List of United States Senators from Massachusetts

This is a chronological listing of the United States Senators from Massachusetts.

United States Senators are popularly elected, for a six year term, beginning January 3. Elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1. Before 1914, they were chosen by the Massachusetts General Court, and before 1935, their terms began March 4.

[edit] Mid-term vacancy appointment processes

Through the 20th century, mid-term vacancies were filled with the governor's appointee, with the appointment expiring at the next biennial state election. In 2004, the Democratic-controlled state legislature changed the vacancy-filling process, mandating that a special election occur, which removed the Governor's appointment power. This statute was enacted over the veto by the Governor, Mitt Romney. The leadership of the Massachusetts legislature at the time was concerned that the Republican governor Mitt Romney would appoint a Republican if Democratic Senator John Kerry were elected President of the United States in the 2004 election.^[1][2][3][4] Generally, the law requires a special election within 145 to 160 days from the date of the filing of a Senate resignation. The law contemplates resignations that become effective some period of time after the filing of the resignation, so long as the election occurs after effective date of the resignation.^[5]

While terminally ill with brain cancer, Ted Kennedy requested that the Massachusetts legislature change the law to allow an interim appointment. Kennedy died shortly thereafter, and the legislature quickly passed a bill providing for an interim appointment.^[6] On September 24, 2009, Governor Patrick signed the bill and appointed Paul G. Kirk, who had previously served as one of Kennedy's congressional aides and as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Kirk stated he would not run in the special election.^[7]

[edit] Class 1

Class 1 U.S. Senators belong to the electoral cycle that were elected for only one U.S. Congress in the first election of 1788/1789, and then the seat was contested again for the 2nd, 5th, and every three Congresses (six years) thereafter. Those seats in recent years have been contested in 1994, 2000, 2006, and 2012, with a special election taking place in 2010.

