This is a classification of United States Senate by seniority during the 110th Congress, from January 3, 2007 to January 3, 2009. It is meant as a historical listing and thus contains Senators who have died or left office (such as Senator Thomas and Senator Lott). For a current listing of Senators please go to Seniority in the United States Senate.
Order of service is based on the commencement of the Senator's first term. Behind this is former service as a U.S. Senator (only giving the Senator seniority within his or her new incoming class), service as U.S. Vice President, a House member, a cabinet secretary, a state governor, and then by their state's population, respectively.
Senators who were sworn in in the middle of the two-year congressional term (up until the last senator who was not sworn in early after winning the November 2008 election) are listed at the end of the list with no number.
| Rank | Name (Party-State) | Seniority date | Other factors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Byrd (D-WV) | January 3, 1959 | |
| 2 | Ted Kennedy (D-MA) | November 7, 1962 | |
| 3 | Daniel Inouye (D-HI) | January 3, 1963 | |
| 4 | Ted Stevens (R-AK) | December 24, 1968 | |
| 5 | Pete Domenici (R-NM) | January 3, 1973 | New Mexico 37th in population (1970) |
| 6 | Joe Biden (D-DE) | Delaware 46th in population (1970) | |
| 7 | Patrick Leahy (D-VT) | January 3, 1975 | |
| 8 | Richard Lugar (R-IN) | January 3, 1977 | Indiana 11th in population (1970) |
| 9 | Orrin Hatch (R-UT) | Utah 36th in population (1970) | |
| 10 | Max Baucus (D-MT) | December 15, 1978 | |
| 11 | Thad Cochran (R-MS) | December 27, 1978 | |
| 12 | John Warner (R-VA) | January 2, 1979 | |
| 13 | Carl Levin (D-MI) | January 3, 1979 | |
| 14 | Chris Dodd (D-CT) | January 3, 1981 | Former Rep (6 years) - Connecticut 24th in population (1970) |
| 15 | Chuck Grassley (R-IA) | Former Rep (6 years) - Iowa 25th in population (1970) | |
| 16 | Arlen Specter (R-PA) | ||
| 17 | Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) | January 3, 1983 | |
| 18 | John Kerry (D-MA) | January 2, 1985 | |
| 19 | Tom Harkin (D-IA) | January 3, 1985 | Former Rep |
| 20 | Mitch McConnell (R-KY) | ||
| 21 | Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) | January 15, 1985 | |
| 22 | Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) | January 3, 1987 | Former Rep (10 years) |
| 23 | Richard Shelby (R-AL) | Former Rep (8 years) | |
| 24 | John McCain (R-AZ) | Former Rep (4 years) - Arizona 29th in population (1980) | |
| 25 | Harry Reid (D-NV) | Former Rep (4 years) - Nevada 43rd in population (1980) | |
| 26 | Kit Bond (R-MO) | Former Governor | |
| 27 | Kent Conrad (D-ND) | ||
| 28 | Trent Lott (R-MS) | January 3, 1989 | Former Rep |
| 29 | Herb Kohl (D-WI) | Wisconsin 16th in population (1980) | |
| 30 | Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) | Connecticut 25th in population (1980) | |
| 31 | Daniel Akaka (D-HI) | May 16, 1990 | |
| 32 | Larry Craig (R-ID) | January 3, 1991 | |
| 33 | Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) | November 10, 1992 | |
| 34 | Byron Dorgan (D-ND) | December 15, 1992 | |
| 35 | Barbara Boxer (D-CA) | January 3, 1993 | Former Rep (10 years) |
| 36 | Judd Gregg (R-NH) | Former Rep (8 years) | |
| 37 | Russ Feingold (D-WI) | Wisconsin 16th in population (1990) | |
| 38 | Patty Murray (D-WA) | Washington 18th in population (1990) | |
| 39 | Bob Bennett (R-UT) | Utah 35th in population (1990) | |
| 40 | Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) | June 14, 1993 | |
| 41 | Jim Inhofe (R-OK) | November 17, 1994 | |
| 42 | Olympia Snowe (R-ME) | January 3, 1995 | Former Rep (16 years) |
| 43 | Jon Kyl (R-AZ) | Former Rep (8 years) | |
| 44 | Craig Thomas (R-WY) | Former Rep (6 years) | |
| 45 | Ron Wyden (D-OR) | February 6, 1996 | |
| 46 | Sam Brownback (R-KS) | November 7, 1996 | |
| 47 | Pat Roberts (R-KS) | January 3, 1997 | Former Rep (16 years) |
| 48 | Richard Durbin (D-IL) | Former Rep (14 years) | |
| 49 | Tim Johnson (D-SD) | Former Rep (10 years) | |
| 50 | Wayne Allard (R-CO) | Former Rep (6 years) - Colorado 26th in population (1990) | |
| 51 | Jack Reed (D-RI) | Former Rep (6 years) - Rhode Island 43rd in population (1990) | |
| 52 | Mary Landrieu (D-LA) | Louisiana 21st in population (1990) | |
| 53 | Jeff Sessions (R-AL) | Alabama 22nd in population (1990) | |
| 54 | Gordon Smith (R-OR) | Oregon 29th in population (1990) | |
| 55 | Chuck Hagel (R-NE) | Nebraska 36th in population (1990) | |
| 56 | Susan Collins (R-ME) | Maine 38th in population (1990) | |
| 57 | Mike Enzi (R-WY) | Wyoming 50th in population (1990) | |
| 58 | Chuck Schumer (D-NY) | January 3, 1999 | Former Rep (18 years) |
| 59 | Jim Bunning (R-KY) | Former Rep (12 years) | |
| 60 | Mike Crapo (R-ID) | Former Rep (6 years) | |
| 61 | Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) | Former Rep (4 years) | |
