Congress as a Family Business: Brothers (and Sisters and Sons) in Arms

They often won by running against Washington and pledging to govern as outsiders.

But when the freshmen of the 112th Congress take their oaths of office in January, they'll find that some of their senior colleagues have made the House and Senate quite the family business

Think spouses, sisters, brothers and cousins, an octet of lawmakers serving together in one or both chambers.

Last week's Senate win by Rand Paul (R-Ky.), son of 11-term Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.), revived the category of concurrent filial service, which had been dormant for more than a year. From 1995 to 2009 it was occupied by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), who died in August 2009, and his youngest child, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), who retired this year.

Add the widows who succeeded their late husbands in office, and the progeny of parents who once called Capitol Hill home -- from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to embattled Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski -- and the number jumps to high double digits, except that we're not exploring the former/current thing here today.

Still, it pays to note the string that runs from the 4th United States Congress of 1794, when the first of six generations of the family of nine-term Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) represented the citizenry of what is now called the Garden State. A reasonable person might conclude that such service -- spanning 216 years -- by assorted Frelinghuysens proves that some American clans really do possess a politics gene.

"People go into Daddy's business as often as not. Your father has a bakery, so there is a nice shop. There is a bit of that going on," said Stephen Hess, author of "America's Political Dynasties." "But you have to start with a sense of public service, at least today, because it's not so much fun any more. The minute you throw your hat in the ring, 6,000 blogs beat down on you."

Today there are multiple family trees taking root on Capitol Hill, and unless you are an extreme electoral junkie whose idea of light reading is The Almanac of American Politics, you'll likely need a cheat sheet.

Herewith, the PoliticsDaily edition, which is limited to those relatives serving simultaneously, not successively. Thus, it excludes newly elected Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), whose father, Dan Quayle, was George H.W. Bush's vice president after representing Indiana in the Senate and House.

Let's start with romance, and the only married couple currently in Congress. Florida Republican Rep. Connie Mack IV -- elected in 2005 after his father, Connie Mack III, retired from the Senate and House -- tied the knot in 2007 with Rep. Mary Bono. She may well be the only female member in history who's had two House-husbands, the first being Rep. Sony Bono (Cher's ex), whose seat she's held since his 1998 death in a skiing accident. There was an interim hubby before she wed her current Congress-mate, and took the name Mary Bono Mack.

The first and only congressional sister act stars Reps. Linda and Loretta Sanchez, two of seven children born to Mexican immigrant parents rather than career politicians. Although both are California Democrats elected in 2002, Loretta, who is nine years older than Linda, is the more conservative of the two. Linda, who once won a charity stand-up comedy competition for Washington celebrities, is way funnier.

The Levin brothers, both liberal Michigan Democrats, are the first siblings since 1881 to hold simultaneous committee chairmanships. Sen. Carl Levin, elected in 1978, heads the Senate Armed Services panel. Rep. Sander "Sandy" Levin, his older brother who was elected in 1982, wields the gavel at the House Ways and Means Committee. Come January, however, when the Republicans take control of the House, Sandy Levin will relinquish the post he's only held since April.

As for cousins? They would be a pair of pedigreed Democrats. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) son of former Rep. Morris "Mo" Udall (D-Ariz.) -- and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), whose father was former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall. For a time, these two first cousins served with a second cousin, Republican Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon, who was defeated in 2008.

To understand how truly convoluted the kin game can be, consider the case of Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.), first elected in 2004. His father, former two-term Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, was killed in a plane crash in 2000 while campaigning for the Senate. He was elected anyway. The seat was filled his widow, Jean Carnahan, who was defeated two years later when a special election was held. While Russ Carnahan was narrowly returned to Washington this year, his sister, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, lost her bid to reclaim her parents' Senate seat.

If you ask Hess for a favorite family saga, he'll invariably mention the four Washburn(e) boys, whose impoverished family started out in Maine but, gradually during the mid-19th century, made its way across the country and into U.S. House. Although collectively they served from 1851 through 1869, their only shared year was 1861. Each, however, came from a different state. Israel Washburn represented Maine; Elihu Benjamin Washburne (who added an "e" to his surname) came from Illinois; Cadwallader Washburn hailed from Wisconsin; and William Washburn from Minnesota.

And you thought you could do this without a scorecard.