List of United States senators in the 97th Congress

This is a complete list of members of the United States Senate during the 97th United States Congress listed by seniority, from January 3, 1981, to January 3, 1983.

Order of service is based on the commencement of the senator's first term. Behind this is former service as a senator (only giving the senator seniority within his or her new incoming class), service as vice president, a House member, a cabinet secretary, or a governor of a state. The final factor is the population of the senator's state.[1][2]

In this congress, Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) was the most senior junior senator and Gordon J. Humphrey (R-New Hampshire) was the most junior senior senator.

Senators who were sworn in during the middle of the two-year congressional term (up until the last senator who was not sworn in early after winning the November 1982 election) are listed at the end of the list with no number.

Terms of service

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Class Terms of service of senators that expired in years
Class 1 Terms of service of senators that expired in 1983 (AZ, CA, CT, DE, FL, HI, IN, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, PA, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, and WY.)[3]
Class 2 Terms of service of senators that expired in 1985 (AK, AL, AR, CO, DE, GA, IA, ID, IL, KS, KY, LA, MA, ME, MI, MN, MS, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WV, and WY.)[4]
Class 3 Terms of service of senators that expired in 1987 (AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, ME, MI, MN, MS, NC, ND, NH, NM, NV, NY, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WA, WV, and WY.)[5]

