List of United States Senators

Each state elects two senators to the United States Senate. Until 1913 Senators were chosen by the state legislatures. In 1913, the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution provided for the direct popular election of senators.

The current party composition of the Senate is:

+	Republicans: 55
+	Democrats: 44
+	Independent: 1

Contents

1 Leadership

1.1 Majority leadership
1.2 Minority leadership

2 List of current members of the United States Senate

3 See also

Leadership

The Vice President of the United States also serves as President of the Senate and is empowered with the duty of presiding over all proceedings and breaking tie votes. However, in practice, the Vice President rarely enters the Senate chamber, and the members of the Senate choose a President pro tempore (usually the most senior member of the majority party) to stand in the Vice President's absence. However, even the President pro tempore delegates his duties as presiding officer in the Senate chamber to junior members because (unlike in the House) the presiding officer is accorded with little authority.

The agenda of the Senate is determined by the Majority floor leader (leader of the party with a majority of seats), who is assisted by a Majority whip (responsible for "whipping" party members in line). Their counterparts across the aisle are the Minority floor leader and Minority whip.

When the major parties are evenly split, the party affiliation of the Vice President, as the tie-breaker vote, determines which is the majority party.

Position	Name	Party	State	Since
<tr bgcolor=#FFE8E8> <td>President	Richard B. Cheney (ex officio, Vice President of the United States)	Republican	Wyoming	2001
<tr bgcolor=#FFE8E8> <td>President Pro Tempore	Theodore F. Stevens	Republican	Alaska	2003

Majority leadership

Position	Name	Party	State	Since
<tr bgcolor=#FFE8E8> <td>Majority Leader	William H. Frist	Republican	Tennessee	2003
<tr bgcolor=#FFE8E8> <td>Republican Whip	A. Mitchell McConnell Jr.	Republican	Kentucky	2003
<tr bgcolor=#FFE8E8> <td>Republican Conference Chairman	Richard J. Santorum	Republican	Pennsylvania	2001
<tr bgcolor=#FFE8E8> <td>Republican Policy Committee Chairman	Jon L. Kyl	Republican	Arizona	2003
<tr bgcolor=#FFE8E8> <td>Republican Conference Secretary	Kay Bailey Hutchison	Republican	Texas	2001
<tr bgcolor=#FFE8E8> <td>Republican Campaign Committee Chairman	Elizabeth H. Dole	Republican	North Carolina	2005

Minority leadership

Position	Name	Party	State	Since
<tr bgcolor=#DDEEFF> <td>Minority Leader	Harry M. Reid	Democratic	Nevada	2005
<tr bgcolor=#DDEEFF> <td>Democratic Whip	Richard J. Durbin	Democratic	Illinois	2005
<tr bgcolor=#DDEEFF> <td>Democratic Conference Chairman	Harry M. Reid (also Democratic leader)	Democratic	Nevada	2005
<tr bgcolor=#DDEEFF> <td>Democratic Policy Committee Chairman	Byron L. Dorgan	Democratic	North Dakota	2003
<tr bgcolor=#DDEEFF> <td>Democratic Conference Secretary	Deborah A. Stabenow	Democratic	Michigan	2005
<tr bgcolor=#DDEEFF> <td>Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman	Charles E. Schumer	Democratic	New York	2005

