# List of new members of the 105th United States Congress

The 105th United States Congress began on January 3, 1997. There were fourteen new senators (six Democrats, eight Republicans) and 72 new representatives (42 Democrats, 30 Republicans) at the start of the first session. Additionally, nine representatives (five Democrats, four Republicans) took office on various dates in order to fill vacancies during the 105th Congress before it ended on January 3, 1999.

## Senate

| State | Senator | Seniority | Switched party | Prior background | Birth year |
| Alabama | Jeff Sessions (R) | 10th (96th overall) | Yes Open seat; replaced Howell Heflin (D) | Alabama Attorney General U.S. Attorney | 1946 |
| Arkansas | Tim Hutchinson (R) | 7th (93rd overall) | Yes Open seat; replaced David Pryor (D) | U.S. House of Representatives Arkansas House of Representatives | 1949 |
| Colorado | Wayne Allard (R) | 5th (91st overall) | No Open seat; replaced Hank Brown (R) | U.S. House of Representatives Colorado Senate | 1943 |
| Georgia | Max Cleland (D) | 8th (94th overall) | No Open seat; replaced Sam Nunn (D) | Georgia Secretary of State Administrator of Veterans Affairs Georgia State Senate | 1942 |
| Illinois | Dick Durbin (D) | 2nd (88th overall) | No Open seat; replaced Paul Simon (D) | U.S. House of Representatives | 1944 |
| Kansas | Pat Roberts (R) | 1st (87th overall) | No Open seat; replaced Nancy Kassebaum (R) | U.S. House of Representatives | 1936 |
| Louisiana | Mary Landrieu (D) | 9th (95th overall) | No Open seat; replaced J. Bennett Johnston (D) | Louisiana State Treasurer Louisiana House of Representatives | 1955 |
| Maine | Susan Collins (R) | 13th (99th overall) | No Open seat; replaced William Cohen (R) | None | 1952 |
| Nebraska | Chuck Hagel (R) | 12th (98th overall) | Yes Open seat; replaced J. James Exon (D) | None | 1946 |
| New Jersey | Robert Torricelli (D) | 3rd (89th overall) | No Open seat; replaced Bill Bradley (D) | U.S. House of Representatives | 1951 |
| Oregon | Gordon H. Smith (R) | 11th (97th overall) | No Open seat; replaced Mark Hatfield (R) | Oregon State Senate | 1952 |
| Rhode Island | Jack Reed (D) | 6th (92nd overall) | No Open seat; replaced Claiborne Pell (D) | U.S. House of Representatives Rhode Island Senate | 1949 |
| South Dakota | Tim Johnson (D) | 4th (90th overall) | Yes Defeated Larry Pressler (R) | U.S. House of Representatives South Dakota Senate South Dakota House of Representatives | 1946 |
| Wyoming | Mike Enzi (R) | 14th (100th overall) | No Open seat; replaced Alan Simpson (R) | Wyoming Senate Wyoming House of Representatives Mayor of Gillette | 1944 |

