Politics / Joe Manchin 36-Year-Old Will Succeed Robert Byrd Youngest senator Carte Goodwin replaces oldest senator By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff Posted Jul 16, 2010 2:26 PM CDT Copied Carte Goodwin, who was West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin's general counsel, at the Capitol in Charleston, W.Va., Tuesday, July 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Bob Bird, File) The US Senate seat occupied by Robert Byrd, who died last month, will be temporarily filled by a former aide to West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, USA Today reports. Carte Goodwin, 36, will occupy the seat until a special election for a successor to serve out Byrd's term, which ends in 2012. Goodwin will be youngest person in the current Senate; Byrd, 92, was the oldest. After Goodwin is seated, Democrats will once again have 60 votes in the Senate, a total expected to relieve the logjam over extending unemployment benefits. (More Joe Manchin stories.) Report an error