List of United States Senators from Arkansas

Last updated August 19, 2019

Current delegation

Arkansas was admitted to the Union on June 15, 1836, and elects its senators to Class 2 and Class 3. Arkansas's Senate seats were declared vacant in July 1861, due to its secession from the Union. They were again filled from June 1868. Its current senators are Republicans John Boozman and Tom Cotton.

Arkansas is a state in the southern region of the United States, home to over 3 million people as of 2018. Its name is of Siouan derivation from the language of the Osage denoting their related kin, the Quapaw Indians. The state's diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and the Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U.S. Interior Highlands, to the densely forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River and the Arkansas Delta.

The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the United States House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the legislature of the United States. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol Building, in Washington, D.C.

Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Threats of secession can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals. It is, therefore, a process, which commences once a group proclaims the act of secession. It could involve a violent or peaceful process but these do not change the nature of the outcome, which is the creation of a new state or entity independent from the group or territory it seceded from.

List of Senators

#	Senator	Party	Years in office	Electoral history	T e r m	C o n g r e s s	T e r m	Electoral history	Years in office	Party	Senator	#
Class 2 Class 2 U.S. Senators belong to the electoral cycle that were elected in the first election of 1836, for three Congresses, starting with the 24th and the seat was contested again for the 27th, 30th, and every three Congresses (six years) thereafter. The seat in recent years has been contested in 2002, 2008, and 2014. The next election is in 2020.						C o n g r e s s	Class 3 Class 3 U.S. Senators belong to the electoral cycle that were elected in the first election of 1836, for one Congress starting with the 24th and the seat was contested again for the 25th, 28th, and every three Congresses (six years) thereafter. The seat in recent years has been contested in 1998, 2004, and 2010, and 2016. The next election will be in 2022.
1	William S. Fulton	Jacksonian	September 18, 1836 – August 15, 1844	Elected in 1836.	1	24th	1	Elected in 1836.	September 18, 1836 – March 15, 1848	Jacksonian	Ambrose H. Sevier	1
		Democratic				25th	2	Re-elected in 1837.		Democratic
						26th
				Re-elected in 1840. Died.	2	27th
				Re-elected in 1840. Died.		28th	3	Re-elected in 1843. Resigned.
Vacant			August 15, 1844 – November 8, 1844
2	Chester Ashley	Democratic	November 8, 1844 – April 29, 1848	Elected to finish Fulton's term.
				Elected to finish Fulton's term.		29th
				Elected to a full term in 1846. Died.	3	30th
									March 15, 1848 – March 30, 1848	Vacant
								Appointed to finish Sevier's term.^[1]	March 30, 1848 – April 11, 1853	Democratic	Solon Borland	2
Vacant			April 29, 1848 – May 12, 1848
3	William K. Sebastian	Democratic	May 12, 1848 – July 11, 1861	Appointed to continue Ashley's term. Elected November 17, 1848 to finish Ashley's term.^[2]
						31st	4	Elected to full term in 1848. Resigned.
						32nd
				Elected to full term in 1853.	4	33rd
									April 11, 1853 – July 6, 1853	Vacant
								Appointed to continue Borland's term. Elected to finish Borland's term November 10, 1854.^[2]	July 6, 1853 – March 3, 1861	Democratic	Robert W. Johnson	3
						34th	5	Re-elected in 1855. Retired.
						35th
				Re-elected in 1859. Expelled (Expulsion was reversed by the Senate in 1877).	5	36th
						37th	6	Elected in 1860 or 1861. Expelled for supporting the Confederacy.	March 4, 1861 – July 11, 1861	Democratic	Charles B. Mitchel	4
Vacant			July 11, 1861 – June 22, 1868	Civil War and Reconstruction		37th		Civil War and Reconstruction	July 11, 1861 – June 23, 1868	Vacant
						38th
					6	39th
						40th	7
4	Alexander McDonald	Republican	June 22, 1868 – March 3, 1871	Elected to finish vacant term. Lost re-election.
								Elected to finish vacant term. Unknown if retired or lost re-election.	June 23, 1868 – March 3, 1873	Republican	Benjamin F. Rice	5
						41st
5	Powell Clayton	Republican	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1877	Elected in 1870. Unknown if retired or lost re-election.	7	42nd
						43rd	8	Elected in 1872 or 1873. Retired.	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1879	Republican	Stephen W. Dorsey	6
						44th
6	Augustus Garland	Democratic	March 4, 1877 – March 6, 1885	Elected in 1876.	8	45th
