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Sen. Chuck Grassley, 88, announces he will seek another term in office

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa holds the gavel close while listening to testimony by Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Javier Garcia Padilla on Puerto Rico's fiscal problems, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Puerto Rico and its debt crisis takes center stage in Congress as its governor testifies before a Senate panel about the U.S. commonwealth's financial woes and the demands of creditors.(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

By: Alex Hider

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Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, announced Friday that he will run for another six-year term in office in office in 2022.

At 88, Grassley is already the oldest Republican member of the U.S. Senate. If he wins re-election in 2022 and serves out his term, which ends in January 2029, Grassley will be 95 years old.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, is the only senator older than Grassley. She was born 88 days before Grassley in 1933.

"As I travel throughout Iowa holding Q&As at my annual 99 county meetings, Iowans have encouraged me to continue my work representing them," Grassley said in a press release. "I'm glad to have the support of Iowans and I will work as hard as ever to earn their continued support in the months ahead. Iowans know how seriously I take my work representing them in the U.S. Senate to solve problems, which is why I never miss a vote."

It’s 4 a.m. in Iowa so I’m running. I do that 6 days a week. Before I start the day I want you to know what Barbara and I have decided.

I’m running for re-election—a lot more to do, for Iowa. We ask and will work for your support. Will you join us? #GrassleyRuns #GrassleyWorks pic.twitter.com/cwv8yu9wkx
— Grassley Works (@GrassleyWorks) September 24, 2021

Grassley was first elected to the Senate in 1980 — the same year President Ronald Reagan won his first term in office. He's served six six-year terms in the Senate and currently serves as the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

According to CNN, former Rep. Abby Finkenauer is the highest-profile Democrat thus far to announce a run opposite Grassley.

"After 47 years in Washington, D.C., Chuck Grassley has changed from an Iowa farmer to just another coastal elite," Finkenauer said in a statement Friday.

Iowa backed President Donald Trump in both the 2016 and 2020 elections. The state has not elected a Democratic senator since former Sen. Tom Harkin was re-elected for a fifth term in 2008.

According to The Washington Post, the current Senate class has the oldest average age in the chamber's history.

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