List of presidents of the Maine Senate

The desk for the president of the Maine Senate in 2014

The position of President of the Maine Senate was created when Maine separated from Massachusetts and achieved statehood in 1820.

The Maine Legislature had one year terms until 1880, when an amendment to the Maine Constitution took effect to provide for two year terms. Joseph A. Locke was the first Senate president to serve a two-year term, starting in 1881. ^[1] The longest-tenured president of the Senate is currently Charles P. Pray, who served four consecutive two-year terms for eight total years as Senate President between 1984 and 1992.

As Maine has no lieutenant governor, the president of the Senate is first in line to become Governor of Maine in the event of a vacancy.

List of presidents of the Maine Senate

Name	Image	Took office	Left office	Party	Hometown
	John Chandler	1820	1820	Democratic-Republican	Monmouth
	William Moody	1820	1820	Democratic-Republican	Saco
	William D. Williamson	1820	1821	Democratic-Republican	Bangor
	Daniel Rose	1822	1823	Democratic-Republican	Thomaston
	Benjamin Ames	1824	1824	Democratic-Republican	Bath
	Jonas Wheeler	1825	1826	Democratic-Republican	Camden
	Robert P. Dunlap	1827	1828	Democratic-Republican	Brunswick
	Nathan Cutler	1829	1829	Democratic-Republican	Farmington
	Joshua Hall	1830	1830	Democratic-Republican	Frankfort
	Robert P. Dunlap	1831	1831	Democratic-Republican	Brunswick
	F.O.J. Smith	1832	1832	Democratic	Portland
	Joseph Williamson	1833	1834	Democratic	Belfast
	Josiah Pierce	1835	1836	Democratic	Gorham
	John C. Talbot	1837	1837	Democratic	East Machias
	Nathaniel Littlefield	1838	1838	Democratic	Bridgton
	Job Prince	1839	1839	Democratic	Turner
	Stephen C. Foster	1840	1840	Democratic	Pembroke
	Richard H. Vose	1841	1841	Democratic	Augusta
	Samuel Blake	1842	1842	Democratic	Bangor
	Edward Kavanagh	1843	1843	Democratic	Damariscotta
	Virgil D. Parris	1843	1843	Democratic	Buckfield
	John W. Dana	1844	1844	Democratic	Fryeburg
	Manly B. Townsend	1845	1845	Democratic	Alexander
	Stephen Chase	1846	1846	Democratic	Fryeburg
	David Dunn	1846	1846	Democratic	Poland
	John Hodgdon	1847	1847	Democratic	Houlton
	Caleb R. Ayer	1848	1848	Democratic	Cornish
	William Tripp	1849	1849	Democratic	Wilton
	Paulinus Foster	1850	1850	Democratic	Anson
	Noah Prince	1851	1852	Democratic	Buckfield
	Samuel Butman	1853	1853	Whig [2]	Dixmont
	Luther Moore	1854	1854	Democratic	Limerick
	Franklin Muzzy	1855	1855	Whig	Bangor
	Lot M. Morrill	1856	1856	Republican	Augusta
	Joseph H. Williams	1857	1857	Republican	Augusta
	Hiram Chapman	1857	1857	Republican	Damariscotta
	Seth Scamman	1858	1858	Republican	Saco
	Charles Goddard	1859	1859	Republican	Auburn
	Thomas H. Marshall	1860	1860	Republican	Belfast
	John H. Goodenow	1861	1862	Republican	Alfred
	Nathan Farwell	1863	1863	Republican	Rockland
	George Barrows	1864	1864	Republican	Fryeburg
	David Dinsmore Stewart	1865	1865	Republican	St. Albans
	William Wirt Virgin	1866	1866	Republican	Norway
	Nathaniel A. Burpee	1867	1867	Republican	Rockland
	Josiah Crosby	1868	1868	Republican	Dexter
	Stephen Lindsey	1869	1869	Republican	Norridgewock
	William W. Bolster	1870	1870	Republican	Dixfield
	Charles Buffum	1871	1871	Republican	Orono
	Reuben Foster	1872	1872	Republican	Waterville
	John B. Foster	1873	1873	Republican	Bangor
	John E. Butler	1874	1874	Republican	Biddeford
	Edmund F. Webb	1875	1875	Republican	Waterville
	Thomas W. Hyde	1876	1877	Republican	Bath