						46th	9	Elected in 1878. Retired.	March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1885	Democratic	James D. Walker	7
						47th
				Re-elected in 1883. Resigned to become U.S. Attorney General.	9	48th
						49th	10	Elected in 1885.	March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1903	Democratic	James K. Jones	8
Vacant			March 6, 1885 – March 20, 1885
7	James H. Berry	Democratic	March 20, 1885 – March 3, 1907	Elected to finish Garland's term.
				Elected to finish Garland's term.		50th
				Re-elected in 1889.	10	51st
						52nd	11	Re-elected in 1891.
						53rd
				Re-elected in 1895.	11	54th
						55th	12	Re-elected in 1897. Lost re-election.
						56th
				Re-elected in 1901. Lost re-election.	12	57th
						58th	13	Elected in 1903.	March 4, 1903 – October 1, 1916	Democratic	James P. Clarke	9
						59th
8	Jeff Davis	Democratic	March 4, 1907 – January 3, 1913	Elected January 29, 1907.^[3] Died.	13	60th
						61st	14	Re-elected in 1909.
						62nd
Vacant			January 3, 1913 – January 6, 1913
9	John N. Heiskell	Democratic	January 6, 1913 – January 29, 1913	Appointed to continue Davis's term. Successor qualified.
10	William M. Kavanaugh	Democratic	January 29, 1913 – March 3, 1913	Elected to finish Davis's term. Retired.
11	Joseph Robinson	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – July 14, 1937	Elected January 29, 1913 ^[4]	14	63rd
						64th	15	Re-elected in 1914. Died.
									October 1, 1916 – November 8, 1916	Vacant
								Elected to finish Clarke's term. Lost renomination.	November 8, 1916 – March 3, 1921	Democratic	William F. Kirby	10
						65th
				Re-elected in 1918.	15	66th
						67th	16	Elected in 1920.	March 4, 1921 – November 6, 1931	Democratic	Thaddeus H. Caraway	11
						68th
				Re-elected in 1924.	16	69th
						70th	17	Re-elected in 1926. Died.
						71st
				Re-elected in 1930.	17	72nd
									November 6, 1931 – November 13, 1931	Vacant
								Appointed to finish her husband's term. Elected January 12, 1932 to finish her husband's term.	November 13, 1931 – January 3, 1945	Democratic	Hattie W. Caraway	12
						73rd	18	Re-elected in 1932.
						74th
				Re-elected in 1936. Died.	18	75th
Vacant			July 14, 1937 – November 15, 1937
12	John E. Miller	Democratic	November 15, 1937 – March 31, 1941	Elected to finish Robinson's term. Resigned to become U.S. District Judge.
						76th	19	Re-elected in 1938. Lost renomination.
						77th
Vacant			March 31, 1941 – April 1, 1941
13	Lloyd Spencer	Democratic	April 1, 1941 – January 3, 1943	Appointed to finish Miller's term. Retired.
14	John L. McClellan	Democratic	January 3, 1943 – November 28, 1977	Elected in 1942.	19	78th
						79th	20	Elected in 1944.	January 3, 1945 – December 31, 1974	Democratic	J. William Fulbright	13
						80th
				Re-elected in 1948.	20	81st
						82nd	21	Re-elected in 1950.
						83rd
				Re-elected in 1954.	21	84th
						85th	22	Re-elected in 1956.
						86th
				Re-elected in 1960.	22	87th
						88th	23	Re-elected in 1962.
						89th
				Re-elected in 1966.	23	90th
						91st	24	Re-elected in 1968. Lost re-nomination, then resigned.
						92nd
				Re-elected in 1972. Died.	24	93rd
						93rd			December 31, 1974 – January 3, 1975	Vacant
						94th	25	Elected in 1974.	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1999	Democratic	Dale Bumpers	14
						95th
Vacant			November 28, 1977 – December 10, 1977
15	Kaneaster Hodges, Jr.	Democratic	December 10, 1977 – January 3, 1979	Appointed to finish McClellan's term. Retired.
16	David H. Pryor	Democratic	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1997	Elected in 1978.	25	96th
						97th	26	Re-elected in 1980.
						98th
				Re-elected in 1984.	26	99th
						100th	27	Re-elected in 1986.
						101st
				Re-elected in 1990. Retired.	27	102nd
						103rd	28	Re-elected in 1992. Retired.
						104th
17	Tim Hutchinson	Republican	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2003	Elected in 1996. Lost re-election.	28	105th
						106th	29	Elected in 1998.	January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2011	Democratic	Blanche Lincoln	15
						107th
18	Mark Pryor	Democratic	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2015	Elected in 2002.	29	108th
						109th	30	Re-elected in 2004. Lost re-election.
						110th
				Re-elected in 2008. Lost re-election.	30	111th
						112th	31	Elected in 2010.	January 3, 2011 – Present	Republican	John Boozman	16
						113th
19	Tom Cotton	Republican	January 3, 2015 – Present	Elected in 2014.	31	114th
						115th	32	Re-elected in 2016.
						116th
To be determined in the 2020 election.					32	117th
To be determined in the 2020 election.					32	118th	33	To be determined in the 2022 election.
#	Senator	Party	Years in office	Electoral history	T e r m		T e r m	Electoral history	Years in office	Party	Senator	#
Class 2							Class 3

