The Green Papers: Midterm Election 2002
 
Copyright www.flags.net/UNST.htm 107th Congress
Senate Seats by State

This is a list of the current Senate seats and the incumbents occupying them. There are 34 seats up for election in the year 2002.

There has been two deaths and 1 resignation in the 107th Senate:

  • Alaska Class 3: United Staes Senator Frank H. Murkowski (Republican), elected Governor of Alaska on 5 November 2002, was sworn in at noon on 2 December 2002 (Article III, section 4 of the Constitution of the State of Alaska) thus leaving his seat vacant. As Governor, he will name an interim replacement to complete the remaining two years of the State's "Class 3" Senate seat.
  • Minnesota Class 2: United States Senator Paul Wellstone (Democrat), along with his wife Sheila and his daughter Marcia- as well as three members of his staff and two crew members- were all killed in the crash of a King Air B200 turbo-prop airplane in St. Louis County, Minnesota on Friday, October 25, 2002. Mr. Wellstone was the Democratic nominee for re-election to his Class 2 Senate seat in the upcoming 5 November 2002 Midterm Election. The Senator's name will not remain on the General Election ballot but will be replaced by a new candidate as per Minnesota Election Law .
  • Missouri Class 1: On 7 November 2000, the Missouri "Class 1" seat was won by deceased Democratic Governor Mel Carnahan who died in a plane crash on Monday 16 October 2000. On Tuesday 24 October 2000 acting Democratic Governor Roger Wilson announced that he would appoint the former Governor's widow, Jean Carnahan, to fill the vacant Senate Seat should the deceased Governor win the election.

One Senator switched parties during the 107th Senate:

  • Vermont Class 1: On Thursday 24 May 2001 Senator James Jeffords (Republican of Vermont) announced "I will leave the Republican Party and will become an Independent". Jeffords action, when it become official, shifts the political party breakdown in the Senate from 50 Republicans / 50 Democrats to 49 Republicans / 50 Democrats / 1 Independent.

  Alabama    Alaska    Arizona    Arkansas    California    Colorado    Connecticut    Delaware    Florida    Georgia    Hawaii    Idaho    Illinois    Indiana    Iowa    Kansas    Kentucky    Louisiana    Maine    Maryland    Massachusetts    Michigan    Minnesota    Mississippi    Missouri    Montana    Nebraska    Nevada    New Hampshire    New Jersey    New Mexico    New York    North Carolina    North Dakota    Ohio    Oklahoma    Oregon    Pennsylvania    Rhode Island    South Carolina    South Dakota    Tennessee    Texas    Utah    Vermont    Virginia    Washington    West Virginia    Wisconsin    Wyoming 

Senate Links     Senate Electoral Classes


Alabama  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Republicans
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Susan Parker

Alaska  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Vacancy
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Frank J. Vondersaar

Arkansas  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democrat
Class 2 Elected Democrat Mark Pryor
(Arkansas Attorney General)

Colorado  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Republicans
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Tom Strickland

Delaware  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats
Class 2 Elected Democrat Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Georgia  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Senator Max Cleland

Idaho  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Republicans
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Alan Blinken

Illinois  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican
Class 2 Elected Democrat Senator Richard J. Durbin

Iowa  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican
Class 2 Elected Democrat Senator Tom Harkin

Kentucky  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Republicans
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Lois Combs Weinberg
The Democratic race for the nomination was Lois Combs Weinberg (50.1%) to Tom Barlow (49.9%). On 14 June the state board of elections certified the vote. Mr. Barlow has endorsed Ms. Weinberg.

Louisiana  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Raymond Brown
Received 2% of the 5 November 2002 vote. Will not proceed to runoff.
Class 2 Elected Democrat Senator Mary L. Landrieu
Received 46% of the 5 November 2002 vote. Defeated Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell in 7 December 2002 runoff with 52% of the vote.