## House of Representatives
### Took office January 3, 1997

| District | Representative | Switched party | Prior background | Birth year |
| Alabama 3 | Bob Riley (R) | Yes | Businessman | 1944 |
| Alabama 4 | Robert Aderholt (R) | Yes | Judge | 1965 |
| Arkansas 1 | Robert Marion Berry (D) | No | Domestic Policy Council | 1942 |
| Arkansas 2 | Vic Snyder (D) | No | State Senator | 1947 |
| Arkansas 3 | Asa Hutchinson (R) | No | U.S. Attorney | 1950 |
| California 10 | Ellen Tauscher (D) | Yes | Campaign chair | 1951 |
| California 22 | Walter Capps (D) | Yes | Professor | 1934 |
| California 24 | Brad Sherman (D) | No | State Board of Equalization | 1954 |
| California 27 | James E. Rogan (R) | No | State Assemblyman | 1957 |
| California 46 | Loretta Sanchez (D) | Yes | Financial analyst | 1960 |
| Colorado 1 | Diana DeGette (D) | No | State Representative | 1957 |
| Colorado 4 | Bob Schaffer (R) | No | State Senator | 1962 |
| Connecticut 5 | James H. Maloney (D) | Yes | State Senator | 1948 |
| Florida 2 | Allen Boyd (D) | No | State Representative | 1945 |
| Florida 11 | Jim Davis (D) | No | State Representative | 1957 |
| Florida 19 | Robert Wexler (D) | No | State Senator | 1961 |
| Illinois 5 | Rod Blagojevich (D) | Yes | State Representative | 1956 |
| Illinois 7 | Danny K. Davis (D) | No | County Commissioner | 1941 |
| Illinois 20 | John Shimkus (R) | Yes | Army Lieutenant colonel | 1958 |
| Indiana 7 | Edward A. Pease (R) | No | State Senator | 1951 |
| Indiana 10 | Julia Carson (D) | No | State Senator | 1938 |
| Iowa 3 | Leonard Boswell (D) | Yes | State Senator | 1934 |
| Kansas 1 | Jerry Moran (R) | No | State Senator | 1954 |
| Kansas 3 | Vince Snowbarger (R) | No | State Representative | 1949 |
| Kentucky 3 | Anne Northup (R) | Yes | State Representative | 1948 |
| Louisiana 5 | John Cooksey (R) | Yes | Air Force Reserve Command | 1941 |
| Louisiana 7 | Chris John (D) | Yes | State Representative | 1960 |
| Maine 1 | Tom Allen (D) | Yes | Mayor of Portland | 1945 |
| Massachusetts 3 | Jim McGovern (D) | Yes | Congressional staffer | 1959 |
| Massachusetts 6 | John F. Tierney (D) | Yes | Attorney | 1951 |
| Massachusetts 10 | Bill Delahunt (D) | No | District attorney | 1941 |
| Michigan 8 | Debbie Stabenow (D) | Yes | State Senator | 1950 |
| Michigan 15 | Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D) | No | State Representative | 1945 |
| Mississippi 3 | Chip Pickering (R) | Yes | Businessman | 1963 |
| Missouri 7 | Roy Blunt (R) | No | Secretary of State of Missouri | 1950 |
| Missouri 9 | Kenny Hulshof (R) | Yes | Prosecutor | 1958 |
| Montana at-large | Rick Hill (R) | Yes | Surety | 1946 |
| Nevada 2 | Jim Gibbons (R) | No | State Assemblyman | 1944 |
| New Hampshire 1 | John E. Sununu (R) | No | Mechanical engineer | 1964 |
| New Jersey 8 | Bill Pascrell (D) | Yes | State Assemblyman | 1937 |
| New Jersey 9 | Steve Rothman (D) | No | Mayor of Englewood | 1952 |
| New Jersey 12 | Michael James Pappas (R) | No | Chosen Freeholder | 1960 |
| New York 4 | Carolyn McCarthy (D) | Yes | Licensed practical nurse | 1944 |
| North Carolina 2 | Bob Etheridge (D) | Yes | Superintendent of Public Instruction | 1941 |
| North Carolina 4 | David Price (D) | Yes | Professor | 1940 |
| North Carolina 7 | Mike McIntyre (D) | No | Lawyer | 1956 |
| Ohio 6 | Ted Strickland (D) | Yes | U.S. Representative | 1941 |
| Ohio 10 | Dennis Kucinich (D) | Yes | State Senator | 1946 |
| Oklahoma 3 | Wes Watkins (R) | Yes | Air National Guard | 1938 |
| Oregon 2 | Robert Freeman Smith (R) | No | U.S. Representative | 1931 |
| Oregon 5 | Darlene Hooley (D) | Yes | State Representative | 1939 |
| Pennsylvania 5 | John E. Peterson (R) | No | State Senator | 1938 |
| Pennsylvania 16 | Joe Pitts (R) | No | State Representative | 1939 |
| Rhode Island 2 | Robert Weygand (D) | No | Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island | 1948 |
| South Dakota at-large | John Thune (R) | Yes | Legislative aide | 1961 |
| Tennessee 1 | Bill Jenkins (R) | No | State Representative | 1936 |
| Tennessee 9 | Harold Ford Jr. (D) | No | Congressional staffer | 1970 |
| Texas 1 | Max Sandlin (D) | No | County judge | 1952 |
| Texas 2 | Jim Turner (D) | No | State Senator | 1946 |
| Texas 5 | Pete Sessions (R) | Yes | Marketing manager | 1955 |
| Texas 8 | Kevin Brady (R) | No | State Representative | 1955 |
| Texas 9 | Nick Lampson (D) | Yes | Tax assessor | 1945 |
| Texas 12 | Kay Granger (R) | Yes | Mayor of Fort Worth | 1943 |
| Texas 14 | Ron Paul (R) | No | U.S. Representative | 1935 |
| Texas 15 | Rubén Hinojosa (D) | No | State Board of Education | 1940 |
| Texas 16 | Silvestre Reyes (D) | No | U.S. Border Patrol | 1944 |
| Utah 2 | Merrill Cook (R) | No | Explosives manufacturer | 1946 |
| Utah 3 | Chris Cannon (R) | Yes | Venture capitalist | 1950 |
| Virginia 5 | Virgil Goode (D) | No | State Senator | 1946 |
| Washington 9 | Adam Smith (D) | Yes | State Senator | 1965 |
| Wisconsin 3 | Ron Kind (D) | Yes | District attorney | 1963 |
| Wisconsin 8 | Jay W. Johnson (D) | Yes | Broadcaster | 1943 |

### Took office during the 105th Congress

| District | Representative | Took office | Switched party | Prior background | Birth year |
| New York 13 | Vito Fossella (R) | April 11, 1997 | No | City Councilor | 1965 |
| Texas 28 | Ciro Rodriguez (D) | April 12, 1997 | No | State Representative | 1946 |
| New Mexico 3 | Bill Redmond (R) | May 13, 1997 | Yes | Chaplain | 1955 |
| New York 6 | Gregory Meeks (D) | February 3, 1998 | No | State Assemblyman | 1953 |
| California 22 | Lois Capps (D) | March 17, 1998 | No | Nurse | 1938 |
| California 44 | Mary Bono (R) | April 7, 1998 | No | Waitress | 1961 |
| California 9 | Barbara Lee (D) | April 21, 1998 | No | State Senator | 1946 |
| Pennsylvania 1 | Bob Brady (D) | May 19, 1998 | No | Professor | 1945 |
| New Mexico 1 | Heather Wilson (R) | June 25, 1998 | No | Air Force Captain | 1960 |