List of United States Senators from Delaware

This is a listing of the United States Senators from Delaware. They were originally elected by the Delaware General Assembly for designated six-year terms beginning March 4. Frequently portions of the term would remain only upon a senator's death or resignation. From 1914 the senators were popularly elected on the first Tuesday after November 1 and from 1935 the beginning of their term to began on January 3.

Class 1

Senators belonging to this electoral class were first elected in 1788 to two-year terms that expired at the end of the 1st United States Congress, and had to stand for re-election to a full six-year term in 1790. The seats were most recently contested in 2006, and the next full election will be in 2012.

#	Senator	Party	Years	Congress	Term	Electoral history
1	George Read	Pro- Administration	March 4, 1789 – September 18, 1793	1	1	Elected in 1789
				2	2	Re-elected in 1790 Resigned to become Chief Justice of Delaware
				3
Vacant			September 18, 1793 – February 7, 1795
2	Henry Latimer	Federalist	February 7, 1795 – February 28, 1801	3 (Continued)		Elected to finish Read's term
				4
				5	3	Re-elected in 1797 Resigned
				6
3	Samuel White	Federalist	February 28, 1801 – November 4, 1809	6 (Continued)		Appointed to continue Latimer's term Elected to finish Latimer's term
				7
				8	4	Re-elected in 1803
				9
				10
				11	5	Re-elected in 1809 Died
Vacant			November 4, 1809 – January 12, 1810
4	Outerbridge Horsey	Federalist	January 12, 1810 – March 3, 1821	11 (Continued)		Elected to finish White's term
				12
				13
				14	6	Re-elected in 1815 Retired
				15
				16
Vacant			March 4, 1821 – January 23, 1822	17	7
5	Caesar A. Rodney	Democratic- Republican	January 24, 1822 – January 29, 1823			Elected late to finish vacant term Resigned
Vacant			January 29, 1823 – January 8, 1824	17 (Continued)
				18
6	Thomas Clayton	Adams-Clay Federalist	January 8, 1824 – March 3, 1827	18 (Continued)		Elected to finish Rodney's term [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
		Adams		19
7	Louis McLane	Jacksonian	March 4, 1827 – April 16, 1829	20	8	Elected in 1827 Resigned to become Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to England
				21
Vacant			April 16, 1829 – January 7, 1830
8	Arnold S. Naudain	Anti-Jacksonian	January 7, 1830 – June 16, 1836	21 (Continued)		Elected to finish McLane's term
				22
				23	9	Re-elected in 1832 Resigned
				24
9	Richard H. Bayard	Anti-Jacksonian Whig	June 17, 1836 – September 19, 1839	24 (Continued)		Elected to finish Naudain's term Resigned to become Chief Justice of Delaware
				25
Vacant			September 19, 1839 – January 11, 1841	26	10
10	Richard H. Bayard	Whig	January 12, 1841 – March 3, 1845	26 (Continued)		Elected to finish his own term Retired
				27
				28
11	John M. Clayton	Whig	March 4, 1845 – February 23, 1849	29	11	Elected in 1845 Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of State
				30
12	John Wales	Whig	February 23, 1849 – March 3, 1851	30 (Continued)		Elected to finish Clayton's term Lost re-election
