List of United States Senators from Virginia

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Virginia ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1788. Its Senate seats were declared vacant in March 1861, due to its secession from the Union, but Senators representing its western counties continued to sit until March 1863. Virginia's Senate seats were again filled from January 1870.

[edit] List of Senators

[edit] Class I

The current term for Class I Senators expires January 3, 2013.

Senator		Party	Took office	Left office	Reason	Notes/other offices
William Grayson		Anti- Administration	March 4, 1789	March 12, 1790	Died
John Walker		Pro- Administration	March 31, 1790	November 9, 1790	Retired
James Monroe		Anti- Administration	November 9, 1790	March 27, 1794	Resigned	President of the United States (1817–1825) Secretary of State (1811–1817) Secretary of War (1814–1815) Governor of Virginia (1799–1802; 1811) Minister to France (1794–1796; 1803) Minister to Great Britain (1803–1807)
Stevens T. Mason		Democratic- Republican	November 18, 1794	May 10, 1803	Died
John Taylor		Democratic- Republican	June 4, 1803	December 7, 1803	Retired	Also served in Virginia's Class II seat
Abraham B. Venable		Democratic- Republican	December 7, 1803	June 7, 1804	Resigned
William B. Giles		Democratic- Republican	August 11, 1804	December 3, 1804	Successor elected[1]	Governor of Virginia (1827–1830) Also served in Virginia's Class II seat
Andrew Moore		Democratic- Republican	December 4, 1804	March 4, 1809		Also served in Virginia's Class II seat
Richard Brent		Democratic- Republican	March 4, 1809	December 30, 1814	Died
James Barbour		Democratic- Republican	January 2, 1815	March 7, 1825		Secretary of War (1825–1828) Governor of Virginia (1812–1814) Speaker, House of Delegates (1809–1812) Minister to Great Britain (1828–1829)
John Randolph		Jacksonian	December 26, 1825	March 4, 1827	Lost re-election	Minister to Russia (1830)
John Tyler		Jacksonian	March 4, 1827	February 29, 1836	Resigned	President of the United States (1841–1845) Vice President of the United States (1841) Governor of Virginia (1825–1827)
		Anti- Jackson
William C. Rives		Democratic	March 4, 1836	March 4, 1845		Minister to France (1829–1832; 1849–1853)
		Whig
Isaac S. Pennybacker		Democratic	December 3, 1845	January 12, 1847	Died
James M. Mason		Democratic	January 21, 1847	July 11, 1861[2]	Expelled	Confederate Commissioner to Great Britain and France (1862–1865)
Waitman T. Willey		Unionist	July 9, 1861	March 4, 1863	Left Virginia[3]	Later a Senator from West Virginia
Lemuel J. Bowden		Unionist	March 4, 1863	January 2, 1864	Died
Joseph Segar		Unionist	March 4, 1865	March 9, 1865	Not seated[4]
Vacant during Reconstruction
John F. Lewis		Republican	January 26, 1870	March 4, 1875	Retired	Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (1869–1870; 1882–1886)
Robert E. Withers		Democratic	March 4, 1875	March 4, 1881	Lost re-election	Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (1882–1886)
William Mahone		Readjuster	March 4, 1881	March 4, 1887	Lost re-election
John W. Daniel		Democratic	March 4, 1887	June 29, 1910	Died
Claude A. Swanson		Democratic	August 1, 1910	March 3, 1933	Resigned	Secretary of the Navy (1933–1939) Governor of Virginia (1906–1910)
Harry F. Byrd		Democratic	March 4, 1933	November 10, 1965	Resigned	Governor of Virginia (1926–1930)
Harry F. Byrd, Jr.		Democratic	November 12, 1965	January 3, 1983	Retired
		Independent
Paul S. Trible, Jr.		Republican	January 3, 1983	January 3, 1989	Retired
Chuck Robb		Democratic	January 3, 1989	January 3, 2001	Lost re-election	Governor of Virginia (1982–1986) Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (1978–1982)
George Allen		Republican	January 3, 2001	January 3, 2007	Lost re-election	Governor of Virginia (1994–1998)
Jim Webb		Democratic	January 3, 2007	Incumbent		Secretary of the Navy (1987–1988)

[edit] Class II

The current term for Class II Senators expires January 3, 2015.

