Gov. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), who entered a Senate race Monday as a heavy favorite to succeed retiring Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D), would join a coterie of senators who have served as governors.

There are a dozen members currently in that group, which will be no larger in the 112th Congress next year even if Gov. Charlie Crist (R-Fla.), Rep. and ex-Gov. Michael N. Castle (R-Del.) and Hoeven all are elected to the Senate in November. That’s because three members of the club are retiring at the end of this year: Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio)

The other nine include Sens. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.V.), who like Gregg and Voinovich were first elected to the Senate as sitting governors. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Bond were former governors at the time of their election to the Senate, as were four senators first elected in 2008: Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.).