# List of new members of the 98th United States Congress

The 98th United States Congress began on January 3, 1983. There were four new senators (one Democrat, three Republicans) and 79 new representatives (56 Democrats, 23 Republicans) at the start of the first session. Additionally, two senators (one Democrat, one Republican) and nine representatives (six Democrats, three Republicans) took office on various dates in order to fill vacancies during the 98th Congress before it ended on January 3, 1985.
Due to redistricting after the 1980 census, 20 representatives were elected from newly established congressional districts. One representative-elect, Jack Swigert, died before taking office.

## Senate
### Took office January 3, 1983

| State | Senator | Seniority | Switched party | Prior background | Birth year |
| California | Pete Wilson (R) | 2nd (98th overall) | No Open seat; replaced S. I. Hayakawa (R) | Mayor of San Diego California State Assembly U.S. Marine Corps First Lieutenant | 1933 |
| Nevada | Chic Hecht (R) | 4th (100th overall) | Yes Defeated Howard Cannon (D) | Nevada Senate | 1928 |
| New Mexico | Jeff Bingaman (D) | 3rd (99th overall) | Yes Defeated Harrison Schmitt (R) | Attorney General of New Mexico U.S. Army Reserve | 1943 |
| Virginia | Paul Trible (R) | 1st (97th overall) | Yes Open seat; replaced Harry F. Byrd Jr. (I) | U.S. House of Representatives Essex County Commonwealth's Attorney | 1946 |

### Took office during the 98th Congress

| State | Image | Senator | Took office | Switched party | Prior background | Birth year | Ref |
| Washington | | Daniel J. Evans (R) | September 8, 1983 | Yes Appointed; replaced Henry M. Jackson (D) | President of Evergreen State College Governor of Washington Washington House of Representatives U.S. Navy Ensign | 1925 | |
| Massachusetts | | John Kerry (D) | January 2, 1985 | No Open seat; replaced Paul Tsongas (D) | Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts U.S. Navy Lieutenant | 1943 | |

