The President of the Maryland Senate is elected by a majority of the State Senators.[ 1] The incumbent is Bill Ferguson who has held the role since January 8, 2020.
The Maryland Constitution of 1864 created the new position of Lieutenant Governor of Maryland , elected by the voters of the state.[ 2] That officer served as president of the Senate and would assume the office of governor if the incumbent should die, resign, be removed, or be disqualified.[ 2] Christopher Christian Cox was the first and only lieutenant governor to preside over the Senate in that capacity;[ 3] the position was abolished in the state's 1867 Constitution , which remains in effect as amended.[ 2] When the lieutenant governorship was re-established by a constitutional amendment in 1970, it did not include the Senate presidency.[ 2]
List of Senate presidents
Order
Name (Political Party)
District
Sessions
1
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer
1777–1780
2
Matthew Tilghman
1780
3
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer
1780
4
George Plater
1780–1782
5
Matthew Tilghman
1782–1783
6
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
1783
7
Daniel Carroll
1783
8
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
1783
9
George Plater
1784
10
John Smith
1784
11
George Plater
1785
12
Daniel Carroll
1785
13
George Plater
1786
14
John Smith
1786
15
Daniel Carroll
1787
16
George Plater
1787–1788
17
Daniel Carroll
1788–1789
18
John Smith
1789
19
George Plater
1790
20
William Smallwood
1791
21
George Dent
1792
22
William Perry
1792–1798
23
John Thomas
1797–1800
24
Richard Harwood
1801–1805
25
William Thomas
1806–1807
26
Stephen Lowrey
1807
27
William Thomas
1807–1809
28
Stephen Lowrey
1809
29
William Thomas
1809–1813
30
Elijah Davis
1813–1815
31
William Spencer
1816–1820
32
William R. Stuart
1821–1825
33
Edward Lloyd
1826
34
William H. Marriott
1827–1830
35
Benjamin S. Forrest
1831–1834
36
Thomas Sappington
1834
37
John G. Chapman (Whig )
1834–1836
38
Richard Thomas
St. Mary's
1836–1843
39
William Williams
Somerset
1844–1847
40
William Lingan Gaither
Montgomery
1849
41
Edward Lloyd
Talbot
1852–1853
42
William Lingan Gaither
Montgomery
1854
43
George Wells
Anne Arundel
1856
44
Edwin H. Webster
Harford
1858
45
John B. Brooke
Prince George's
1860–1861
46
Henry Hollyday Goldsborough
Talbot
1861–1862
47
John S. Sellman
Anne Arundel
1864
48
Christopher C. Cox (National Union )*
1865–1867
49
Barnes Compton (D)
Charles
1868–1870
50
Henry Snyder (D)
Baltimore City, District 2
1872
51
John Lee Carroll (D)
Howard
1874
52
Daniel Fields (D)
Caroline
1876
53
Edward Lloyd (D)
Talbot
1878
54
Herman Stump, Jr. (D)
Harford
1880
55
George Hawkins Williams (D)
Baltimore
1882
56
Henry Lloyd (D)
Dorchester
1884
57
Edwin Warfield (D)
Howard
1886
58
George Peter (D)
Montgomery
1888
59
Robert Franklin Brattan (D)
Somerset
1890
60
Edward Lloyd VII (D)
Talbot
1892
61
John Walter Smith (D)
Worcester
1894
62
William Cabell Bruce (D)
Baltimore City, District 2
1896
63
John Wirt Randall (R)
Anne Arundel
1898
64
John Hubner (D)
Baltimore
1900–1902
65
Spencer Cone Jones (D)
Montgomery
1904
66
Joseph B. Seth (D)
Talbot
1906–1908
67
Arthur Pue Gorman Jr. (D)
Howard
1910
68
Jesse D. Price (D)
Wicomico
1912–1914
69
Peter J. Campbell (D)
Baltimore City, District 2
1916–1918
70
William I. Norris (D)
Baltimore City, District 1
1920–1922
71
David G. McIntosh Jr. (D)
Baltimore
1924–1929
72
Walter J. Mitchell (D)
Charles
1931–1933
73
Lansdale G. Sasscer (D)
Prince George's
1935–1937
74
Arthur H. Brice (D)
Kent
1939–1943
75
James J. Lindsay, Jr. (D)
Baltimore
1944–1946
76
Joseph R. Byrnes (D)
Baltimore City, District 5
1947–1950
77
L. Harold Sothoron (D)
Prince George's
1950
78
George W. Della (D)
Baltimore City, District 6
1951–1954
79
Louis L. Goldstein (D)
Calvert
1955–1958
80
George W. Della (D)
Baltimore City, District 6
1959–1962
81
William S. James (D)
Harford
1963–1974
82
Steny Hoyer (D)
District 26
1975–1978
83
James Clark, Jr. (D)
District 14
1979–1982
84
Melvin A. Steinberg (D)
District 11
1983–1986
85
Thomas V. 'Mike' Miller, Jr. (D)
District 27
1987–January 8, 2020
86
Bill Ferguson (D)
District 46
January 8, 2020 – Present
* Cox was elected Lieutenant Governor under the 1864 Constitution, which made him ex officio president of the Senate.
See also
References
Executive Legislative Judicial Constitutional offices Independent agencies