List of United States Senators from Illinois

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Illinois was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818, and has been represented in the United States Senate by 47 people in Class II and Class III. The Senate twice refused to seat Frank L. Smith (December 1926 for an appointed term and March 1927 for an elected one) due to corruption, but he is included in this list because Smith and the Governor considered him to be a senator for approximately two years. Three of the four African Americans to hold U.S. Senate seats since Reconstruction have held Illinois' Class III seat. The other, Edward Brooke, was elected from Massachusetts.

[edit] Class II

Senator	Party	Took office	Left office	Reason	Other offices/Notes
Jesse B. Thomas	Democratic- Republican	December 3, 1818	March 4, 1829	Retired
John McLean	Democratic	March 4, 1829	October 14, 1830	Died	Speaker of the Illinois House (1820–1822; 1826–1830) Previously served in Illinois's Class III seat
David J. Baker	Democratic	November 12, 1830	December 11, 1830	Retired
John McCracken Robinson	Democratic	December 11, 1830	March 4, 1841	Retired
Samuel McRoberts	Democratic	March 4, 1841	March 27, 1843	Died
James Semple	Democratic	December 4, 1843	March 4, 1847	Retired	Speaker of the Illinois House (1834–1838)
Stephen A. Douglas	Democratic	March 4, 1847	June 3, 1861	Died	Democratic presidential nominee (1860)
Orville Hickman Browning	Republican	June 26, 1861	January 12, 1863	Retired	Secretary of the Interior (1866–1869)
William Alexander Richardson	Democratic	January 30, 1863	March 4, 1865	Retired	Governor of the Nebraska Territory
Richard Yates	Republican	March 4, 1865	March 4, 1871	Retired	Governor of Illinois (1861–1865)
John A. Logan	Republican	March 4, 1871	March 4, 1877	Lost re-election	A House impeachment manager for the Senate trial of Andrew Johnson Later served in Illinois's Class III seat
David Davis	Independent	March 4, 1877	March 4, 1883	Retired	U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1862–1877) President pro tempore (1881–1883)
Shelby Moore Cullom	Republican	March 4, 1883	March 4, 1913		Governor of Illinois (1877–1883)
J. Hamilton Lewis	Democratic	March 26, 1913	March 4, 1919	Lost re-election	Speaker of the Illinois House (1861–1863; 1873–1875) Senate Majority Whip (1913–1919; 1933–1939)
Joseph M. McCormick	Republican	March 4, 1919	February 25, 1925	Died^[1]
Charles S. Deneen	Republican	February 26, 1925	March 4, 1931	Lost renomination	Governor of Illinois (1905–1913)
J. Hamilton Lewis	Democratic	March 4, 1931	April 9, 1939	Died	Senate Majority Whip (1913–1919; 1933–1939)
James M. Slattery	Democratic	April 14, 1939	November 21, 1940	Lost special election
Charles W. Brooks	Republican	November 22, 1940	January 3, 1949	Lost re-election
Paul Douglas	Democratic	January 3, 1949	January 3, 1967	Lost re-election
Charles H. Percy	Republican	January 3, 1967	January 3, 1985	Lost re-election
Paul Simon	Democratic	January 3, 1985	January 3, 1997	Retired	Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
Dick Durbin	Democratic	January 3, 1997	Present	Incumbent	Senate Democratic Whip (2003–) Senate Majority Whip (2007–)

