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List of United States senators from West Virginia

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Current delegation

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 Independent 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.

Robert Byrd was the state's longest serving senator, served from 1959 until his death in 2010.

List of senators

[edit]
Class 1
Class 1 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 2006, 2010 (special election), 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.
# Senator Party Dates in office Electoral history T T Electoral history Dates in office Party Senator #
Vacant Jun 19, 1863 –
Aug 4, 1863
West Virginia did not elect its first Senators until Aug 4, 1863. 1 38th 1 West Virginia did not elect its first Senators until Aug 4, 1863. Jun 19, 1863 –
Aug 4, 1863
Vacant
1
Peter G. Van Winkle
Unconditional Unionist Aug 4, 1863 –
Mar 3, 1869
Elected in 1863.
Retired.
Elected in 1863. Aug 4, 1863 –
Mar 3, 1865
Unconditional Unionist
Waitman T. Willey
1
39th 2 Re-elected in 1865.
Retired.
Mar 4, 1865 –
Mar 3, 1871
Republican
Republican 40th
2
Arthur I. Boreman
Republican Mar 4, 1869 –
Mar 3, 1875
Elected in 1868 or 1869.
Retired.
2 41st
42nd 3 Elected in 1871. Mar 4, 1871 –
Mar 3, 1883
Democratic
Henry G. Davis
2
43rd
3
Allen T. Caperton
Democratic Mar 4, 1875 –
Jul 26, 1876
Elected in 1875.
Died.
3 44th
Vacant Jul 26, 1876 –
Aug 26, 1876
 
4
Samuel Price
Democratic Aug 26, 1876 –
Jan 26, 1877
Appointed to continue Caperton's term.
Lost election to finish Caperton's term.
Vacant Jan 26, 1877 –
Jan 31, 1877
5
Frank Hereford
Democratic Jan 31, 1877 –
Mar 3, 1881
Elected in 1877 to finish Caperton's term.
45th 4 Re-elected in 1877.
Retired.
46th
6
Johnson N. Camden
Democratic Mar 4, 1881 –
Mar 3, 1887
Elected in 1880 or 1881. 4 47th
48th 5 Elected in 1883. Mar 4, 1883 –
Jan 11, 1893
Democratic
John E. Kenna
3
49th
7
Charles J. Faulkner
Democratic Mar 4, 1887 –
Mar 3, 1899
Elected in 1887. 5 50th
51st 6 Re-elected in 1889.
Died.
52nd
  Jan 11, 1893 –
Jan 25, 1893
Vacant
Elected in 1893 to finish Kenna's term. Jan 25, 1893 –
Mar 3, 1895
Democratic
Johnson N. Camden
4
Re-elected in 1893.
Retired.
6 53rd
54th 7 Elected in 1895.[1] Mar 4, 1895 –
Jan 4, 1911
Republican
Stephen B. Elkins
5
55th
8
Nathan B. Scott
Republican Mar 4, 1899 –
Mar 3, 1911
Elected in 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
  Jan 4, 1911 –
Jan 9, 1911
Vacant
Appointed to continue his father's term.
Lost election to finish his father's term.
Jan 9, 1911 –
Jan 31, 1911
Republican
Davis Elkins
6
Elected in 1911 to finish Stephen Elkins' term.
Lost re-election.
Feb 1, 1911 –
Mar 3, 1913
Democratic
Clarence W. Watson
7
9
William E. Chilton
Democratic Mar 4, 1911 –
Mar 3, 1917
Elected in 1911.
Lost re-election.
9 62nd
63rd 10   Mar 4, 1913 –
Apr 1, 1913
Vacant
Elected in 1913 but took office late.
Retired.
Apr 1, 1913 –
Mar 3, 1919
Republican
Nathan Goff Jr.
8
64th
10
Howard Sutherland
Republican Mar 4, 1917 –
Mar 3, 1923
Elected in 1916.
Lost re-election.
10 65th
66th 11 Elected in 1918.
Retired.
Mar 4, 1919 –
Mar 3, 1925
Republican
Davis Elkins
9
67th
11
Matthew M. Neely
Democratic Mar 4, 1923 –
Mar 3, 1929
Elected in 1922.
Lost re-election.
11 68th
69th 12 Elected in 1924.
Retired.
Mar 4, 1925 –
Mar 3, 1931
Republican
Guy D. Goff
10
70th
12
Henry D. Hatfield
Republican Mar 4, 1929 –
Jan 3, 1935
Elected in 1928.
Lost re-election.
12 71st
72nd 13 Elected in 1930. Mar 4, 1931 –
Jan 12, 1941
Democratic
Matthew M. Neely
11
73rd
Vacant Jan 3, 1935 –
Jun 21, 1935
Senator-elect was not yet qualified to serve. 13 74th
13
Rush Holt Sr.
Democratic Jun 21, 1935 –
Jan 3, 1941
Elected in 1934.
Could not take seat until 2 days after reaching age 30 on Jun 19, 1935.
Lost renomination.
75th 14 Re-elected in 1936.
Resigned.
76th
14
Harley M. Kilgore
Democratic Jan 3, 1941 –
Feb 28, 1956
Elected in 1940. 14 77th
Appointed to continue Neely's term.
Lost election to finish Neely's term.
Jan 13, 1941 –
Nov 17, 1942
Democratic
Joseph Rosier
12
Elected in 1942 to finish Neely's term.
Retired.
Nov 18, 1942 –
Jan 3, 1943
Republican
Hugh I. Shott
13
78th 15 Elected in 1942.
Lost re-election.
Jan 3, 1943 –
Jan 3, 1949
Republican
Chapman Revercomb
14
79th
Re-elected in 1946. 15 80th
81st 16 Elected in 1948. Jan 3, 1949 –
Jan 18, 1958
Democratic
Matthew M. Neely
15
82nd
Re-elected in 1952.
Died.
16 83rd
84th 17 Re-elected in 1954.
Died.
Vacant Feb 28, 1956 –
Mar 13, 1956
 