Senator		Party	Took office	Left office	Reason	Notes/other offices
Richard H. Lee		Anti- Administration	March 4, 1789	October 8, 1792	Resigned	President of the Continental Congress (1784)
John Taylor		Anti- Administration	October 18, 1792	May 11, 1794	Resigned	Also served in Virginia's Class I seat
Henry Tazewell		Anti- Administration	December 29, 1794	January 24, 1799	Died in office	Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia (1789–1793)
		Democratic- Republican
Wilson C. Nicholas		Democratic- Republican	December 5, 1799	May 22, 1804	Resigned	Governor of Virginia (1814–1817)
Andrew Moore		Democratic- Republican	August 11, 1804	December 3, 1804	Successor elected[1]	Also served in Virginia's Class I seat
William B. Giles		Democratic- Republican	December 4, 1804	March 3, 1815	Resigned	Governor of Virginia (1827–1830) Also served in Virginia's Class I seat
Armistead T. Mason		Democratic- Republican	January 3, 1816	March 4, 1817	Retired
John W. Eppes		Democratic- Republican	March 4, 1817	December 4, 1819	Resigned
James Pleasants		Democratic- Republican	December 14, 1819	December 15, 1822	Resigned	Governor of Virginia (1822–1825)
John Taylor		Democratic- Republican	December 18, 1822	August 21, 1824	Died	Also served in Virginia's Class I seat
Littleton W. Tazewell		Jacksonian	December 7, 1824	July 16, 1832	Resigned	Governor of Virginia (1834–1836)
William C. Rives		Jacksonian	December 10, 1832	February 22, 1834	Resigned	Minister to France (1829–1832; 1849–1853)
Benjamin W. Leigh		Anti- Jacksonian	February 26, 1834	July 4, 1836	Resigned
Richard E. Parker		Jacksonian	December 12, 1836	March 13, 1837	Resigned
		Democratic
William H. Roane		Democratic	March 14, 1837	March 4, 1841	Lost re-election
William S. Archer		Whig	March 4, 1841	March 4, 1847	Lost re-election
Robert M. T. Hunter		Democratic	March 4, 1847	July 11, 1861[2]	Expelled
John S. Carlile		Unionist	June 9, 1861	March 4, 1865
John Underwood		Unionist	March 4, 1865	March 9, 1865	Not seated[4]
Vacant during Reconstruction
John W. Johnston		Democratic	January 26, 1870	March 4, 1883	Lost re-election
Harrison H. Riddleberger		Readjuster	March 4, 1883	March 4, 1889	Retired
		Republican
John S. Barbour, Jr.		Democratic	March 4, 1889	May 14, 1892	Died
Eppa Hunton		Democratic	May 28, 1892	March 4, 1895	Not a candidate for re-nomination	Member of the 1876 Electoral Commission (1877)
Thomas S. Martin		Democratic	March 4, 1895	November 12, 1919	Died in office
Carter Glass		Democratic	February 2, 1920	May 28, 1946	Died	Secretary of the Treasury (1918–1920) President pro tempore (1941–1945)
Thomas G. Burch		Democratic	May 31, 1946	November 5, 1946	Retired
A. Willis Robertson		Democratic	November 5, 1946	December 30, 1966	Resigned[5]
William B. Spong, Jr.		Democratic	December 31, 1966	January 3, 1973	Lost re-election
William L. Scott		Republican	January 3, 1973	January 1, 1979	Resigned[6]
John Warner		Republican	January 2, 1979	January 3, 2009	Retired	Secretary of the Navy (1972–1974)
Mark Warner		Democratic	January 3, 2009	Incumbent		Governor of Virginia (2002–2006)

[edit] Superlative Senators

[edit] Longest serving Senators

[edit] Shortest serving Senators

[edit] Youngest Senators

[edit] Oldest Senators

[edit] See also

United States congressional delegations from Virginia

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} On August 11, 1804, the Governor of Virginia appointed William Giles to the Class I vacancy and Andrew Moore to the Class II vacancy. Before either had taken the oath of office, the legislature elected Giles to fill the Class II vacancy and Moore to the Class I vacancy, thus reversing who would take which seat.
2. ^ ^{a b} James Mason and Robert M. T. Hunter "withdrew" from the Senate on March 28, 1861, with other senators sympathetic to the Confederacy
3. ^ When West Virginia became a state, Willey was elected one of its initial senators.
4. ^ ^{a b} Segar and Underwood were not seated on the premise that the Union-friendly legislature was illegitimate despite having seated Bowden and Carlile based credentials from the same legislature. In reality, the Senate refused because it did not want to set a precedent for easing reentry of Confederate states. See "Musical Chairs (1861–1869)". United States Senate. http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Musical_chairs.htm. Retrieved on 2009-03-20. 
5. ^ Robertson had previously lost his bid for renomination.
6. ^ Scott did not run for re-election in 1978.

v • d • e United States Senators from Virginia Class 1 Grayson • Walker • Monroe • S. Mason • Taylor • Venable • Giles • Moore • Brent • J. Barbour • Randolph • Tyler • Rives • Pennybacker • J. Mason • Willey • Bowden • Lewis • Withers • Mahone • Daniel • Swanson • Byrd, Sr. • Byrd, Jr. • Trible • Robb • Allen • Webb Class 2 Lee • Taylor • H. Tazewell • Nicholas • Moore • Giles • A. Mason • Eppes • Pleasants • Taylor • L. Tazewell • Rives • Leigh • Parker • Roane • Archer • Hunter • Carlile • Johnston • Riddleberger • J. S. Barbour • Hunton • Martin • Glass • Burch • Robertson • Spong • Scott • J. Warner • M. Warner