## House of Representatives
### Took office January 3, 1983

| District | Representative | Switched party | Prior background | Birth year |
| Alabama 6 | Ben Erdreich (D) | No | County Commissioner | 1938 |
| Arizona 1 | John McCain (R) | No | U.S. Navy Captain | 1936 |
| Arizona 5 | James F. McNulty Jr. (D) | New seat | State Senator | 1925 |
| California 1 | Douglas H. Bosco (D) | Yes | State Assemblyman | 1946 |
| California 6 | Barbara Boxer (D) | No | County Supervisor | 1940 |
| California 12 | Ed Zschau (R) | No | Educator | 1940 |
| California 18 | Richard H. Lehman (D) | New seat | State Assemblyman | 1948 |
| California 26 | Howard Berman (D) | New seat | State Assemblyman | 1941 |
| California 27 | Mel Levine (D) | Yes | State Assemblyman | 1943 |
| California 34 | Esteban Torres (D) | New seat | U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO | 1930 |
| California 37 | Al McCandless (R) | New seat | County Supervisor | 1927 |
| California 43 | Ron Packard (R) | No | Mayor of Carlsbad | 1931 |
| California 44 | Jim Bates (D) | New seat | County Supervisor | 1941 |
| Connecticut 3 | Bruce Morrison (D) | Yes | Lawyer | 1944 |
| Connecticut 6 | Nancy Johnson (R) | Yes | State Senator | 1935 |
| Delaware at-large | Tom Carper (D) | Yes | Delaware State Treasurer | 1947 |
| Florida 6 | Buddy MacKay (D) | New seat | State Senator | 1933 |
| Florida 9 | Michael Bilirakis (R) | New seat | Lawyer | 1930 |
| Florida 12 | Tom Lewis (R) | No | State Senator | 1924 |
| Florida 13 | Connie Mack III (R) | New seat | Businessman | 1940 |
| Florida 16 | Lawrence J. Smith (D) | New seat | State Representative | 1941 |
| Georgia 1 | Lindsay Thomas (D) | No | Investment banker | 1943 |
| Georgia 3 | Richard Ray (D) | No | Mayor of Perry | 1927 |
| Georgia 8 | J. Roy Rowland (D) | No | State Representative | 1926 |
| Illinois 5 | Bill Lipinski (D) | No | City Alderman | 1937 |
| Illinois 17 | Lane Evans (D) | Yes | Attorney | 1951 |
| Illinois 20 | Dick Durbin (D) | Yes | Lawyer | 1944 |
| Indiana 6 | Dan Burton (R) | New seat | State Senator | 1938 |
| Indiana 8 | Frank McCloskey (D) | Yes | Mayor of Bloomington | 1939 |
| Kansas 2 | Jim Slattery (D) | Yes | State Representative | 1948 |
| Maine 1 | John R. McKernan Jr. (R) | No | State Representative | 1948 |
| Michigan 6 | Milton Robert Carr (D) | Yes | U.S. Representative | 1943 |
| Michigan 17 | Sander Levin (D) | No | State Senator | 1931 |
| Minnesota 1 | Tim Penny (DFL) | Yes | State Senator | 1951 |
| Minnesota 6 | Gerry Sikorski (DFL) | Yes | State Senator | 1948 |
| Mississippi 2 | Webb Franklin (R) | Yes | Judicial Court Judge | 1941 |
| Missouri 5 | Alan Wheat (D) | No | State Representative | 1951 |
| Nevada 1 | Harry Reid (D) | New seat | Lieutenant Governor of Nevada | 1939 |
| Nevada 2 | Barbara Vucanovich (R) | Yes | Congressional staffer | 1921 |
| New Jersey 9 | Robert Torricelli (D) | Yes | Attorney | 1951 |
| New Mexico 3 | Bill Richardson (D) | New seat | Congressional staffer | 1947 |
| New York 3 | Robert J. Mrazek (D) | Yes | County Legislator | 1945 |
| New York 11 | Edolphus Towns (D) | No | Professor | 1934 |
| New York 12 | Major Owens (D) | No | State Senator | 1936 |
| New York 25 | Sherwood Boehlert (R) | No | County Executive | 1936 |
| North Carolina 2 | Tim Valentine (D) | No | State Representative | 1926 |
| North Carolina 6 | Charles Robin Britt (D) | Yes | Lawyer | 1942 |
| North Carolina 11 | James M. Clarke (D) | Yes | State Senator | 1917 |
| Ohio 7 | Mike DeWine (R) | No | State Senator | 1947 |
| Ohio 9 | Marcy Kaptur (D) | Yes | Urban planner | 1946 |
| Ohio 12 | John Kasich (R) | Yes | State Senator | 1952 |
| Ohio 19 | Ed Feighan (D) | No | County Commissioner | 1947 |
| Oregon 2 | Bob Smith (R) | New seat | State House Speaker | 1931 |
| Pennsylvania 3 | Robert Borski (D) | Yes | State Representative | 1948 |
| Pennsylvania 4 | Joseph P. Kolter (D) | Yes | State Representative | 1926 |
| Pennsylvania 8 | Peter H. Kostmayer (D) | Yes | U.S. Representative | 1946 |
| Pennsylvania 11 | Frank Harrison (D) | Yes | Professor | 1940 |
| Pennsylvania 17 | George Gekas (R) | Yes | State Senator | 1930 |
| Pennsylvania 21 | Tom Ridge (R) | No | District Attorney | 1945 |
| South Carolina 5 | John Spratt (D) | No | Attorney | 1942 |
| South Carolina 6 | Robin Tallon (D) | Yes | State Representative | 1946 |
| Tennessee 4 | Jim Cooper (D) | New seat | Lawyer | 1954 |
| Tennessee 7 | Don Sundquist (R) | No | County Party Chair | 1936 |
| Texas 3 | Steve Bartlett (R) | No | Party official | 1947 |
| Texas 5 | John Bryant (D) | No | State Representative | 1947 |
| Texas 16 | Ron Coleman (D) | No | State Representative | 1941 |
| Texas 25 | Michael A. Andrews (D) | New seat | Attorney | 1944 |
| Texas 26 | Tom Vandergriff (D) | New seat | Mayor of Arlington | 1926 |
| Texas 27 | Solomon Ortiz (D) | New seat | County Sheriff | 1937 |
| Utah 3 | Howard C. Nielson (R) | New seat | State House Speaker | 1924 |
| Virginia 1 | Herbert H. Bateman (R) | No | State Senator | 1928 |
| Virginia 4 | Norman Sisisky (D) | Yes | State Delegate | 1927 |
| Virginia 6 | Jim Olin (D) | Yes | Vice President of General Electric | 1920 |
| Virginia 9 | Rick Boucher (D) | Yes | State Senator | 1946 |
| Washington 8 | Rod Chandler (R) | New seat | State Representative | 1942 |
| West Virginia 1 | Alan Mollohan (D) | No | U.S. Army Reserve Captain | 1943 |
| West Virginia 2 | Harley O. Staggers Jr. (D) | Yes | State Senator | 1951 |
| West Virginia 3 | Bob Wise (D) | Yes | State Senator | 1948 |
| Wisconsin 5 | Jim Moody (D) | No | State Senator | 1935 |

### Took office during the 98th Congress

| District | Representative | Took office | Switched party | Prior background | Birth year |
| Texas 6 | Phil Gramm (R) | February 12, 1983 | Yes | U.S. Representative | 1942 |
| New York 7 | Gary Ackerman (D) | March 1, 1983 | No | State Senator | 1942 |
| Colorado 6 | Daniel Schaefer (R) | March 29, 1983 | New seat/No | State Senator | 1936 |
| California 5 | Sala Burton (D) | June 21, 1983 | No | Activist | 1925 |
| Illinois 1 | Charles Hayes (D) | August 23, 1983 | No | Civil rights leader | 1918 |
| Georgia 7 | George Darden (D) | November 8, 1983 | No | State Representative | 1943 |
| Wisconsin 4 | Jerry Kleczka (D) | April 3, 1984 | No | State Senator | 1943 |
| Kentucky 7 | Chris Perkins (D) | November 6, 1984 | No | State Representative | 1954 |
| New Jersey 13 | Jim Saxton (R) | November 6, 1984 | No | State Senator | 1943 |