15
William Laird III
Democratic Mar 13, 1956 –
Nov 6, 1956
Appointed to continue Kilgore's term.
Retired when his successor was elected.
16
Chapman Revercomb
Republican Nov 7, 1956 –
Jan 3, 1959
Elected in 1956 to finish Kilgore's term.
Lost re-election.
85th
  Jan 18, 1958 –
Jan 25, 1958
Vacant
Appointed to continue Neely's term.
Lost election to finish Neely's term.
Jan 25, 1958 –
Nov 4, 1958
Republican
John Hoblitzell
16
Elected in 1958 to finish Neely's term. Nov 5, 1958 –
Jan 3, 1985
Democratic
Jennings Randolph
17
17
Robert Byrd
Democratic Jan 3, 1959 –
Jun 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   Jan 3, 1985 –
Jan 15, 1985
Vacant
Elected in 1984.
Seated late in order to complete his term as Governor of West Virginia.
Jan 15, 1985 –
Jan 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 Jun 28, 2010 –
Jul 16, 2010
 
18
Carte Goodwin
Democratic Jul 16, 2010 –
Nov 15, 2010
Appointed to continue Byrd's term.
Retired when his successor was elected.
19
Joe Manchin
Democratic Nov 15, 2010 –
present
Elected in 2010 to finish Byrd's term.
112th
Re-elected in 2012. 26 113th
114th 27 Elected in 2014. Jan 3, 2015 –
present
Republican
Shelley Moore Capito
19
115th
Re-elected in 2018.
Left the Democratic Party on May 31, 2024.
Retiring at the end of term.
27 116th
117th 28 Re-elected in 2020.
118th
Independent
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 C T Electoral history Years in office Party Senator #
Class 1 Class 2

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Elkins Elected in West Virginia". The New York Times. January 24, 1895. p. 5.
  2. ^ "WEST VIRGINIA'S NEW SENATOR". The New York Times. January 26, 1899. p. 2.