List of United States senators from California

California elects United States senators to class 1 and class 3. The state has been represented by 47 people in the Senate since it was admitted to the Union on September 9, 1850. Its U.S. senators are Democrats Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler. Dianne Feinstein was the state's longest serving senator, who served from 1992 until her death in 2023.

Current delegation

List of senators

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Class 1
Class 1 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 2000, 2006, 2012, and 2018.
The next election will be in 2024.
C Class 3
Class 3 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 2004, 2010, and 2016, and 2022.
The next election will be in 2028.
# Senator Party Dates in office Electoral history T T Electoral history Dates in office Party Senator #
1  
John C. Frémont
Democratic Sep 9, 1850 –
Mar 3, 1851
Elected in 1849. 1 31st 1 Elected in 1849. Sep 9, 1850 –
Mar 3, 1855
Democratic  
William M. Gwin
1
Vacant Mar 4, 1851 –
Jan 29, 1852
Legislature failed to elect. 2 32nd
2  
John B. Weller
Democratic Jan 30, 1852 –
Mar 3, 1857
Elected late in 1852.
Lost re-election.
33rd
34th 2 Legislature failed to elect. Mar 4, 1855 –
Jan 13, 1857
Vacant
Elected late in 1857. Jan 14, 1857 –
Mar 3, 1861
Democratic  
William M. Gwin
3  
David C. Broderick
Democratic Mar 4, 1857 –
Sep 16, 1859
Elected in 1857.
Died.
3 35th
36th
Vacant Sep 17, 1859 –
Nov 2, 1859
 
4  
Henry P. Haun
Democratic Nov 3, 1859 –
Mar 4, 1860
Appointed to continue Broderick's term.
Lost election to finish Broderick's term.
5  
Milton Latham
Democratic Mar 5, 1860 –
Mar 3, 1863
Elected in 1860 to finish Broderick's term.
Lost re-election.
37th 3 Elected in 1861.
Retired.
Mar 4, 1861 –
Mar 3, 1867
Democratic  
James A. McDougall
2
6  
John Conness
Republican Mar 4, 1863 –
Mar 3, 1869
Elected in 1863.[a] 4 38th
39th
40th 4 Elected in 1865. Mar 4, 1867 –
Mar 3, 1873
Republican  
Cornelius Cole
3
7  
Eugene Casserly
Democratic Mar 4, 1869 –
Nov 29, 1873
Elected in 1867.
Resigned.
5 41st
42nd
43rd 5 Elected in 1871.
Retired.
Mar 4, 1873 –
Mar 3, 1879
Republican  
Aaron A. Sargent
4
Vacant Nov 30, 1873 –
Dec 22, 1873
 
8  
John S. Hager
Democratic Dec 23, 1873 –
Mar 3, 1875
Elected in 1873 to finish Casserly's term.
Retired.
9  
Newton Booth
Anti-Monopoly Mar 4, 1875 –
Mar 3, 1881
Elected early in 1873.
Retired.
6 44th
45th
46th 6 Elected in 1877.
Retired.
Mar 4, 1879 –
Mar 3, 1885
Democratic  
James T. Farley
5
10  
John Franklin Miller
Republican Mar 4, 1881 –
Mar 8, 1886
Elected in 1881.
Died.
7 47th
48th
49th 7 Elected in 1885. Mar 4, 1885 –
Jun 21, 1893
Republican  
Leland Stanford
6
Vacant Mar 9, 1886 –
Mar 22, 1886
 
11  
George Hearst
Democratic Mar 23, 1886 –
Aug 3, 1886
Appointed to continue Miller's term.
Successor elected.
12  
Abram Williams
Republican Aug 4, 1886 –
Mar 3, 1887
Elected in 1886 to finish Miller's term.
Retired.
13  
George Hearst
Democratic Mar 4, 1887 –
Feb 28, 1891
Elected in 1887.
Died.
8 50th
51st
Vacant Mar 1, 1891 –
Mar 18, 1891
 
