Oldest Serving Member Of The House Loses To Tea Party Opponent

Enlarge this image toggle caption LM Otero/AP LM Otero/AP

The oldest member of Congress has lost his bid for an 18th term in the House.

Rep. Ralph Hall of Texas, 91, was defeated in a Republican primary runoff by John Ratcliffe, 48, a former U.S. attorney with Tea Party support.

Hall, who has been in the House since 1981, is also the last member to have served in World War II, our Newscast Desk reports. No Democrat is running in the district, which runs from suburban Dallas to the Louisiana and Oklahoma borders.

Hall still runs two miles every day, writes Ben Kamisar of the Dallas News. "The district has only had four representatives since 1903, including legendary House Speaker Sam Rayburn. Hall's tenure covers nearly a third of that span."

Kamisar's article continues: "To address questions about his age, Hall posted an ad before the March primary in which he playfully explained his many wrinkles, saying he'd earned them fighting for conservative values.

"In an interview, he described himself 'as healthy as a radish'."