, is a former Navy SEAL and businessman working in aerospace.

He has not been without controversy, however, as there have been differing accounts of how a bullet came to be lodged in his right arm.

Elissa Slotkin

Elissa Slotkin will move from the House to the Senate.

She defeated former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) with 48.6 percent of the vote, or 20,217 votes.

Slotkin, 48, has been in Congress since 2019, representing Michigan’s 8^th Congressional District between 2019 and 2023 and currently the state’s 7^th Congressional District.

She prides herself on working across the aisle.

“Bipartisanship is deeply unsexy to people,” she said at an event this month hosted by the outlet Punchbowl News.

“I think that the most important thing is for people to emulate the behavior that we teach our kids in school, which is ‘treat each other with respect, even when you disagree,’” she added. “Do that in public, do that in private, do that on social media.”

Prior to entering Congress, Slotkin served in the CIA.

Jeff Louderback contributed to this report.