10 lawmakers who followed their fathers’ path to Congress

Rob Menendez Jr., the son of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), is set to become the next representative for New Jersey’s 8th Congressional District after winning the Democratic nomination in a solidly blue district last Tuesday. 

If the younger Menendez is elected, a new parent-child pair will be added to the list of of those who have served in Congress either at the same time or within a few years of each other. 

Here are 10 of the current members of Congress who followed in their fathers’ footsteps in serving.

Senate 

Shelley Moore Capito 

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) has served in the Senate since 2015 after serving in the House for more than a decade. She is the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Her father, Arch Moore Jr., represented the state’s 1st Congressional District for 12 years and served three terms as governor of West Virginia. During his time in Congress, Moore was a consistent supporter of civil rights legislation, voting for multiple civil rights acts in the 1950s and 1960s and the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, which banned poll taxes as a voting requirement. 

Lisa Murkowski 

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has held her Senate seat for 20 years. She replaced her father, Frank Murkowski, who had held the seat since the 1980s, stepping down in 2002 upon his election as governor of Alaska. Murkowski then appointed his daughter to serve the remaining two years of his term. 

“Above all, I felt the person I appoint to the remaining two years of my term should be someone who shares my basic philosophy, my values, but particularly one who shares on the issues of Alaska matters that are before us. Someone whose judgment I trust in representing the state and all of its people,” he said in announcing her appointment, according to the Anchorage-based Alaska Journal of Commerce. 

Rand Paul 

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has largely followed his father’s libertarian path. His father, Ron Paul, had three stints in the House representing two districts in Texas starting in the 1970s.

Their time in Congress overlapped for two years while the elder Paul served his last term in the House and his son was serving his first term in the Senate from 2011 to 2013. Ron also ran for president three times — in 1988, 2008 and 2012 — and Rand followed suit, running in 2016. 

House 

Gus Bilirakis 

Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) has served in the House for 15 years, having succeeded his father Michael Bilirakis, who served for 24 years.

Gus currently serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the same as his father. After Michael announced he would not seek reelection in 2006, Gus won election to his seat in Florida’s 9th Congressional District. 

Liz Cheney 

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) followed in the footsteps of her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, in representing Wyoming’s at-large district.

The elder Cheney held the seat for 10 years, mostly in the 1980s, before he stepped down to become secretary of Defense for former President George H.W. Bush. He was the chair of the House Republican Conference for a year and a half, a position Liz also held until she was removed from the post over her condemnation of former President Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. Dick also briefly served as House minority whip. 

Darin LaHood 

Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) has represented Illinois’ 18th Congressional District since he won a special election in 2015 to succeed Aaron Schock, who resigned amid allegations he misused campaign funds.

Ray LaHood, Darin’s father, represented the district before Schock for 14 years. Ray had announced his retirement from Congress before then-President-elect Obama announced his nomination as secretary of Transportation. Ray served as secretary for about four years. 

Andy Levin 

Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) succeeded his father in representing Michigan’s 9th Congressional District in 2019. Sander Levin had served in the House for more than 30 years before he retired at the age of 87. Sander briefly served as the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Andy Levin is currently set to face Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) in a primary in August after redistricting forced them to face off in the state’s 11th District.

Jimmy Panetta 

Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) took his seat representing California in the House almost 25 years after his father, Leon Panetta, served.

Leon served as the chair of the House Budget Committee for four years. Jimmy succeeded Sam Farr, who won a special election in 1993 to take Leon’s seat upon his resignation to become director of the Office of Management and Budget for former President Clinton.

Leon also served as Clinton’s chief of staff as well as CIA director and secretary of Defense for former President Obama. 

Nancy Pelosi 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was born while her father Thomas D’Alesandro Jr. was representing Maryland in the House. D’Alesandro was elected to five terms before he stepped down and became mayor of Baltimore for 12 years.

Pelosi was at the center of D’Alesandro’s political world, and she learned about politics from him, according to the House speaker’s website. Pelosi is the first woman to lead a party in Congress and the first female House speaker. 

Lucille Roybal-Allard 

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) has served three districts over the past 30 years in the House. She took office after her father, Edward Roybal, retired after a 30-year House career.

Edward Roybal was the first Hispanic to represent California in Congress in 80 years, according to the Library of Congress. He was one of the founding members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and served as chairman of the group in the 1980s.

Roybal-Allard, who became the first Mexican American woman to be elected to Congress in 1993, announced late last year that she would not seek reelection this year.