List of United States senators from West Virginia
Below is a list of United States senators from West Virginia. The state's U.S. senators belong to Classes 1 and 2. West Virginia is currently represented in the Senate by Democrat Joe Manchin (serving since 2010) and Republican Shelley Moore Capito (serving since 2015), making it one of seven states to have a split United States Senate delegation.
List of senators
Class 1 Class 1 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 2000, 2006, 2012, and 2018. The next election will be in 2024. |
C |
Class 2 Class 2 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 2002, 2008, 2014, and 2020. The next election will be in 2026. | ||||||||||
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# | Senator | Party | Dates in office | Electoral history | T | T | Electoral history | Dates in office | Party | Senator | # | |
Vacant | June 19, 1863 – August 4, 1863 |
West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 19, 1863 and elected its first Senators on August 4, 1863. | 1 | 38th | 1 | West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 19, 1863 and elected its first Senators on August 4, 1863. | June 19, 1863 – August 4, 1863 |
Vacant | ||||
1 | Peter G. Van Winkle |
Unconditional Unionist | August 4, 1863 – March 3, 1869 |
Elected in 1863. | Elected in 1863. | August 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865 |
Unconditional Unionist | Waitman T. Willey |
1 | |||
39th | 2 | Re-elected in 1865. | March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1871 |
Republican | ||||||||
Republican | 40th | |||||||||||
2 | Arthur I. Boreman |
Republican | March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1875 |
Elected during the 1868/69 cycle. Retired. |
2 | 41st | ||||||
42nd | 3 | Elected in 1871. | March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1883 |
Democratic | Henry G. Davis |
2 | ||||||
43rd | ||||||||||||
3 | Allen T. Caperton |
Democratic | March 4, 1875 – July 26, 1876 |
Elected during the 1874/75 cycle. Died. |
3 | 44th | ||||||
Vacant | July 26, 1876 – August 26, 1876 |
|||||||||||
4 | Samuel Price |
Democratic | August 26, 1876 – January 26, 1877 |
Appointed to continue Caperton's term. Lost election to finish Caperton's term. | ||||||||
Vacant | January 26, 1877 – January 31, 1877 |
Seat remained vacant until Price's successor qualified. | ||||||||||
5 | Frank Hereford |
Democratic | January 31, 1877 – March 3, 1881 |
Elected January 26, 1877 to finish Caperton's term. | ||||||||
45th | 4 | Re-elected in 1877. Retired. | ||||||||||
46th | ||||||||||||
6 | Johnson N. Camden |
Democratic | March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1887 |
Elected during the 1880/81 cycle. | 4 | 47th | ||||||
48th | 5 | Elected in 1883. | March 4, 1883 – January 11, 1893 |
Democratic | John E. Kenna |
3 | ||||||
49th | ||||||||||||
7 | Charles J. Faulkner |
Democratic | March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1899 |
Elected in 1887. | 5 | 50th | ||||||
51st | 6 | Re-elected in 1889. Died. | ||||||||||
52nd | ||||||||||||
January 11, 1893 – January 25, 1893 |
Vacant | |||||||||||
Elected in 1893 to finish Kenna's term. | January 25, 1893 – March 3, 1895 |
Democratic | Johnson N. Camden |
4 | ||||||||
Re-elected in 1893. Retired. |
6 | 53rd | ||||||||||
54th | 7 | Elected January 23, 1895.[1] | March 4, 1895 – January 4, 1911 |
Republican | Stephen B. Elkins |
5 | ||||||
55th | ||||||||||||
8 | Nathan B. Scott |
Republican | March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1911 |
Elected January 25, 1899.[2] | 7 | 56th | ||||||
57th | 8 | Re-elected in 1901. | ||||||||||
58th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1905. Lost renomination. |
8 | 59th | ||||||||||
60th | 9 | Re-elected in 1907. Died. | ||||||||||
61st | ||||||||||||
January 4, 1911 – January 9, 1911 |
Vacant | |||||||||||
Appointed to continue his father's term. | January 9, 1911 – January 31, 1911 |
Republican | Davis Elkins |
6 | ||||||||
Elected in 1911 to finish Stephen Elkins' term. Lost re-election. |
February 1, 1911 – March 3, 1913 |
Democratic | Clarence W. Watson |
7 | ||||||||
9 | William E. Chilton |
Democratic | March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1917 |
Elected in 1911. Lost re-election. |
9 | 62nd | ||||||
63rd | 10 | March 4, 1913 – April 1, 1913 |
Vacant | |||||||||
Elected February 21, 1913 but took office late. Retired. |
April 1, 1913 – March 3, 1919 |
Republican | Nathan Goff Jr. |
8 | ||||||||
64th | ||||||||||||
10 | Howard Sutherland |
Republican | March 4, 1917 – March 3, 1923 |
Elected in 1916. Lost re-election. |
10 | 65th | ||||||
66th | 11 | Elected in 1918. Retired. |
March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1925 |
Republican | Davis Elkins |
9 | ||||||
67th | ||||||||||||
11 | Matthew M. Neely |
Democratic | March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1929 |
Elected in 1922. Lost re-election. |
11 | 68th | ||||||
69th | 12 | Elected in 1924. Retired. |
March 4, 1925 – March 3, 1931 |
Republican | Guy D. Goff |
10 | ||||||
70th | ||||||||||||
12 | Henry D. Hatfield |
Republican | March 4, 1929 – January 3, 1935 |