Maine  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Republicans
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Chellie Pingree

Massachusetts  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats
Class 2 Elected Democrat Senator John F. Kerry

Michigan  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats
Class 2 Elected Democrat Senator Carl Levin

Minnesota  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat, 1 Independent
 ** Open Seat (no incumbent) **
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Walter F. "Fritz" Mondale
Nominated by Convention: 30 October 2002.
Replacement Candidacy necessitated by death of Senator Paul Wellstone in a plane crash, 25 October 2002. Former Senator and Vice-President Mondale has publicly indicated he will accept nomination by the Democrat-Farmer Labor Party, as the Democrats are formally known in Minnesota, and it is expected that Mr. Mondale will be formally nominated at a rump Party Convention in Minneapolis during the evening of 30 October. A new candidate must be named by the close of business at the office of the Minnesota Secretary of State on 31 October as per the State's Election Law (see 'MINNESOTA STATUTES' below).
The Democrat-Farmer Labor Party, or DFL- as what is known in the rest of the Nation as the Democratic Party is formally called in Minnesota- will hold a rump Convention in Minneapolis beginning at 7 PM CST on Wednesday 30 October(0100 UTC, 31 Oct); the Convention will be made up of the some 875 delegates and alternates who make up the DFL's State Central Committee and will formally ratify the choice for replacement candidate nominated by the DFL's Executive Committee earlier in the day. This will give ample time for the DFL State Chairman and the DFL State Secretary to then file the necessary paperwork with the Minnesota Secretary of State before the legal deadline (the next day, Thursday 31 October) has passed.

Mississippi  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Republicans
Class 2 Withdrawn Democrat Steven Douglas Turney - withdrew
The Democratic race for the Senate nomination did not appear on the 4 June primary ballot in Yazoo County. Mississippi's Democratic Party chairman apparently recommended certification of the result [Steven Douglas Turney (30,809 votes - 52.23%); James W. "Bootie" Hunt (28,176 votes - 47.77%)] as-is on 12 June. Some 3700 voters cast ballots in Yazoo County in the primary.

Missouri  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican
Class 1 Candidate Democrat Senator Jean Carnahan

Montana  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democrat
Class 2 Elected Democrat Senator Max Baucus

Nebraska  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Charlie A. Matulka

New Hampshire  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Republicans
 ** Open Seat (no incumbent) **
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Governor Jeanne Shaheen
announced 6 February 2002

New Jersey  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats
 ** Open Seat (no incumbent) **
Class 2 Elected Democrat Frank Lautenberg
7 October 2002- The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the ruling of the New Jersey Supreme Court, thus clearing the way for former Senator Lautenberg's name to appear on the General Election ballot.
2 October 2002- In a unanimous ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided that the Democrats could replace the name of Senator Bob Torricelli on the ballot with that of former Senator Lautenberg.
1 October 2002 - Governor Jim McGreevey announced that (pending NJ Supreme Court approval) former Senator Frank Lautenberg would replace incumbent Senator Robert Torricelli as the Democratic candidate for the Class 2 Senate seat in the 5 November election.
Class 2 Withdrawn Democrat Senator Robert G. Torricelli - withdrew
7 October 2002- With the U.S. Supreme Court having refused to hear an appeal from the 2 October ruling of the NJ Supreme Court, Senator Torricelli's name will now be legally replaced on the General Election ballot by that of former Senator Frank Lautenberg.
30 September 2002- For the time being, Senator Torricelli's name remains on the General Election ballot pending the resolution in the courts of legal issues re: the application of New Jersey Election Law to this situation.

New Mexico  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Gloria Tristani

North Carolina  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democrat
 ** Open Seat (no incumbent) **
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Erskine B. Bowles

Oklahoma  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Republicans
Class 2 Candidate Democrat David Walters
No candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the 27 August Primary. A 17 September runnoff election was held between the 2 highest vote getters: David Walters (49%) and Tom Boettcher (34%). 27 August primary candidates not proceeding to the runoff: Jim Rogers (10%); George Gentry (7%).