| 62 | George Voinovich (R-OH) | Former Governor - Ohio 7th in population (1990) | |
| 63 | Evan Bayh (D-IN) | Former Governor - Indiana 15th in population (1990) | |
| 64 | Bill Nelson (D-FL) | January 3, 2001 | Former Rep (12 years) |
| 65 | Tom Carper (D-DE) | Former Rep (10 years) | |
| 66 | Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) | Former Rep (4 years) - Michigan 8th in population (1990) | |
| 67 | John Ensign (R-NV) | Former Rep (4 years) - Nevada 39th in population (1990) | |
| 68 | Maria Cantwell (D-WA) | Former Rep (2 years) | |
| 69 | Ben Nelson (D-NE) | Former Governor | |
| 70 | Hillary Clinton (D-NY) | ||
| 71 | Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) | December 20, 2002 | |
| 72 | Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) | January 3, 2003 | Previously a Senator |
| 73 | Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) | Former Rep (8 years) - Georgia ranked 9th in population (2000) | |
| 74 | Lindsey Graham (R-SC) | Former Rep (8 years) - South Carolina ranked 24th in population (2000) | |
| 75 | John Sununu (R-NH) | Former Rep (6 years) | |
| 76 | Lamar Alexander (R-TN) | Former Cabinet Member, Former Governor | |
| 77 | Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) | Former Cabinet Member | |
| 78 | John Cornyn (R-TX) | Texas ranked 2nd in population | |
| 79 | Norm Coleman (R-MN) | Minnesota ranked 21st in population (2000) | |
| 80 | Mark Pryor (D-AR) | Arkansas ranked 32nd in population (2000) | |
| 81 | Richard Burr (R-NC) | January 3, 2005 | Former Rep (10 years) |
| 82 | Jim DeMint (R-SC) | Former Rep (6 years) - South Carolina ranked 24th in population (2000) | |
| 83 | Tom Coburn (R-OK) | Former Rep (6 years) - Oklahoma ranked 27th in population (2000) | |
| 84 | John Thune (R-SD) | Former Rep (6 years) - South Dakota ranked 46th in population (2000) | |
| 85 | Johnny Isakson (R-GA) | Former Rep (5 years, 10 months) | |
| 86 | David Vitter (R-LA) | Former Rep (5 years, 7 months) | |
| 87 | Mel Martinez (R-FL) | Former Cabinet Member | |
| 88 | Barack Obama (D-IL) | Illinois ranked 5th in population (2000) | |
| 89 | Ken Salazar (D-CO) | Colorado ranked 22nd in population (2000) | |
| 90 | Bob Menendez (D-NJ) | January 18, 2006 | |
| 91 | Ben Cardin (D-MD) | January 3, 2007 | Former Rep (20 years) |
| 92 | Bernie Sanders (I-VT) | Former Rep (16 years) | |
| 93 | Sherrod Brown (D-OH) | Former Rep (14 years) | |
| 94 | Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA) | Pennsylvania ranked 6th in population (2000) | |
| 95 | Jim Webb (D-VA) | Virginia ranked 12th in population (2000) | |
| 96 | Bob Corker (R-TN) | Tennessee ranked 16th in population (2000) | |
| 97 | Claire McCaskill (D-MO) | Missouri ranked 17th in population (2000) | |
| 98 | Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) | Minnesota ranked 21st in population (2000) | |
| 99 | Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) | Rhode Island ranked 43rd in population (2000) | |
| 100 | Jon Tester (D-MT) | Montana ranked 44th in population (2000) | |
| John Barrasso (R-WY) | June 25, 2007 | ||
| Roger Wicker (R-MS) | December 31, 2007 |
Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, united, states, senators and/or congress:
“Do your children view themselves as successes or failures? Are they being encouraged to be inquisitive or passive? Are they afraid to challenge authority and to question assumptions? Do they feel comfortable adapting to change? Are they easily discouraged if they cannot arrive at a solution to a problem? The answers to those questions will give you a better appraisal of their education than any list of courses, grades, or test scores.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
“Weigh what loss your honor may sustain
If with too credent ear you list his songs,
Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open
To his unmastered importunity.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The United Nations cannot do anything, and never could; it is not an animate entity or agent. It is a place, a stage, a forum and a shrine ... a place to which powerful people can repair when they are fearful about the course on which their own rhetoric seems to be propelling them.”
—Conor Cruise O’Brien (b. 1917)
“If I be false, or swerve a hair from truth,
When time is old and hath forgot itself,
When waterdrops have worn the stones of Troy,
And blind oblivion swallowed cities up,
And mighty states characterless are grated
To dusty nothing, yet let memory
From false to false among false maids in love
Upbraid my falsehood.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Gold? Yellow, glittering, precious gold?
...
This yellow slave
Will knit and break religions, bless th’ accursed,
Make the hoar leprosy adored, place thieves,
And give them title, knee and approbation
With senators on the bench.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“I have a Congress on my hands.”
—Grover Cleveland (1837–1908)