we ve been discussing senator frank lautenberg of new jersey died monday at age of 89, the last remaining member of the senate to have served in world war ii. there are just two world war ii veterans left in the house, congressman john dingell of michigan who away the longest serving member of congress in history, and republican ralph hall of texas. lautenberg s death marks a significant decline in the number of military veterans serving in congress overall. in 1977, 81% of the senate served in the military. now that number, despite a decade of war has fallen to just 16. the house of representatives experienced a similar decline. the last great senate. former ambassador in the office of the u.s. trade representative during the clinton
state. he s a close friend and ally of governor christie. it s already been said that jeff chiesa who has been serving in the new jersey legal community and before that within the prosecutor s offices there there will, of course, be a primary in august and a 1yer7b8 election, a special election in october to replace the late senator frank lautenberg who passed away on monday. jeff chiesa said he is honored to serve in the seat but he does not intend to run for it. there is no shortage of individuals who are seeking that seat. we know democratic congressman rush holt will run. we re expecting that the mayor of newark, new jersey, cory booker will run. dana bash, now that there s been a little bit of time that has passed with the announcement of senator jeff chiesa, chiesa in
democratic new jersey congressman rush holt will run to fill the seat left vacant by the death of senator lautenberg. he sent a letter to supporters saying he believes he s the best candidate to continue the values senator lautenberg exemplified. a special election will be held in october. checking the news feed this morning, new information about those controversial unmanned drone strikes overseas. nbc news examined classified documents detailing 114 drone strikes in pakistan in 2010 and 11. the documents suggest u.s. officials sometimes target suspects based on what s called a signature terrorist profile. where they live, who they meet, and who they talk to. in those 114 strikes, there was one acknowledged civilian casualty. about a quarter of those killed were described generically as, quote, other militants. 10-year-old sarah celebrated in her hospital bed when she learned a judge had ordered her
special election for this october to fill the seat left vacant by the passing of frank lawsuiterburg, that got last one is a rotten egg especially for members of the house because it will be held at a weird time, in an off year election on a wednesday in october. these guys don t have to put their house seats at risk to run for the senate. what do they have to lose? multiple sources say new jersey congressman rush holt, resident rocket scientist of the house, apparently wants into the senate race. same for congressman frank pallown. he could still be congressman pa pallone if it fails. cory booker made clear he wants to succeed senator lautenberg, plans to make official announcement any day. who they will seek to succeed, frank lautenberg.
members of the house, because it will be held at a weird time, in an off year election on a wednesday in october. these guys don t have to put their house seats at risk to run for the senate. what do they have to lose? multiple sources say new jersey congressman rush holt, resident rocket scientist of the house, apparently wants into the senate race. same goes for congressman frank pallone in new jersey. why not? he could still be congressman pallone even if his senate bid fails. right? cory booker made clear he wants to succeed senator lautenberg, he plans to make an official announcement any day now. a cast of republicans to be determined and who will seek to succeed is, of course, frank lautenberg. his funeral was today in new york city. at the funeral he received what we should all hope to receive when our time is done. a eulogy that was among the best in the business, delivered by a man who has delivered 16 of them since he has been vice president, and he is very good at them in t