#	Senator	Took office	Left office	Party	Residence	Background	Congress	Term	Electoral history
1	Tristram Dalton	March 4, 1789	March 3, 1791	Pro-Administration	Newbury	Massachusetts Senate	1	1	Elected in 1789 Lost re-election
2	George Cabot	March 4, 1791	June 9, 1796	Pro-Administration	Salem	Delegate to the Constitutional Convention	2	2	Elected in 1791 Resigned
				Federalist			3
							4
3	Benjamin Goodhue	June 11, 1796	November 8, 1800	Federalist	Salem	U.S. Representative (10th district)			Elected to finish Cabot's term
							5	3	Elected to full term in 1797 Resigned
							6
4	Jonathan Mason	November 14, 1800	March 3, 1803	Federalist	Boston	Massachusetts Senate			Elected to finish Goodhue's term
							7
5	John Quincy Adams	March 4, 1803	June 8, 1808	Federalist	Boston	President of the United States (1825-1829) Minister to Prussia	8	4	Elected in 1802 Resigned
							9
							10
6	James Lloyd	June 9, 1808	May 1, 1813	Federalist	Boston	Massachusetts Senate			Elected to finish Adams's term
							11	5	Elected to full term in 1809 Resigned
							12
							13
7	Christopher Gore	May 5, 1813	May 30, 1816	Federalist	Boston	Governor of Massachusetts			Appointed to finish Lloyd's term
							14	6	Elected to full term in 1815 Resigned
Vacant		June 1, 1816	June 11, 1816
8	Eli P. Ashmun	June 12, 1816	May 10, 1818	Federalist	Northampton	Massachusetts Senate			Elected to finish Gore's term Resigned
							15
Vacant		May 11, 1818	June 4, 1818
9	Prentiss Mellen	June 5, 1818	May 15, 1820	Federalist	Portland, Maine	Lawyer			Elected to finish Ashmun's term Resigned to become Chief Justice of Maine
							16
Vacant		May 16, 1820	June 11, 1820
10	Elijah H. Mills	June 12, 1820	March 3, 1827	Adams	Northampton	Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives			Elected to finish Mellen's term
							17	7	Elected to full term in 1820 Lost re-election in 1826
							18
							19
Vacant		March 4, 1827	December 17, 1827				20	8
11	Daniel Webster	December 17, 1827	February 22, 1841	Adams/Anti-Jackson	Boston	U.S. Representative (1st district)			Elected in 1827
							21
							22
							23	9	Re-elected in 1833
							24
				Whig			25
							26	10	Re-elected in 1839 Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of State
12	Rufus Choate	February 23, 1841	March 3, 1845	Whig	Boston	U.S. Representative (2nd district)			Elected to finish Webster's term Retired
							27
							28
13	Daniel Webster	March 4, 1845	July 22, 1850	Whig	Boston	U.S. Secretary of State	29	11	Elected in 1845 Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of State again
							30
							31
Vacant		July 23, 1850	July 29, 1850
14	Robert Charles Winthrop	July 30, 1850	February 1, 1851	Whig	Boston	Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives			Appointed to continue Webster's term Lost election to finish Webster's term
15	Robert Rantoul, Jr.	February 1, 1851	March 3, 1851	Democratic	Boston	U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts			Elected to finish Webster's term Retired
Vacant		March 4, 1851	April 24, 1851				32	12	In 1851, Democrats gained control of the Massachusetts General Court in coalition with the Free Soilers. However, the legislature deadlocked on who should succeed Daniel Webster. Democrats refused to vote for Charles Sumner (the Free Soilers' choice). After a three-month impasse, Sumner was elected on April 24.
