If you're looking for a word to describe all 10 of the people who represent Minnesota in Washington, D.C., here's a suggestion: old.

University of Minnesota political scientist and number cruncher Eric Ostermeier notes in his "Smart Politics" blog that the average age of our current Congressional delegation is 59.8 years old, which makes it the oldest group the state has ever sent to Washington.

Ostermeier says this is also the first Congress with no one younger than 50 representing Minnesota.

The oldest Minnesotans in the U.S. House are Rick Nolan (pictured above), who just turned 73 last month, and Collin Peterson, who is 72.

Ostermeier says since it became a state Minnesota has sent more than 130 people to the House and Nolan and Peterson are the fifth and seventh oldest, respectively. They'll move up on that list later this year (barring any unforeseen tragedies, of course).

Erik Paulsen is currently the youngest Minnesotan in Congress at 51.

The oldest Minnesotan ever to serve in Washington was Sen. Knute Nelson, who was 80 when he died in office in 1923, Ostermeier says.

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