	Warren H. Vinton	1878	1878	Republican	Gray
	J. Manchester Haynes	1879	1879	Republican	Augusta
	Joseph A. Locke	1880	1882	Republican	Portland
	John L. Cutler	1883	1884	Republican	Bangor
	William D. Pennell	1885	1886	Republican	Lewiston
	Sebastian Marble	1887	1888	Republican	Waldoboro
	Henry Lord	1889	1890	Republican	Bangor
	Charles Libby	1891	1892	Republican	Portland
	Albert Spear	1893	1894	Republican	Gardiner
	George M. Seiders	1895	1896	Republican	Portland
	Albert R. Day	1897	1898	Republican	Corinna
	Oliver B. Clason	1899	1900	Republican	Gardiner
	Hannibal E. Hamlin	1901	1902	Republican	Ellsworth
	Harry R. Virgin	1903	1904	Republican	Portland
	Forrest Goodwin	1905	1906	Republican	Skowhegan
	Fred J. Allen	1907	1908	Republican	Sanford
	Luere B. Deasy	1909	1910	Republican	Bar Harbor
	Nathan Clifford	1911	1912	Democratic	Cape Elizabeth
	Carl E. Milliken	1913	1914	Republican	Island Falls
	Ira G. Hersey	1915	1916	Republican	Houlton
	Taber D. Bailey	1917	1918	Republican	Bangor
	Leon F. Higgins	1919	1920	Republican	Brewer
	Percival Baxter	1921	1921	Republican	Portland
	Charles E. Gurney	1921	1922	Republican	Portland
	Frank G. Farrington	1923	1924	Republican	Augusta
	Hodgdon C. Buzzell	1925	1926	Republican	Belfast
	Frank H. Holley	1927	1928	Republican	North Anson
	J. Blaine Morrison	1929	1930	Republican	Phillips
	Burleigh Martin	1931	1932	Republican	Augusta
	Harold H. Murchie	1933	1934	Republican	Calais
	Harold E. Weeks	1935	1936	Republican	Fairfield
	Frederick J. Burns	1937	1938	Republican	Houlton
	Sumner Sewall	1939	1940	Republican	Bath
	Nathaniel Tompkins	1941	1942	Republican	Houlton
	Francis H. Friend	1942	1942	Republican	Skowhegan
	Horace A. Hildreth	1942	1944	Republican	Cumberland
	George D. Varney	1944	1948	Republican	Kittery
	Burton M. Cross	1948	1952	Republican	Augusta
	Nathaniel M. Haskell	1953	1954	Republican	Portland
	John F. Ward	1954	1954	Republican	Millinocket
	Robert Haskell	1954	1958	Republican	Bangor
	John H. Reed	1958	1960	Republican	Fort Fairfield
	Earle M. Hillman	1960	1962	Republican	Bangor
	Robert A. Marden	1962	1964	Republican	Waterville
	Carlton Day Reed, Jr.	1964	1966	Democratic	Woolwich
	Joseph Campbell	1966	1968	Republican	Augusta
	Kenneth P. MacLeod	1968	1974	Republican	Brewer
	Joseph Sewall	1974	1982	Republican	Old Town
	Gerard Conley	1982	1984	Democratic	Portland
	Charles P. Pray	1984	1992	Democratic	Millinocket
	Dennis L. Dutremble	1992	1994	Democratic	Biddeford
	Jeffrey Butland	1994	1996	Republican	Cumberland
	Mark Lawrence	1996	2000	Democratic	Kittery
	Mike Michaud	2000	2001	Democratic	East Millinocket
	Rick Bennett	2001	2002	Republican	Norway [3]
	Beverly Daggett	2002	2004	Democratic	Augusta
	Beth Edmonds	2004	2008	Democratic	Freeport
	Libby Mitchell	2008	2010	Democratic	Vassalboro
	Kevin Raye	2010	2012	Republican	Perry
	Justin Alfond	2012	2014	Democratic	Portland
	Michael Thibodeau	2014	2018	Republican	Winterport
	Troy Jackson	2018	2024	Democratic	Allagash
	Mattie Daughtry	2024	-	Democratic	Brunswick

See also

• List of Maine state legislatures

References

1. "Senate Presidents - Maine Legislature". Archived from the original on January 26, 2004.
2. "Organization of the Legislature". The Ellsworth Herald . Vol. 2. January 7, 1853. p. 3. Retrieved May 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
3. The Maine Senate had an equal number of Democrats and Republicans 2000–2002, plus one Independent Senator; as such each party chose the President for a year.