16	Charles Sumner	April 24, 1851	March 11, 1874	Free Soil	Boston	Lawyer			Elected in 1851
							33
				Opposition			34
				Republican			35	13	Re-elected in 1857
							36
							37
							38	14	Re-elected in 1863
							39
							40
							41	15	Re-elected in 1869 Died
							42
							43
Vacant		March 12, 1874	April 16, 1874
17	William B. Washburn	April 17, 1874	March 3, 1875	Republican	Greenfield	Governor of Massachusetts			Elected to finish Sumner's term Retired
18	Henry L. Dawes	March 4, 1875	March 3, 1893	Republican	Pittsfield	U.S. Representative (11th district)	44	16	Elected in 1875
							45
							46
							47	17	Re-elected in 1881
							48
							49
							50	18	Re-elected in 1887 Retired
							51
							52
19	Henry Cabot Lodge	March 4, 1893	November 9, 1924	Republican	Nahant	U.S. Representative (6th district)	53	19	Elected in 1893
							54
							55
							56	20	Re-elected in 1898
							57
							58
							59	21	Re-elected in 1904
							60
							61
							62	22	Re-elected in 1910
							63
							64
							65	23	Re-elected in 1916
							66
							67
							68	24	Re-elected in 1922 Died
Vacant		November 10, 1924	November 12, 1924
20	William M. Butler	November 13, 1924	December 6, 1926	Republican	Boston	Chairman of the Republican National Committee			Appointed to continue Lodge's term Lost election to finish Lodge's term
							69
21	David I. Walsh	December 6, 1926	January 3, 1947	Democratic	Fitchburg	U.S. Senator (class 2)			Elected to finish Lodge's term
							70
							71	25	Elected to full term in 1928
							72
							73
							74	26	Re-elected in 1934
							75
							76
							77	27	Re-elected in 1940 Lost re-election
							78
							79
22	Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.	January 3, 1947	January 3, 1953	Republican	Beverly	U.S. Senator (class 2)	80	28	Elected in 1946 Lost re-election
							81
							82
23	John F. Kennedy	January 3, 1953	December 22, 1960	Democratic	Boston	U.S. Representative (11th district) Later served as U.S. President (1961-1963)	83	29	Elected in 1952
							84
							85
							86	30	Re-elected in 1958 Resigned to become U.S. President
Vacant		December 23, 1960	December 27, 1960
24	Benjamin A. Smith II	December 27, 1960	November 7, 1962	Democratic	Gloucester	Mayor of Gloucester			Appointed to continue John Kennedy's term Retired
							87
25	Ted Kennedy	November 7, 1962	August 25, 2009	Democratic	Boston/Hyannis Port	Lawyer			Elected to finish John Kennedy's term
							88
							89	31	Elected to full term in 1964
							90
							91
							92	32	Re-elected in 1970
							93
							94
							95	33	Re-elected in 1976
							96
							97
							98	34	Re-elected in 1982
							99
							100
							101	35	Re-elected in 1988
							102
							103
							104	36	Re-elected in 1994
							105
							106
							107	37	Re-elected in 2000
							108
							109
							110	38	Re-elected in 2006 Died
							111
Vacant		August 25, 2009	September 24, 2009
26	Paul G. Kirk	September 24, 2009	February 4, 2010	Democratic	Marstons Mills	Attorney; Chairman of the Democratic National Committee			Appointed to continue Ted Kennedy's term Retired when elected successor qualified
27	Scott Brown	February 4, 2010	Incumbent	Republican	Wrentham	Attorney; US Army National Guard officer; Massachusetts Senate and House			Elected to finish Ted Kennedy's term
#	Senator	Took office	Left office	Party	Residence	Background	Congress	Term	Electoral history