Elected in 1928. Lost re-election. |
12 | 71st | ||||||
72nd | 13 | Elected in 1930. | March 4, 1931 – January 12, 1941 |
Democratic | Matthew M. Neely |
11 | ||||||
73rd | ||||||||||||
Vacant | January 3, 1935 – June 19, 1935 |
Senator-elect was not yet qualified to serve. | 13 | 74th | ||||||||
13 | Rush Holt Sr. |
Democratic | January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1941 |
Elected in 1934. Could not take seat until reaching age 30 on June 19, 1935. Lost renomination. | ||||||||
75th | 14 | Re-elected in 1936. Resigned. | ||||||||||
76th | ||||||||||||
14 | Harley M. Kilgore |
Democratic | January 3, 1941 – February 28, 1956 |
Elected in 1940. | 14 | 77th | ||||||
Appointed to continue Neely's term. Lost election to finish Neely's term. |
January 13, 1941 – November 17, 1942 |
Democratic | Joseph Rosier |
12 | ||||||||
Elected in 1942 to finish Neely's term. Retired. |
November 18, 1942 – January 3, 1943 |
Republican | Hugh I. Shott |
13 | ||||||||
78th | 15 | Elected in 1942. Lost re-election. |
January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1949 |
Republican | Chapman Revercomb |
14 | ||||||
79th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1946. | 15 | 80th | ||||||||||
81st | 16 | Elected in 1948. | January 3, 1949 – January 8, 1958 |
Democratic | Matthew M. Neely |
15 | ||||||
82nd | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1952. Died. |
16 | 83rd | ||||||||||
84th | 17 | Re-elected in 1954. Died. | ||||||||||
Vacant | February 28, 1956 – March 13, 1956 |
|||||||||||
15 | William Laird III |
Democratic | March 13, 1956 – November 6, 1956 |
Appointed to continue Kilgore's term. Retired when his successor was elected. | ||||||||
16 | Chapman Revercomb |
Republican | November 7, 1956 – January 3, 1959 |
Elected in 1956 to finish Kilgore's term. Lost re-election. | ||||||||
85th | ||||||||||||
January 8, 1958 – January 25, 1958 |
Vacant | |||||||||||
Appointed to continue Neely's term. Lost election to finish Neely's term. |
January 25, 1958 – November 4, 1958 |
Republican | John D. Hoblitzell, Jr. |
16 | ||||||||
Elected in 1958 to finish Neely's term. | November 5, 1958 – January 3, 1985 |
Democratic | Jennings Randolph |
17 | ||||||||
17 | Robert Byrd |
Democratic | January 3, 1959 – June 28, 2010 |
Elected in 1958. | 17 | 86th | ||||||
87th | 18 | Re-elected in 1960. | ||||||||||
88th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1964. | 18 | 89th | ||||||||||
90th | 19 | Re-elected in 1966. | ||||||||||
91st | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1970. | 19 | 92nd | ||||||||||
93rd | 20 | Re-elected in 1972. | ||||||||||
94th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1976. | 20 | 95th | ||||||||||
96th | 21 | Re-elected in 1978. Retired. | ||||||||||
97th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1982. | 21 | 98th | ||||||||||
99th | 22 | January 3, 1985 – January 15, 1985 |
Vacant | |||||||||
Elected in 1984, but delayed his inauguration to finish his term as Governor of West Virginia. | January 15, 1985 – January 3, 2015 |
Democratic | Jay Rockefeller |
18 | ||||||||
100th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1988. | 22 | 101st | ||||||||||
102nd | 23 | Re-elected in 1990. | ||||||||||
103rd | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1994. | 23 | 104th | ||||||||||
105th | 24 | Re-elected in 1996. | ||||||||||
106th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 2000. | 24 | 107th | ||||||||||
108th | 25 | Re-elected in 2002. | ||||||||||
109th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 2006. Died. |
25 | 110th | ||||||||||
111th | 26 | Re-elected in 2008. Retired. | ||||||||||
Vacant | June 28, 2010 – July 16, 2010 |
|||||||||||
18 | Carte Goodwin |
Democratic | July 16, 2010 – November 15, 2010 |
Appointed to continue Byrd's term. Retired when his successor was elected. | ||||||||
19 | Joe Manchin |
Democratic | November 15, 2010 – Present |
Elected in 2010 to finish Byrd's term. | ||||||||
112th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 2012. | 26 | 113th | ||||||||||
114th | 27 | Elected in 2014. | January 3, 2015 – Present |
Republican | Shelley M. Capito |
19 | ||||||
115th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 2018. | 27 | 116th | ||||||||||
117th | 28 | Re-elected in 2020. | ||||||||||
118th | ||||||||||||
To be determined in the 2024 election. | 28 | 119th | ||||||||||
120th | 29 | To be determined in the 2026 election. | ||||||||||
# | Senator | Party | Years in office | Electoral history | T | T | Electoral history | Years in office | Party | Senator | # | |
Class 1 | Class 2 |
Living former senators
As of February 2021, there are two living former U.S. senators from West Virginia. The most recent and most recently serving Senator to die was Robert Byrd (served 1959–2010), who died in office on June 28, 2010.
Senator | Term of office | Date of birth (and age) |
---|---|---|
Jay Rockefeller | 1985–2015 | June 18, 1937 |
Carte Goodwin | 2010 | February 27, 1974 |
See also
References
- "Elkins Elected in West Virginia". The New York Times. January 24, 1895. p. 5.
- "WEST VIRGINIA'S NEW SENATOR". The New York Times. January 26, 1899. p. 2.