52nd 8 Re-elected in 1891.
Died.
14  
Charles N. Felton
Republican Mar 19, 1891 –
Mar 3, 1893
Elected in 1891 to finish Hearst's term.
Retired.
15  
Stephen M. White
Democratic Mar 4, 1893 –
Mar 3, 1899
Elected in 1893.
Retired.
9 53rd
  Jun 22, 1893 –
Jul 25, 1893
Vacant
Appointed to continue Stanford's term.
Elected in 1895 to finish Stanford's term.[1]
Jul 26, 1893 –
Mar 3, 1915
Republican  
George C. Perkins
7
54th
55th 9 Re-elected in 1897.[2]
Vacant Mar 4, 1899 –
Feb 6, 1900
  10 56th
16  
Thomas R. Bard
Republican Feb 7, 1900 –
Mar 3, 1905
Elected late in 1900.
Lost re-election.
57th
58th 10 Re-elected in 1903.[3]
17  
Frank P. Flint
Republican Mar 4, 1905 –
Mar 3, 1911
Elected in 1905.[4]
Retired.
11 59th
60th
61st 11 Re-elected in 1909.[5]
Retired.
18  
John D. Works
Republican Mar 4, 1911 –
Mar 3, 1917
Elected in 1911.
Retired.
12 62nd
63rd
64th 12 Elected in 1914.
Lost re-election.
Mar 4, 1915 –
Mar 3, 1921
Democratic  
James D. Phelan
8
19  
Hiram Johnson
Republican Mar 4, 1917 –
Aug 6, 1945
Elected in 1916.
Not seated until March 16 in order to remain governor of California.
13 65th
66th
67th 13 Elected in 1920. Mar 4, 1921 –
Mar 3, 1933
Republican  
Samuel M. Shortridge
9
Re-elected in 1922. 14 68th
69th
70th 14 Re-elected in 1926.
Lost renomination.
Re-elected in 1928. 15 71st
72nd
73rd 15 Elected in 1932.
Lost renomination, then resigned.
Mar 4, 1933 –
Nov 8, 1938
Democratic  
William Gibbs McAdoo
10
Re-elected in 1934. 16 74th
75th
Appointed to finish McAdoo's term.
Retired.
Nov 9, 1938 –
Jan 3, 1939
Democratic  
Thomas M. Storke
11
76th 16 Elected in 1938. Jan 3, 1939 –
Nov 30, 1950
Democratic  
Sheridan Downey
12
Re-elected in 1940.
Died.
17 77th
78th
79th 17 Re-elected in 1944.
Ran for re-election, but dropped out of renomination race due to ill health.
Resigned early due to ill health.
Vacant Aug 7, 1945 –
Aug 25, 1945
 
20  
William Knowland
Republican Aug 26, 1945 –
Jan 3, 1959
Appointed to continue Johnson's term.
Elected in 1946 to finish Johnson's term.[b]
Elected to full term in 1946.[b] 18 80th
81st
Appointed to finish Downey's term,
having been elected to the next term.
Dec 1, 1950 –
Jan 1, 1953
Republican  
Richard Nixon
13
82nd 18 Elected in 1950.
Resigned to become U.S. Vice President.
Appointed to continue Nixon's term.
Elected in 1954 to finish Nixon's term.[1]
Jan 2, 1953 –
Jan 3, 1969
Republican  
Thomas Kuchel
14
Re-elected in 1952.
Retired to run for governor of California.
19 83rd
84th
85th 19 Re-elected in 1956.
21  
Clair Engle
Democratic Jan 3, 1959 –
Jul 30, 1964
Elected in 1958.
Died.
20 86th
87th
88th 20 Re-elected in 1962.
Lost renomination.
Vacant Jul 31, 1964 –
Aug 3, 1964
 
