36-Year-Old Will Succeed Robert Byrd

Youngest senator Carte Goodwin replaces oldest senator

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 16, 2010 2:26 PM CDT

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36-Year-Old Will Succeed Robert Byrd — Carte Goodwin, who was West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin's general counsel, at the Capitol in Charleston, W.Va., Tuesday, July 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Bob Bird, File)

The US Senate seat occupied by Robert Byrd, who died last month, will be temporarily filled by a former aide to West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, USA Today reports. Carte Goodwin, 36, will occupy the seat until a special election for a successor to serve out Byrd's term, which ends in 2012. Goodwin will be youngest person in the current Senate; Byrd, 92, was the oldest.

After Goodwin is seated, Democrats will once again have 60 votes in the Senate, a total expected to relieve the logjam over extending unemployment benefits.
(More Joe Manchin stories.)

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