List of current members of the United States Senate

Senator	State	Party	First elected	Seat Up
Richard C. Shelby	Alabama	Republican	1986	2010
Jefferson B. Sessions III	Alabama	Republican	1996	2008
Theodore F. Stevens	Alaska	Republican	1968	2008
Lisa Murkowski	Alaska	Republican	2002	2010
John S. McCain III	Arizona	Republican	1986	2010
Jon L. Kyl	Arizona	Republican	1994	2006
Blanche L. Lincoln	Arkansas	Democrat	1998	2010
Mark Pryor	Arkansas	Democrat	2002	2008
Dianne G. B. Feinstein	California	Democrat	1992	2006
Barbara L. Boxer	California	Democrat	1992	2010
A. Wayne Allard	Colorado	Republican	1996	2008
Ken Salazar	Colorado	Democrat	2004	2010
Christopher J. Dodd	Connecticut	Democrat	1980	2010
Joseph I. Lieberman	Connecticut	Democrat	1988	2006
Joseph R. Biden Jr.	Delaware	Democrat	1972	2008
Thomas R. Carper	Delaware	Democrat	2000	2006
C. William Nelson	Florida	Democrat	2000	2006
Melquiades R. Martinez	Florida	Republican	2004	2010
C. Saxby Chambliss	Georgia	Republican	2002	2008
Johnny Isakson	Georgia	Republican	2004	2010
Daniel K. Inouye	Hawaii	Democrat	1962	2010
Daniel K. Akaka	Hawaii	Democrat	1990	2006
Larry E. Craig	Idaho	Republican	1990	2008
Michael D. Crapo	Idaho	Republican	1998	2010
Richard J. Durbin	Illinois	Democrat	1996	2008
Barack Obama	Illinois	Democrat	2004	2010
Richard G. Lugar	Indiana	Republican	1976	2006
B. Evans "Evan" Bayh III	Indiana	Democrat	1998	2010
Charles E. Grassley	Iowa	Republican	1980	2010
Thomas R. Harkin	Iowa	Democrat	1984	2008
Samuel D. Brownback	Kansas	Republican	1996	2010
C. Patrick Roberts	Kansas	Republican	1996	2008
A. Mitchell McConnell Jr.	Kentucky	Republican	1984	2008
James P. D. Bunning	Kentucky	Republican	1998	2010
Mary L. Landrieu	Louisiana	Democrat	1996	2008
David Vitter	Louisiana	Republican	2004	2010
Olympia J. Snowe	Maine	Republican	1994	2006
Susan M. Collins	Maine	Republican	1996	2008
Paul S. Sarbanes	Maryland	Democrat	1976	2006 (leaving)
Barbara A. Mikulski	Maryland	Democrat	1986	2010
Edward M. Kennedy	Massachusetts	Democrat	1962	2006
John F. Kerry	Massachusetts	Democrat	1984	2008
Carl M. Levin	Michigan	Democrat	1978	2008
Deborah A. Stabenow	Michigan	Democrat	2000	2006
Mark Dayton	Minnesota	Democrat	2000	2006 (leaving)
Norm Coleman	Minnesota	Republican	2002	2008
W. Thad Cochran	Mississippi	Republican	1978	2008
C. Trent Lott Jr.	Mississippi	Republican	1988	2006
Christopher S. "Kit" Bond	Missouri	Republican	1986	2010
James M. Talent	Missouri	Republican	2002	2006
Max S. Baucus	Montana	Democrat	1978	2008
Conrad R. Burns	Montana	Republican	1988	2006
Chuck Hagel	Nebraska	Republican	1996	2008
E. Benjamin Nelson	Nebraska	Democrat	2000	2006
Harry M. Reid	Nevada	Democrat	1986	2010
John E. Ensign	Nevada	Republican	2000	2006
Judd A. Gregg	New Hampshire	Republican	1992	2010
John E. Sununu	New Hampshire	Republican	2002	2008
Jon S. Corzine	New Jersey	Democrat	2000	2006
Frank R. Lautenberg	New Jersey	Democrat	2002	2008
Peter V. Domenici	New Mexico	Republican	1972	2008
Jesse F. "Jeff" Bingaman Jr.	New Mexico	Democrat	1982	2006
Charles E. Schumer	New York	Democrat	1998	2010
Hillary Rodham Clinton	New York	Democrat	2000	2006
Elizabeth H. Dole	North Carolina	Republican	2002	2008
Richard Burr	North Carolina	Republican	2004	2010
Kent Conrad	North Dakota	Democrat	1986	2006
Byron L. Dorgan	North Dakota	Democrat	1992	2010
Michael DeWine	Ohio	Republican	1994	2006
George V. Voinovich	Ohio	Republican	1998	2010
James M. Inhofe	Oklahoma	Republican	1994	2008
Tom Coburn	Oklahoma	Republican	2004	2010
Ronald L. Wyden	Oregon	Democrat	1996	2010
Gordon H. Smith	Oregon	Republican	1996	2008
Arlen Specter	Pennsylvania	Republican	1980	2010
Richard J. Santorum	Pennsylvania	Republican	1994	2006
John F. "Jack" Reed	Rhode Island	Democrat	1996	2008
Lincoln D. Chafee	Rhode Island	Republican	1999	2006
Lindsey O. Graham	South Carolina	Republican	2002	2008
Jim DeMint	South Carolina	Republican	2004	2010
Timothy P. Johnson	South Dakota	Democrat	1996	2008
John Thune	South Dakota	Republican	2004	2010
William H. Frist	Tennessee	Republican	1994	2006 (leaving)
Lamar A. Alexander	Tennessee	Republican	2002	2008
Kay Bailey Hutchison	Texas	Republican	1993	2006
John Cornyn	Texas	Republican	2002	2008
Orrin G. Hatch	Utah	Republican	1976	2006
Robert F. Bennett	Utah	Republican	1992	2010
Patrick J. Leahy	Vermont	Democrat	1974	2010
James M. Jeffords	Vermont	Independent	1988	2006 (leaving)
John W. Warner	Virginia	Republican	1978	2008
George F. Allen	Virginia	Republican	2000	2006
Patricia Murray	Washington	Democrat	1992	2010
Maria E. Cantwell	Washington	Democrat	2000	2006
Robert C. Byrd	West Virginia	Democrat	1958	2006
John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV	West Virginia	Democrat	1984	2008
Herbert H. Kohl	Wisconsin	Democrat	1988	2006
Russell D. Feingold	Wisconsin	Democrat	1992	2010
Craig L. Thomas	Wyoming	Republican	1994	2006
Michael B. Enzi	Wyoming	Republican	1996	2008

List of United States Senators

Leadership

Majority leadership

Minority leadership

List of current members of the United States Senate

See also

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