U.S. Senate seniority list

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U.S. Senate seniority
Rank Senator (party-state) Seniority date Other factors
1 John C. Stennis (D-MS) November 17, 1947
2 Russell B. Long (D-LA) December 31, 1948
3 Henry M. Jackson (D-WA) January 3, 1953 Former representative (12 years)
4 Strom Thurmond (R-SC) November 7, 1956 Former governor, Previously a senator
5 William Proxmire (D-WI) August 28, 1957
6 Jennings Randolph (D-WV) November 5, 1958 Former representative (14 years)
7 Robert Byrd (D-WV) January 3, 1959 Former representative (6 years)
8 Harrison A. Williams[6] (D-NJ) Former representative (4 years)
9 Howard Cannon (D-NV)
10 Quentin Northrup Burdick (D-ND) August 8, 1960 Former representative
11 Claiborne Pell (D-RI) January 3, 1961
12 John Tower (R-TX) June 15, 1961
13 Ted Kennedy (D-MA) November 7, 1962
14 Daniel Inouye (D-HI) January 3, 1963 Former representative
15 Harry F. Byrd, Jr. (I-VA) November 12, 1965
16 Ernest Hollings (D-SC) November 9, 1966 Former governor
17 Charles H. Percy (R-IL) January 3, 1967 Illinois 4th in population (1960)
18 Howard Baker (R-TN) Tennessee 17th in population (1960)
19 Mark Hatfield (R-OR) January 10, 1967 Former governor
20 Ted Stevens (R-AK) December 24, 1968
21 Thomas Eagleton (D-MO) December 28, 1968
22 Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) January 3, 1969 Previously a senator
23 Charles Mathias (R-MD) Former representative (8 years) - Maryland 21st in population (1960)
24 Bob Dole (R-KS) Former representative (8 years) - Kansas 29th in population (1960)
25 Alan Cranston (D-CA) California 2nd in population (1960)
26 Bob Packwood (R-OR) Oregon 32nd in population (1960)
27 Bill Roth (R-DE) January 1, 1971 Former representative
28 Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX) January 3, 1971 Former representative (6 years)
29 Lowell Weicker (R-CT) Former representative (2 years)
30 Lawton Chiles (D-FL)
31 Robert Stafford (R-VT) September 16, 1971 Former governor, Former representative (10 years)
32 Sam Nunn (D-GA) November 8, 1972
33 Bennett Johnston Jr. (D-LA) November 14, 1972
34 James A. McClure (R-ID) January 3, 1973 Former representative
35 Jesse Helms (R-NC) North Carolina 12th in population (1970)
36 Walter Huddleston (D-KY) Kentucky 23rd in population (1970)
37 Pete Domenici (R-NM) New Mexico 37th in population (1970)
38 Joe Biden (D-DE) Delaware 46th in population (1970)
39 Paul Laxalt (R-NV) December 18, 1974
40 Jake Garn (R-UT) December 21, 1974
41 John Glenn (D-OH) December 24, 1974
42 Wendell H. Ford (D-KY) December 28, 1974
43 Dale Bumpers (D-AR) January 3, 1975 Former governor
44 Gary Hart (D-CO) Colorado 30th in population (1970)
45 Patrick Leahy (D-VT) Vermont 48th in population (1970)
46 John Danforth (R-MO) December 27, 1976
47 Edward Zorinsky (D-NE) December 28, 1976
48 Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH) December 29, 1976 Previously a senator
49 John Chafee (R-RI) Former governor, Former cabinet secretary
50 Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D-MI) December 30, 1976 Former representative
51 Samuel Hayakawa (R-CA) January 2, 1977
52 Spark Matsunaga (D-HI) January 3, 1977 Former representative (14 years)
53 John Melcher (D-MT) Former representative (7 years, 7 months)
54 H. John Heinz III (R-PA) Former representative (6 years)
55 Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) Former representative (6 years)
56 Pat Moynihan (D-NY) New York 2nd in population (1970)
57 Richard Lugar (R-IN) Indiana 11th in population (1970)
58 Jim Sasser (D-TN) Tennessee 17th in population (1970)
59 Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ) Arizona 33rd in population (1970)
60 Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Utah 36th in population (1970)
61 Harrison Schmitt (R-NM) New Mexico 37th in population (1970)
62 Malcolm Wallop (R-WY) Wyoming 49th in population (1970)
63 David Durenberger (R-MN) November 8, 1978
64 Max Baucus (D-MT) December 15, 1978 Former representative
65 Nancy Kassebaum Baker (R-KS) December 23, 1978
66 Thad Cochran (R-MS) December 27, 1978 Former representative
67 Rudy Boschwitz (R-MN) December 30, 1978
68 Alan K. Simpson (R-WY) January 1, 1979
69 John Warner (R-VA) January 2, 1979 Former cabinet secretary
70 David Pryor (D-AR) January 3, 1979 Former representative (6 years, 2 months)
71 William Cohen (R-ME) Former representative (6 years)
72 Paul Tsongas (D-MA) Former representative (4 years) - Massachusetts 10th in population (1970)
73 William L. Armstrong (R-CO) Former representative (4 years) - Colorado 30th in population (1970)
74 Larry Pressler (R-SD) Former representative (4 years) - South Dakota 44th in population (1970)
75 David L. Boren (D-OK) Former governor - Oklahoma 27th in population (1970)
76 J. James Exon (D-NE) Former governor - Nebraska 35th in population (1970)
77 Carl Levin (D-MI) Michigan 7th in population (1970)
78 Bill Bradley (D-NJ) New Jersey 8th in population (1970)
79 Howell Heflin (D-AL) Alabama 21st in population (1970)
80 Roger Jepsen (R-IA) Iowa 25th in population (1970)
81 Gordon J. Humphrey (R-NH) New Hampshire 41st in population (1970)
82 George J. Mitchell (D-ME) May 17, 1980
83 Warren Rudman (R-NH) December 31, 1980
84 Paula Hawkins (R-FL) January 1, 1981
85 Jeremiah Denton (R-AL) January 2, 1981
86 Mark Andrews (R-ND) January 3, 1981 Former representative (16 years)
87 Steve Symms (R-ID) Former representative (12 years)
88 James Abdnor (R-SD) Former representative (8 years)
89 Chris Dodd (D-CT) Former representative (6 years) - Connecticut 24th in population (1970)
90 Chuck Grassley (R-IA) Former representative (6 years) - Iowa 25th in population (1970)
91 Dan Quayle (R-IN) Former representative (4 years) - Indiana 11th in population (1970)
92 Bob Kasten (R-WI) Former representative (4 years) - Wisconsin 16th in population (1970)
93 Al D'Amato (R-NY) New York 2nd in population (1970)
94 Arlen Specter (R-PA) Pennsylvania 3rd in population (1970)
95 Alan J. Dixon (D-IL) Illinois 5th in population (1970)
96 John Porter East (R-NC) North Carolina 12th in population (1970)
97 Mack Mattingly (R-GA) Georgia 15th in population (1970)
98 Slade Gorton (R-WA) Washington 22nd in population (1970)
99 Don Nickles (R-OK) Oklahoma 27th in population (1970)
100 Frank Murkowski (R-AK) Alaska 50th in population (1970)
101 Nicholas F. Brady (R-NJ) April 20, 1982
102 Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) December 27, 1982

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ A Chronological List of United States Senators 1789-Present, via www.Senate.gov
  2. ^ 1971 U.S Census Report Contains 1970 Census results.
  3. ^ Terms of service of senators that expired in 1983.
  4. ^ Terms of service of senators that expired in 1985.
  5. ^ Terms of service of senators that expired in 1987.
  6. ^ Senator Williams resigned on March 11, 1982.
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