[edit] Class 2

Class 2 U.S. Senators belong to the electoral cycle that were elected for the first two United States Congresses in the first election in 1788 and whose seats in recent years are contested in 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014.

#	Senator	Took office	Left office	Party	Residence	Background	Congress	Term	Electoral history
1	Caleb Strong	March 4, 1789	June 1, 1796	Pro-Administration	Northampton	Delegate to Constitutional Convention	1	1	Elected in 1789
							2
							3	2	Re-elected in 1793 Resigned
							4
Vacant		June 2, 1796	June 10, 1796
2	Theodore Sedgwick	June 11, 1796	March 3, 1799	Federalist	Stockbridge	U.S. Representative (1st district)			Elected in 1796 Retired to run the U.S. House of Representatives
							5
3	Samuel Dexter	March 4, 1799	May 30, 1800	Federalist	Lunenberg	U.S. Representative (1st district)	6	3	Elected in 1799 Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of War
Vacant		June 1, 1800	June 5, 1800
4	Dwight Foster	June 6, 1800	March 2, 1803	Federalist	Brookfield	U.S. Representative (4th district)			Elected to finish Dexter's term Resigned
							7
5	Timothy Pickering	March 4, 1803	March 3, 1811	Federalist	Wenham	U.S. Secretary of State	8		Elected to finish Foster's term
							9	4	Elected to full term in 1804 Lost re-election
							10
							11
Vacant		March 4, 1811	June 28, 1811				12	5
6	Joseph Bradley Varnum	June 29, 1811	March 3, 1817	Democratic-Republican	Dracut	Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives			Elected to finish term
							13
							14
7	Harrison Gray Otis	March 4, 1817	May 30, 1822	Federalist	Boston	Massachusetts Senate	15	6	Elected Resigned
							16
							17
8	James Lloyd	June 5, 1822	May 23, 1826	Federalist	Boston	U.S. Senator			Elected to finish Otis's term
							18	7	Elected to full term in 1824 Resigned
				Adams			19
9	Nathaniel Silsbee	May 31, 1826	March 3, 1835	Adams/ Anti-Jackson	Salem	U.S. Representative (2nd district)			Elected to finish Lloyd's term
							20
							21	8	Elected to full term in 1830 Retired
							22
							23
10	John Davis	March 4, 1835	January 5, 1841	Anti-Jackson	Worcester	Governor of Massachusetts	24	9	Elected in 1835 Resigned to become Governor of Massachusetts
				Whig			25
							26
11	Isaac C. Bates	January 13, 1841	March 16, 1845	Whig	Northampton	U.S. Representative (8th district)			Appointed to finish Davis's term
							27	10	Elected to full term Died
							28
							29
12	John Davis	March 24, 1845	March 3, 1853	Whig	Worcester	Governor of Massachusetts			Elected to finish Bates's term
							30	11	Elected to full term in 1847 Retired
							31
							32
13	Edward Everett	March 4, 1853	June 1, 1854	Whig	Boston	U.S. Secretary of State	33	12	Elected Resigned
14	Julius Rockwell	June 3, 1854	January 31, 1855	Whig	Pittsfield	U.S. Representative (7th district)			Appointed to continue Rockwell's term Successor was elected
15	Henry Wilson	January 31, 1855	March 3, 1873	Free Soil	Natick	Newspaper Publisher			Elected to finish Rockwell's term
				Know-nothing			34
				Opposition
				Republican			35
							36	13	Elected to full term in 1859
							37
							38
							39	14	Re-elected in 1865
							40
							41
							42	15	Re-elected in 1871 Resigned to become U.S. Vice President
Vacant		March 3, 1873	March 17, 1873				43
16	George S. Boutwell	March 17, 1873	March 3, 1877	Republican	Groton	U.S. Secretary of the Treasury			Elected to finish Wilson's term
							44
17	George Frisbie Hoar	March 4, 1877	September 30, 1904	Republican	Worcester	U.S. Representative (9th district)	45	16	Elected in 1877
							46
							47
							48	17	Re-elected in 1883
							49
							50
							51	18	Re-elected in 1889
							52
							53
							54	19	Re-elected in 1895
							55
							56
							57	20	Re-elected in 1901 Died
							58
18	Winthrop Murray Crane	October 12, 1904	March 3, 1913	Republican	Dalton	Governor of Massachusetts			Appointed to continue Hoar's term Elected to finish Hoar's term
							59
							60	21	Elected to full term in 1907 Retired
							61
							62
19	John W. Weeks	March 4, 1913	March 3, 1919	Republican	West Newton	U.S. Representative (12th district)	63	22	Elected in 1912 Lost re-election
							64
							65
20	David I. Walsh	March 4, 1919	March 3, 1925	Democratic	Fitchburg	Governor of Massachusetts	66	23	Elected in 1918 Lost re-election
							67
							68
21	Frederick H. Gillett	March 4, 1925	March 3, 1931	Republican	Springfield	Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives	69	24	Elected in 1924 Retired
							70
							71
22	Marcus A. Coolidge	March 4, 1931	January 3, 1937	Democratic	Fitchburg	Businessman	72	25	Elected in 1930 Retired
							73
							74
23	Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.	January 3, 1937	February 3, 1944	Republican	Beverly	Massachusetts House of Representatives	75	26	Elected in 1936
							76
							77
							78	27	Re-elected in 1942 Resigned to return to active duty in the U.S. Army
Vacant		February 4, 1944	February 7, 1944
24	Sinclair Weeks	February 8, 1944	December 19, 1944	Republican	West Newton	Treasurer of the Republican National Committee			Appointed to continue Lodge's term Retired & resigned early
Vacant		December 20, 1944	January 3, 1945
25	Leverett Saltonstall	January 3, 1945	January 3, 1967	Republican	Dover	Governor of Massachusetts	79		Elected to finish Lodge's term
							80
							81	28	Re-elected in 1948
							82
							83
							84	29	Re-elected in 1954
							85
							86
							87	30	Re-elected in 1960 Retired
							88
							89
26	Edward Brooke	January 3, 1967	January 3, 1979	Republican	Newton Centre	Attorney General of Massachusetts	90	31	Elected in 1966
							91
							92
							93	32	Re-elected in 1972 Lost re-election
							94
							95
27	Paul Tsongas	January 3, 1979	January 2, 1985	Democratic	Lowell	U.S. Representative (5th district)	96	33	Elected in 1978 Retired & resigned 1 day early to give successor preferential seniority
							97
							98
28	John Kerry	January 2, 1985	Incumbent	Democratic	Boston	Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts			Appointed early to finish Tsongas's term, having already been elected to the next term
							99	34	Elected in 1984
							100
							101
							102	35	Re-elected in 1990
							103
							104
							105	36	Re-elected in 1996
							106
							107
							108	37	Re-elected in 2002
							109
							110
							111	38	Re-elected in 2008
#	Senator	Took office	Left office	Party	Residence	Background	Congress	Term	Electoral history

[edit] References