				31
13	James A. Bayard, Jr.	Democratic	March 4, 1851 – January 29, 1864	32	12	Elected in 1851
				33
				34
				35	13	Re-elected in 1857
				36
				37
				38	14	Re-elected in 1863 Resigned
14	George R. Riddle	Democratic	January 29, 1864 – March 29, 1867	38 (Continued)		Elected to finish Bayard's term Died
				39
				40
Vacant			March 29, 1867 – April 5, 1867
15	James A. Bayard, Jr.	Democratic	April 5, 1867 – March 3, 1869	40 (Continued)		Appointed to continue Riddle's term Elected to finish Riddle's term Retired
16	Thomas F. Bayard	Democratic	March 4, 1869 – March 6, 1885	41	15	Elected in 1869
				42
				43
				44	16	Re-elected in 1875
				45
				46
				47	17	Re-elected in 1881 Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of State
				48
				49
17	George Gray	Democratic	March 18, 1885 – March 3, 1899	49 (Continued)		Elected to finish Bayard's term
				50	18	Re-elected in 1887
				51
				52
				53	19	Re-elected in 1893 Lost re-election
				54
				55
Vacant			March 4, 1899 – March 1, 1903	56	20	Legislature failed to elect
				57
18	L. Heisler Ball	Republican	March 2, 1903 – March 3, 1905	57 (Continued)		Elected to finish vacant term
				58
Vacant			March 4, 1905 – June 12, 1906	59	21	Legislature failed to elect
19	Henry A. du Pont	Republican	June 13, 1906 – March 3, 1917	59 (Continued)		Elected to finish vacant term
				60
				61
				62	22	Re-elected in 1911 Lost re-election
				63
				64
20	Josiah O. Wolcott	Democratic	March 4, 1917 – July 2, 1921	65	23	Resigned to become Chancellor of Delaware
				66
				67
21	T. Coleman du Pont	Republican	July 7, 1921 – November 6, 1922			Appointed to finish Wolcott's term Lost election to finish Wolcott's term
22	Thomas F. Bayard, Jr.	Democratic	November 7, 1922 – March 3, 1929	67 (Continued)		Elected to finish Wolcott's term
				68	24	Elected in 1922 Lost re-election
				69
				70
23	John G. Townsend, Jr.	Republican	March 4, 1929 – January 3, 1941	71	25	Elected in 1928
				72
				73
				74	26	Re-elected in 1934 Lost re-election
				75
				76
24	James M. Tunnell	Democratic	January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1947	77	27	Elected in 1940 Lost re-election
				78
				79
25	John J. Williams	Republican	January 3, 1947 – December 31, 1970	80	28	Elected in 1946
				81
				82
				83	29	Re-elected in 1952
				84
				85
				86	30	Re-elected in 1958
				87
				88
				89	31	Re-elected in 1964 Reisgned to give successor preferential seniority
				90
				91
26	William V. Roth, Jr.	Republican	January 1, 1971 – January 3, 2001	91 (Continued)		Appointed to finish Williams's term, having been elected to the next term
				92	32	Elected in 1970
				93
				94
				95	33	Re-elected in 1976
				96
				97
				98	34	Re-elected in 1982
				99
				100
				101	35	Re-elected in 1988
				102
				103
				104	36	Re-elected in 1994 Retired
				105
				106
27	Thomas R. Carper	Democratic	January 3, 2001 – Present	107	37	Elected in 2000
				108
				109
				110	38	Re-elected in 2006
				111
				112