Living former senators

As of January 2019^[update], there are five living former senators. The most recent to die was Dale Bumpers (served 1975–1999) on January 1, 2016, who is also the most recently serving senator to die.

Dale Leon Bumpers was an American politician who served as the 38th Governor of Arkansas (1971–1975) and in the United States Senate (1975–1999). He was a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to his death, he was counsel at the Washington, D.C. office of law firm Arent Fox LLP, where his clients included Riceland Foods and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Senator	Class	Term of office	Date of birth (and age)
Kaneaster Hodges, Jr.	2	December 10, 1977 – January 3, 1979	(1938-08-20) August 20, 1938 (age 80)
David Pryor	2	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1997	(1934-08-29) August 29, 1934 (age 84)
Tim Hutchinson	2	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2003	(1949-08-11) August 11, 1949 (age 70)
Blanche Lincoln	3	January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2011	(1960-09-30) September 30, 1960 (age 58)
Mark Pryor	2	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2015	(1963-01-10) January 10, 1963 (age 56)

References

↑ "Solon Borland (1811–1864) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas". www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net.
1 2 Byrd, Robert C.; Wolff, Wendy (October 1, 1993). "The Senate, 1789-1989: Historical Statistics, 1789-1992" (volume 4 Bicentennial ed.). U.S. Government Printing Office., page 80
↑ The Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1908. New York: The Tribune Association. 1908. p. 258.
↑ Robinson was the last U.S. Senator elected by a state legislature before the ratification of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.^{[ citation needed ]}

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[1] "Solon Borland (1811–1864) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas". www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net.

[Byrd-2] 1 2 Byrd, Robert C.; Wolff, Wendy (October 1, 1993). "The Senate, 1789-1989: Historical Statistics, 1789-1992" (volume 4 Bicentennial ed.). U.S. Government Printing Office., page 80

[Tribune-3] The Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1908. New York: The Tribune Association. 1908. p. 258.

[4] Robinson was the last U.S. Senator elected by a state legislature before the ratification of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.^{[ citation needed ]}

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Lists of former House members List of former senators

List of United States Senators from Arkansas

Contents

List of Senators

Living former senators

See also

References