List of United States senators from California

Current delegation

Alex Padilla (D)

Laphonza Butler (D)

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.

List of senators

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 1856. 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 1860. Retired.	Mar 4, 1861 – Mar 3, 1867	Democratic	James A. McDougall	2
6	John Conness	Republican	Mar 4, 1863 – Mar 3, 1869	Elected during the 1862/1863 cycle.[a]	4	38th
						39th
						40th	4	Elected during the 1866/1867 cycle.	Mar 4, 1867 – Mar 3, 1873	Republican	Cornelius Cole	3
7	Eugene Casserly	Democratic	Mar 4, 1869 – Nov 29, 1873	Elected in 1868. Resigned.	5	41st
						42nd
						43rd	5	Elected in 1872 or 1873. 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 1878. 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 1880. 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.
				Re-elected to full term in 1946.	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.[b]	Jan 18, 2021 – present	Democratic	Alex Padilla	18
						118th	30	Elected to full term in 2022.[b]
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 will be elected.
To be determined in the 2024 special election.
To be determined in the 2024 election.					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

• List of United States representatives from California
• United States congressional delegations from California
• Elections in California
• List of United States Senate elections in California

Notes

1. John Conness was elected as a Democrat, but changed party to Republican after the election.^{[citation needed]}
2. 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.

References

1. 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.

• "States in the Senate – California's United States senators". via Senate.gov.
• "Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present". via Senate.gov.
• Byrd, Robert C. (October 1, 1993). Wolff, Wendy (ed.). The Senate, 1789-1989: Historical Statistics, 1789-1992. United States Senate Historical Office (volume 4 Bicentennial ed.). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780160632563.