Could Allen be the next ‘comeback kid?’

Published 9:41 am Wednesday, July 6, 2011

by Isaac Wood

Bill Clinton is far from the only “comeback kid” in American politics.

Many presidents have experienced election losses before they reached the promised land of the White House. A similar story can be told in the U.S. Senate, with 31 senators leaving the chamber only to return at a later date, since the mandate of popular election was passed with the Seventeenth Amendment.

That is good news for a current Senate candidate — Virginia’s George Allen. A Republican, Allen was defeated in 2006 and is seeking to retake the Senate seat he lost to Democrat Jim Webb, who has announced he will retire, leaving the seat open.

Since 1913, only 12 men have ever served twice in the same Senate seat. Allen might look to the example of current Sen. Dan Coats, the Republican from Indiana who served for 10 years before retiring in 1999, but won back his old seat in 2010. Coats is one of only four senators to regain his old Senate seat after at least a full term’s length of six years out of office, a feat Allen must emulate as well.

The major difference between Coats and Allen is that Coats retired on his own terms, while Allen was booted by the voters, a fate he shares with 15 past senators who eventually returned to the chamber.

Of those 15 rebounding politicians, eight had served full terms prior to their defeat, like Allen. Perhaps he can take inspiration from the somewhat recent example of Slade Gorton, R-Wash., as he served one full term before being defeated in the 1986 election, but returned to win election just two years later.

Of course, Gorton’s case is not a perfect analogy to Allen’s as he is seeking redemption after six years instead of just two.

Allen seems far from ready to embrace early retirement. The good news for him is that while his path back to Capitol Hill may be unusual, it is far from unprecedented. And after November 2012, the Comeback Kid Club may have some new members.

Isaac Wood is communications director for the University of Virginia Center for Politics. He can be reached at isaac@virginia.edu.