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


Arkansas  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democrat

Class 3 Democrat Senator Blanche Lambert Lincoln
First elected: 1998
[also served in U.S. House- elected: 1992, 1994]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

California  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein
First elected to finish out the term in a Special Election: 1992 [held to fill vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Pete Wilson (Republican): 7 January 1991- which John Seymour (Republican) had been appointed by Governor Pete Wilson (Republican) to fill, 10 January 1991];
Elected to full term: 1994; re-elected 2000
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Class 3 Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer
First elected: 1992; re-elected: 1998
[also served in U.S. House- elected: 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

Connecticut  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman
First elected: 1988; re-elected: 1994, 2000
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Class 3 Democrat Senator Christopher J. Dodd
First elected: 1980; re-elected: 1986, 1992, 1998
[also served in U.S. House: elected 1974, 1976, 1978]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

Delaware  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Thomas R. Carper
First elected: 2000
[also served in U.S. House- elected: 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990;
elected Governor: 1992; re-elected: 1996]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Florida  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Bill Nelson
First elected: 2000
[also served in U.S. House- elected: 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Class 3 Democrat Senator Bob Graham
First elected: 1986; re-elected: 1992, 1998
[also served as Governor- elected: 1978; re-elected: 1982]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

Georgia  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 3 Democrat Senator Zell Miller
Appointed by Governor Roy E. Barnes (Democrat) on 27 July 2000, to fill vacancy caused by the death of Senator Paul Coverdell (Republican): 24 July 2000; elected to serve the remainder of Senator Coverdell's term: 2000
[also served as Governor- elected: 1990; re-elected: 1994]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

Hawaii  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Daniel K. Akaka
Appointed by Governor John Waihee (Democrat) 16 May 1990, to fill vacancy caused by the death of Senator Spark M. Matsunaga (Democrat): 15 April 1990; elected to finish out the term in a Special Election: 1990; elected to full term: 1994; re-elected 2000
[also served in U.S. House- elected: 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Class 3 Democrat Senator Daniel K. Inouye
First elected: 1962; re-elected: 1968, 1974, 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998
[also served in U.S. House- elected: 1959 (Hawaii having just been admitted as a State to the Union), 1960]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

Indiana  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democrat

Class 3 Democrat Senator Evan Bayh
First elected: 1998
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004
2001 June 15: Senator Bayh states that he will not seek the White House in 2004.

Louisiana  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 3 Democrat Senator John B. Breaux
First elected: 1986; re-elected: 1992, 1998
[also served in U.S. House-first elected, 30 September 1972, in Special Election re: resignation of Congressman Edwin Edwards, 9 May 1972, having been elected Governor; re-elected: 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

Maryland  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Paul Sarbanes
First elected: 1976; re-elected: 1982, 1988, 1994, 2000
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Class 3 Democrat Senator Barbara A. Mikulski
First elected: 1986; re-elected: 1992, 1998
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

Massachusetts  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Edward M. Kennedy
First elected to finish out the term in a Special Election: 1962 [held to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator John F. Kennedy (Democrat): 22 December 1960- which Benjamin A. Smith II (Democrat) had been appointed by Governor Foster Furcolo (Democrat) to fill, 27 December 1960]; elected to first full term: 1964; re-elected: 1970, 1976, 1982, 1988, 1994, 2000
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Michigan  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Debbie Stabenow
First elected: 2000
[also served in U.S. House- elected: 1996, 1998]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Minnesota  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat, 1 Independent

Class 1 Democrat Senator Mark Dayton
First elected: 2000
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Nebraska  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican

Class 1 Democrat Senator Ben Nelson
First elected: 2000
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Nevada  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democrat

Class 3 Democrat Senator Harry Reid
First elected: 1986; re-elected: 1992, 1998
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

New Jersey  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Jon Corzine
First elected: 2000
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

New Mexico  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican

Class 1 Democrat Senator Jeff Bingaman
First elected: 1982; re-elected: 1988, 1994, 2000
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

New York  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
First elected: 2000
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Class 3 Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer
First elected: 1998
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

North Carolina  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democrat

Class 3 Democrat Senator John Edwards
First elected: 1998
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

North Dakota  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Kent Conrad
First elected to the "Class 3" seat from the state: 1986; was not a candidate for re-election in the 3 November 1992 General Election; Elected to finish out the "Class 1" term in a Special Election: 4 December 1992 [held to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Quentin N. Burdick (Democrat): 8 September 1992- which Jocelyn B. Burdick (Democrat) had been appointed by Governor George Sinner (Democrat) to fill, 12 September 1992]; elected to a full term: 1994, 2000
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Class 3 Democrat Senator Byron L. Dorgan
First elected: 1992; was induced to take the oath of office: 5 December 1992 when the seat became vacant upon outgoing Senator Kent Conrad (Democrat) having taken the oath of office for the "Class 1" seat from the state; re-elected: 1998
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

Oregon  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democrat

Class 3 Democrat Senator Ron Wyden
First elected to finish out the term in a Special Election: 30 January 1996 [held to fill vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Robert Packwood (Republican): 1 October 1995 (Oregon state law does not permit the state's Governor to make temporary appointments to fill vacancies in the United States Senate)]; elected to a full term: 1998
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

South Carolina  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democrat

Class 3 Democrat Senator Ernest F. "Fritz" Hollings
First elected to finish out the term in a Special Election: 1966 [held to fill vacancy caused by the death of Senator Olin D. Johnston (Democrat): 18 April 1965- which Donald S. Russell (Democrat) had been appointed by Governor Robert E. McNair (Democrat) to fill, 22 April 1965 (Russell had resigned as Governor on 22 April 1965 allowing Lieutenant Governor McNair to succeed to the office of Governor, after which McNair appointed Russell to the Senate)]; elected to full term: 1968; re-elected: 1974, 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

South Dakota  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 3 Democrat Senator Tom Daschle
First elected: 1986; re-elected: 1992, 1998
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

Vermont  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Independent, 1 Democrat

Class 3 Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy
First elected: 1974; re-elected: 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

Washington  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Maria Cantwell
First elected: 2000
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Class 3 Democrat Senator Patty Murray
First elected: 1992; re-elected: 1998
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004

West Virginia  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Robert C. Byrd
First elected: 1958; re-elected: 1964, 1970, 1976, 1982, 1988, 1994, 2000
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Wisconsin  6-year term
Partisan Composition: 2 Democrats

Class 1 Democrat Senator Herbert H. Kohl
First elected: 1988; re-elected: 1994, 2000
Seat up for election: Tuesday 7 November 2006

Class 3 Democrat Senator Russ Feingold
First elected: 1992; re-elected: 1998
Seat up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004
 

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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