How long has Mitch McConnell been Senator of Kentucky? How many terms has he served?

Elected to the Senate in 1984, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is the longest-serving senator from his home state. He also holds the record for the longest-serving GOP leader in Congress’s upper chamber, and his resignation from leadership raises the question of who will follow and succeed him.

The GOP has until November to determine who will fill the position, but it is likely to fall to another member of the current Republican leadership team.

Sen. McConnell’s life before the Senate

Sen. McConnell won re-election in 2020, meaning that once he resigns from his role as party leader, he will have two more years until his term ends. Based on the comments made by McConnell when announcing his resignation from leadership, it seems unlikely that he would seek another term.

Before being elected to the US Senate, Sen. McConnell served as the Executive of Jefferson County from 1977 to 1984. He also served in the Ford Adminstration as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legislative Affairs.

In his first election to the US Senate, McConnell faced off and unseated Democrat Walter Dee Huddleston. The race was very close, with McConnell beating the incumbent Democrat by 3,437 votes. This race was the most competitive McConnell faced in the seven he has run in throughout his career. Huddleston had served in the Senate since 1973, and after losing re-election, he would return to his home state to become a lobbyist for railroad, tobacco, and agricultural groups.

In the most recent election, the Kentucky leader faced off against Democrat Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot who failed to secure even forty percent of the vote in an election with some of the highest levels of voter turnout seen in recent years.