22  
Pierre Salinger
Democratic Aug 4, 1964 –
Dec 31, 1964
Appointed to finish Engle's term.
Lost election to full term, resigned early to give successor preferential seniority.
23  
George Murphy
Republican Jan 1, 1965 –
Jan 1, 1971
Appointed early to finish Engle's term, having been elected to the next term.
Elected in 1964.
Lost re-election, resigned early to give successor preferential seniority.
21 89th
90th
91st 21 Elected in 1968. Jan 3, 1969 –
Jan 3, 1993
Democratic  
Alan Cranston
15
24  
John V. Tunney
Democratic Jan 2, 1971 –
Jan 1, 1977
Appointed to finish Murphy's term, having been elected to the next term.
Elected in 1970.
Lost re-election, resigned early to give successor preferential seniority.
22 92nd
93rd
94th 22 Re-elected in 1974.
25  
S. I. Hayakawa
Republican Jan 2, 1977 –
Jan 3, 1983
Appointed to finish Tunney's term, having been elected to the next term.
Elected in 1976.
Retired.
23 95th
96th
97th 23 Re-elected in 1980.
26  
Pete Wilson
Republican Jan 3, 1983 –
Jan 7, 1991
Elected in 1982. 24 98th
99th
100th 24 Re-elected in 1986.
Retired.
Re-elected in 1988.
Resigned to become governor of California.
25 101st
102nd
27  
John Seymour
Republican Jan 7, 1991 –
Nov 3, 1992
Appointed to continue Wilson's term.
Lost election to finish Wilson's term.
28  
Dianne Feinstein
Democratic Nov 4, 1992 –
Sep 29, 2023
Elected in 1992 to finish Wilson's term.
103rd 25 Elected in 1992. Jan 3, 1993 –
Jan 3, 2017
Democratic  
Barbara Boxer
16
Re-elected in 1994. 26 104th
105th
106th 26 Re-elected in 1998.
Re-elected in 2000. 27 107th
108th
109th 27 Re-elected in 2004.
Re-elected in 2006. 28 110th
111th
112th 28 Re-elected in 2010.
Retired.
Re-elected in 2012. 29 113th
114th
115th 29 Elected in 2016.
Resigned to become U.S. Vice President.[6]
Jan 3, 2017 –
Jan 18, 2021
Democratic  
Kamala Harris
17
Re-elected in 2018.
Announced retirement, then died.
30 116th
117th
Appointed to continue Harris's term.
Elected in 2022 to finish Harris's term.[c]
Jan 18, 2021 –
present
Democratic  
Alex Padilla
18
118th 30 Elected to full term in 2022.[c]
Vacant Sep 29, 2023 –
Oct 1, 2023
 
29  
Laphonza Butler
Democratic Oct 1, 2023 –
present
Appointed to continue Feinstein's term.
Retiring when her successor was elected.
30  
Adam Schiff
Democratic TBD Elected in 2024 to finish Feinstein's term.[d]
Elected to full term in 2024.[d] 31 119th
120th
121st 31 To be determined in the 2028 election.
# Senator Party Years in office Electoral history T C T Electoral history Years in office Party Senator #
Class 1 Class 3

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ John Conness was elected as a Democrat, but changed party to Republican after the election.[citation needed]
  2. ^ a b Knowland was elected to finish the remainder of Hiram Johnson's term in a special election held the same day as the general election for the next term, which he also won.
  3. ^ a b Padilla was elected to finish the remainder of Kamala Harris's term in a special election held the same day as the general election for the next term, which he also won.
  4. ^ a b Schiff was elected to finish the remainder of Dianne Feinstein's term in a special election held the same day as the general election for the next term, which he also won.

References

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  1. ^ a b Byrd, p. 83.
  2. ^ "Perkins Re-elected in California". The New York Times. January 14, 1897. p. 12.
  3. ^ "Perkins of California Re-elected". The New York Times. January 14, 1903. p. 12.
  4. ^ The World Almanac and Encyclopedia 1906. 1905. p. 108.
  5. ^ "Perkins of California Re-elected". The New York Times. January 13, 1909. p. 5.
  6. ^ Bowman, Bridget (November 7, 2020). "Win by Biden and Harris opens up California Senate seat". Roll Call. Retrieved December 4, 2020.