N.J. now has seven living former U.S. Senators — second most in U.S.

George Helmy’s departure from the United States Senate today brings the total number of living former senators from New Jersey to seven, one behind Colorado for the most in the nation.

That’s a relatively high number, considering New Jersey hasn’t ousted an incumbent senator in a general election since 1942.

Helmy joins Bill Bradley, Nicholas Brady, Jeff Chiesa, Jon Corzine, Bob Menendez and Bob Torricelli.

That leaves Georgia and Missouri in third place with six each.

New Jersey has both the youngest former U.S. Senator in the nation – the 45-year-old Helmy – and the oldest: Brady, who is 94.

Bradley, 81, was elected to the Senate in 1978 after a Hall of Fame career playing for the New York Knicks.  He won the open Senate seat of four-term incumbent Clifford Case, who had lost renomination in the GOP primary.

Brady was appointed to the Senate in 1982 to replace Harrison Williams, Jr., who had been convicted of bribery in the Abscam scandal.  He spent eight months in the Senate and went back to Washington about six years later to serve as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

In 1996, Bradley retired after eighteen years in the Senate and was replaced by Torricelli, 73, who served one term and was not on the ballot for re-election.

Corzine, 77, won a Senate seat in 2000 following Frank Lautenberg’s retirement.  He resigned after becoming Governor of New Jersey in January 2006 and appointed Menendez to succeed him.

Lautenberg returned to the Senate to replace Torricelli in 2002 and died in office in 2013. He was replaced by Jeff Chiesa, 59, who served for about five months.

Helmy took office in September to replace Menendez, 70, who resigned in August following his conviction on federal corruption charges.  Gov. Phil Murphy appointed him.

Colorado’s living ex-senators are Wayne Allred, Hank Brown, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Cory Gardner, Gary Hart, Kenneth Salazar, Mark Udall, and Tim Wirth.

Hawaii, the only state that has gone longer without electing a Republican to the U.S. Senate than New Jersey, has no living former senators.  Neither do Kentucky or Washington.