Oregon  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democrat
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Bill Bradbury

Rhode Island  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democrat
Class 2 Elected Democrat Senator John F. "Jack" Reed

South Carolina  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democrat
 ** Open Seat (no incumbent) **
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Alex Sanders

South Dakota  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats
Class 2 Elected Democrat Senator Tim Johnson

Tennessee  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Republicans
 ** Open Seat (no incumbent) **
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Congressman Bob Clement

Texas  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Republicans
 ** Open Seat (no incumbent) **
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Ron Kirk

West Virginia  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats
Class 2 Elected Democrat Senator John D. "Jay" Rockefeller, IV

Wyoming  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Republicans
Class 2 Candidate Democrat Joyce Jansa Corcoran
 

Notes

Senate Class

Class 1 seats begin their new terms at noon on 3 January 2001... next regular election for these seats is in 2006.
Class 2 seats end their current terms at noon on 3 January 2003... next regular election for these seats is 2002.
Class 3 seats end their current terms at noon on 3 January 2005... next regular election for these seats is 2004.

For more information review UNITED STATES SENATE: Electoral "Classes"


Article I, Section 3, clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States reads as follows:

"Immediately after [the Senate of the United States] shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year..."

Pursuant to this Constitutional provision, a three-Senator Committee was appointed by the Senate on 11 May 1789 to come up with a plan to carry out the requirements of that provision; this Committee reported to the Senate on 14 May 1789 a plan to divide the then 20 Senators (there were 10 of the 13 original States represented in the Senate at the time- each having 2 Senators: North Carolina and Rhode Island had yet to ratify the U.S. Constitution, while New York had so ratified but had failed to elect Senators as of that date) into the requisite three electoral Classes: under this plan, three groups of Senators (set up in such a way so as no State had its two Senators in the same group) were to be listed and the first Senator on each list (a list which was set up geographically north-to-south in the manner in which the Electoral Vote for President was counted before Congress at that time, so that two of the first Senators on these lists were from New Hampshire and the third was the first Senator in alphabetical order from Massachusetts) was to each blindly draw a piece of paper numbered either "1", "2" or "3" out of a box in the possession of the Secretary of the Senate. This plan being agreeable to the Senate and so approved, the drawing of lots in this manner was carried out the following day (15 May 1789)- such lot drawing ultimately determining that, to start with, Classes 1 and 2 were to have 7 Senators each and Class 3 was to have only 6 Senators.

When New York finally seated its two Senators during the ensuing Summer, there was another lot drawing (actually a double-lot drawing) on 28 July 1789 to determine the Classes for these seats: since one of the seats had to be Class 3 to make it equal in number to that of the other two Classes so far, the two New York Senators each blindly drew between two pieces of paper, one marked "3", the other which was blank- after this, there was a second lot drawing in which the New York Senator who had drawn the blank paper blindly drew again between two pieces of paper marked "1" and "2": he drew "1" so that New York would henceforth have Senators of electoral Classes 1 and 3.

When North Carolina seated its two Senators after ratifying the Constitution on 21 November 1789, there was yet another lot drawing (on 29 January 1790) in which North Carolina's two Senators each blindly drew between pieces of paper marked "2" and "3" (since there were now 12 States and, thus, 24 Senators: 24 being equally divisible by 3, there would now have to be 8 Senators in each of the three Classes to fulfill the Constitutional provision that, as nearly as was practicable, one third of the Senate be elected every second year).

After Rhode Island- the last of the 13 original States- finally ratified the Constitution on 29 May 1790 and subsequently seated its two Senators that Summer, there was yet one more lot drawing in the First Congress (on 25 June 1790) in which Rhode Island's two Senators blindly drew between pieces of paper marked "1", "2" and "3": one Senator drew "2", the other drew "1"- thereby determining electoral Classes 1 and 2 as those for the Senators from this State. When Vermont was admitted to the Union as the 14th state on 4 March 1791, there was again a double lot drawing as there had been for New York. From that day until this, whenever a new State has been admitted to the Union, these types of lot drawings (the type determined by the necessity of keeping the number of Senators in each electoral Class as close to one third as possible at the time of said lot drawing) between the new State's first Senators is held before the Senate to determine in just which of the three electoral Classes that State's Senate seats will be placed from then on.

 

 


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