[edit] Class III

Senator	Party	Took office	Left office	Reason	Other offices/Notes
Ninian Edwards	Democratic- Republican	December 3, 1818	March 4, 1824	Resigned	Chief Justice of Kentucky (1808) Governor of the Illinois Territory (1809–1818) Governor of Illinois (1826–1830)
John McLean	Democratic	November 24, 1824	March 4, 1825	Retired	Speaker of the Illinois House (1820–1822; 1826–1830)
Elias Kane	Democratic	March 4, 1825	December 12, 1835	Died
William Lee D. Ewing	Democratic	December 30, 1835	March 4, 1837	Retired	Speaker of the Illinois House (1830–1832) Governor of Illinois (1834)
Richard M. Young	Democratic	March 4, 1837	March 4, 1843	Retired
Sidney Breese	Democratic	March 4, 1843	March 4, 1849	Lost renomination	Speaker of the Illinois House (1851–1853) Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court (1867–1870; 1873–1874)
James Shields	Democratic	October 27, 1849	March 4, 1855	Lost re-election	Later a senator from Minnesota and Missouri
Lyman Trumbull	Republican	March 4, 1855	March 4, 1873
Richard James Oglesby	Republican	March 4, 1873	March 4, 1879	Retired	Governor of Illinois (1865–1869; 1873)
John A. Logan	Republican	March 4, 1879	December 26, 1886	Died	A House impeachment manager for the Senate trial of Andrew Johnson Also served in Illinois's Class I seat
Charles B. Farwell	Republican	January 19, 1887	March 4, 1891	Retired
John M. Palmer	Democratic	March 4, 1891	March 4, 1897	Retired
William E. Mason	Republican	March 4, 1897	March 4, 1903
Albert J. Hopkins	Republican	March 4, 1903	March 4, 1909	Lost re-election
William Lorimer	Republican	June 18, 1909	July 13, 1912	Election voided	The Senate held the election void based on corruption
Lawrence Yates Sherman	Republican	March 26, 1913	March 4, 1921		Speaker of the Illinois House (1899–1903) Lieutenant Governor of Illinois (1905–1909)
William B. McKinley	Republican	March 4, 1921	December 7, 1926	Died^[2]	Speaker of the Illinois House (1913–1915)
Frank L. Smith	Republican	December 7, 1926	December 3, 1928	Never seated; resigned
Otis F. Glenn	Republican	December 3, 1928	March 4, 1933	Lost re-election
William H. Dieterich	Democratic	March 4, 1933	January 3, 1939	Retired
Scott W. Lucas	Democratic	January 3, 1939	January 3, 1951	Lost re-election	Senate Minority Whip (1947–1949) Senate Majority Leader (1949–1951)
Everett Dirksen	Republican	January 3, 1951	September 7, 1969	Died	Senate Minority Leader (1959–1969)
Ralph Tyler Smith	Republican	September 17, 1969	November 3, 1970	Lost special election	Speaker of the Illinois House (1967–1969)
Adlai Stevenson III	Democratic	November 17, 1970	January 3, 1981	Retired
Alan J. Dixon	Democratic	January 3, 1981	January 3, 1993	Lost renomination
Carol Moseley Braun	Democratic	January 3, 1993	January 3, 1999	Lost re-election	First Black woman in the Senate and first Black Senator from Illinois
Peter Fitzgerald	Republican	January 3, 1999	January 3, 2005	Retired
Barack Obama	Democratic	January 3, 2005	November 16, 2008	Resigned	President of the United States (2009–)
Roland Burris	Democratic	December 31, 2008	Present	Incumbent	Illinois Attorney General (1991–1995) Illinois Comptroller (1979–1991)

[edit] Living former Illinois Senators

As of April 2010^[update], six former Senators were alive. The most recent death of a former lieutenant governor was that of Paul Simon (1969–1973), on December 9, 2003. He is also the most recent serving Senator to die. With Simon's death, only one former Class II Senator is still alive (Charles H. Percy). The other former Senators were all Class III.

Senator	Term	Date of birth
Charles H. Percy	1967–1985	September 27, 1919 (1919-09-27) (age 90)
Adlai Stevenson III	1970–1981	October 10, 1930 (1930-10-10) (age 79)
Alan J. Dixon	1981–1993	July 7, 1927 (1927-07-07) (age 83)
Carol Moseley Braun	1993–1999	August 16, 1947 (1947-08-16) (age 63)
Peter Fitzgerald	1999–2005	October 20, 1960 (1960-10-20) (age 49)
Barack Obama	2005–2008	August 4, 1961 (1961-08-04) (age 49)

[edit] See also

United States congressional delegations from Illinois

[edit] References

^ McCormick had lost his renomination bid, so would not have served a second term even had he lived.
^ McKinley had already lost his bid for renomination.

[0] McCormick had lost his renomination bid, so would not have served a second term even had he lived.

[1] McKinley had already lost his bid for renomination.

[1]

[2]

List of United States Senators from Illinois

Contents

[edit] Class II

[edit] Class III

[edit] Living former Illinois Senators

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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