Class 2

Senators belonging to this electoral class were first elected in 1788 to four-year terms that expired at the end of the 2nd United States Congress, and had to stand for re-election to a full six-year term in 1792. The seats were most recently contested in 2010, and the next full election will be in 2014.

#	Senator	Party	Years	Congress	Term	Electoral history
1	Richard Bassett	Anti- Administration Pro- Administration	March 4, 1789 – March 3, 1793	1	1	Elected in 1789 [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
				2
2	John M. Vining	Pro- Administration Federalist	March 4, 1793 – January 19, 1798	3	2	Elected in 1793 Resigned
				4
				5
3	Joshua Clayton	Federalist	January 19, 1798 – August 11, 1798			Elected to finish Vining's term Died
Vacant			August 11, 1798 – January 17, 1799
4	William H. Wells	Federalist	January 17, 1799 – November 6, 1804	5 (Continued)		Elected to finish Clayton's term
				6	3	Elected to full term in 1799 Resigned
				7
				8
5	James A. Bayard	Federalist	November 13, 1804 – March 3, 1813	8 (Continued)		Elected to finish Wells's term
				9	4	Re-elected in 1805
				10
				11
				12	5	Re-elected in 1811 Resigned
Vacant			March 3, 1813 – May 21, 1813	13
6	William H. Wells	Federalist	May 21, 1813 – March 3, 1817	13 (Continued)		Elected to finish Bayard's term Retired
				14
7	Nicholas Van Dyke	Federalist	March 4, 1817 – May 21, 1826	15	6	Elected in 1817
				16
				17
				18	7	Re-elected in 1823 Died
				19
Vacant			May 21, 1826 – November 8, 1826
8	Daniel Rodney	Anti- Jacksonian	November 8, 1826 – January 12, 1827	19 (Continued)		Appointed to continue Van Dyke's term Retired
9	Henry M. Ridgely	Jacksonian	January 12, 1827 – March 3, 1829	19		Elected to finish Van Dyke's term Retired
				20
10	John M. Clayton	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1829 – December 29, 1836	21	8	Elected in 1829
				22
				23
				24	9	Re-elected in 1935 Resigned
Vacant			December 29, 1836 – January 9, 1837
11	Thomas Clayton	Anti-Jacksonian Whig	January 9, 1837 – March 3, 1847	24 (Continued)		Elected to finish his cousin's term
				25
				26
				27	10	Re-elected in 1841 [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
				28
				29
12	Presley Spruance	Whig	March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1853	30	11	Elected in 1846 Retired
				31
				32
13	John M. Clayton	Whig	March 4, 1853 – November 9, 1856	33	12	Elected in 1853 Died
				34
Vacant			November 9, 1856 – November 19, 1856
14	Joseph P. Comegys	Whig	November 19, 1856 – January 14, 1857			Appointed to continue Clayton's term Declined nomination to finish Clayton's term
15	Martin W. Bates	Democratic	January 14, 1857 – March 3, 1859	34 (Continued)		Elected to finish Clayton's term Lost re-election
				35
16	Willard Saulsbury, Sr.	Democratic	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1871	36	13	Elected in 1858
				37
				38
				39	14	Re-elected in 1864 Lost re-election
				40
				41
17	Eli M. Saulsbury	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1889	42	15	Elected in 1871
				43
				44
				45	16	Re-elected in 1876
				46
				47
				48	17	Re-elected in 1883 Lost re-election
				49
				50
18	Anthony C. Higgins	Republican	March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1895	51	18	Elected in 1888 Lost re-election
				52
				53
Vacant			March 4, 1895 – January 19, 1897	54	19	Legislature failed to elect in 1895
19	Richard R. Kenney	Democratic	January 19, 1897 – March 3, 1901	54		Elected to finish vacant term Lost re-election
				55
				56
Vacant			March 4, 1901 – March 2, 1903	57	20	Legislature failed to elect in 1901
20	J. Frank Allee	Republican	March 2, 1903 – March 3, 1907	57		Elected to finish vacant term Retired
				58
				59
21	Harry A. Richardson	Republican	March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1913	60	21	Elected in 1907 Retired
				61
				62
22	Willard Saulsbury, Jr.	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1919	63	22	Elected in 1913 Lost re-election
				64
				65
23	L. Heisler Ball	Republican	March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1925	66	23	Elected in 1919 Lost renomination
				67
				68
24	T. Coleman du Pont	Republican	March 4, 1925 – December 8, 1928	69	24	Elected in 1924 Resigned
				70
Vacant			December 8, 1928 – December 10, 1928
25	Daniel O. Hastings	Republican	December 10, 1928 – January 3, 1937	70 (Continued)	25	Appointed to continue du Pont's term Elected to finish du Pont's term
				71
				72	25	Elected to full term in 1930 Lost re-election
				73
				74
26	James H. Hughes	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1943	75	26	Elected in 1936 Lost renomination
				76
				77
27	C. Douglass Buck	Republican	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1949	78	27	Elected in 1942 Lost re-election
				79
				80
28	J. Allen Frear, Jr.	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1961	81	28	Elected in 1948
				82
				83
				84	29	Re-elected in 1954 Lost re-election
				85
				86
29	J. Caleb Boggs	Republican	January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1973	87	30	Elected in 1960
				88
				89
				90	31	Re-elected in 1966 Lost re-election
				91
				92
30	Joe Biden	Democratic	January 3, 1973 – January 15, 2009	93	32	Elected in 1972
				94
				95
				96	33	Re-elected in 1978
				97
				98
				99	34	Re-elected in 1984
				100
				101
				102	35	Re-elected in 1990
				103
				104
				105	36	Re-elected in 1996
				106
				107
				108	37	Re-elected in 2002
				109
				110
				111	38	Re-elected in 2008 Resigned to become U.S. Vice President
31	Ted Kaufman	Democratic	January 16, 2009 – November 15, 2010			Appointed to continue Biden's term Retired
32	Chris Coons	Democratic	November 15, 2010 – Present	111 (Continued)		Elected to finish Biden's term
				112
				113

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 

See also

• United States congressional delegations from Delaware
• List of United States Representatives from Delaware