Carl Levin

Who is Carl Levin?

Carl Milton Levin is an American politician who serves as the senior United States Senator from Michigan, serving since 1979. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and is a member of the Democratic Party.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Levin is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Law School. He worked as the General Counsel of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission from 1964 to 1967, and as a special assistant attorney general for the Michigan Attorney General's Office. Levin was elected to the Detroit City Council in 1968, serving from 1969 to 1977, and was president of the City Council from 1973 to 1977.

In 1978, Levin ran for the United States Senate, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Robert P. Griffin. Levin was re-elected in 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002 and 2008. On March 7, 2013, Levin announced that he would not seek a seventh term to the Senate, and will retire in 2015. Levin has been Michigan's senior senator since 1995. He is the longest-serving senator in the state's history, and the fourth longest-serving incumbent in the U.S. Senate.