List of United States Senators from Illinois

Illinois was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818, and has been represented in the United States Senate by 47 senators. Senators from Illinois are elected to Class 2 and Class 3.

The Senate twice refused to seat Frank L. Smith, in December 1926 for an appointed term and in March 1927 for an elected one, due to corruption, but he is included in this list because Smith and the Governor considered him to be a senator for approximately two years.

Three of the four African Americans to hold U.S. Senate seats since Reconstruction have held Illinois's Class 3 seat.

Class 2

#	Senator	Party	Years	Term	Electoral history
1	Jesse B. Thomas	Democratic- Republican	December 3, 1818 – March 4, 1829	1	Elected in 1818
		Crawford Republican		2	Re-elected in 1823 Retired
2	John McLean	Democratic	March 4, 1829 – October 14, 1830	3	Elected in 1829 Died
Vacant			October 14, 1830 – November 12, 1830
3	David J. Baker	Democratic	November 12, 1830 – December 11, 1830		Appointed to continue McLean's term Retired
4	John M. Robinson	Jacksonian	December 11, 1830 – March 4, 1841		Elected to finish McLean's term
		Democratic		4	Re-elected in 1835 Retired
5	Samuel McRoberts	Democratic	March 4, 1841 – March 27, 1843	5	Elected in 1841 Died
Vacant			March 27, 1843 – December 4, 1843
6	James Semple	Democratic	December 4, 1843 – March 4, 1847		Appointed to continue McRoberts's term Retired
7	Stephen A. Douglas	Democratic	March 4, 1847 – June 3, 1861	6	Elected in 1847
				7	Re-elected in 1853
				8	Re-elected in 1859 Died
Vacant			June 3, 1861 – June 26, 1861
8	Orville Browning	Republican	June 26, 1861 – January 12, 1863		Appointed to continue Douglas's term Lost special election
9	William A. Richardson	Democratic	January 12, 1863 – March 4, 1865		Elected to finish Douglas's term Retired
10	Richard Yates	Republican	March 4, 1865 – March 4, 1871	9	Elected in 1864 Retired
11	John A. Logan	Republican	March 4, 1871 – March 4, 1877	10	Elected in 1870 Lost re-election
12	David Davis	Independent	March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1883	11	Elected in 1876 Retired
13	Shelby Moore Cullom	Republican	March 4, 1883 – March 4, 1913	12	Elected in 1882
				13	Re-elected in 1888
				14	Re-elected in 1894
				15	Re-elected in 1900
				16	Re-elected in 1906
14	J. Hamilton Lewis	Democratic	March 26, 1913 – March 4, 1919	17	Elected in 1912 Lost re-election
15	Joseph M. McCormick	Republican	March 4, 1919 – February 25, 1925	18	Elected in 1918 Died
16	Charles S. Deneen	Republican	February 26, 1925 – March 4, 1931		Appointed
				19	Elected in 1924 Lost renomination
17	J. Hamilton Lewis	Democratic	March 4, 1931 – April 9, 1939	20	Elected in 1930
				21	Re-elected in 1936 Died
Vacant			April 9, 1939 – April 14, 1939
18	James M. Slattery	Democratic	April 14, 1939 – November 21, 1940		Appointed to continue Lewis's term Lost special election
19	Charles W. Brooks	Republican	November 22, 1940 – January 3, 1949		Elected to finish Lewis's term
				22	Re-elected in 1942 Lost re-election
20	Paul Douglas	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1967	23	Elected in 1948
				24	Re-elected in 1954
				25	Re-elected in 1960 Lost re-election
21	Charles H. Percy	Republican	January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1985	26	Elected in 1966
				27	Re-elected in 1972
				28	Re-elected in 1978 Lost re-election
22	Paul Simon	Democratic	January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1997	29	Elected in 1984
				30	Re-elected in 1990 Retired
23	Dick Durbin	Democratic	January 3, 1997 – Present	31	Elected in 1996
				32	Re-elected in 2002
				33	Re-elected in 2008
#	Senator	Party	Years	Term	Electoral history

Class 3

#	Senator	Party	Years	Term	Electoral history
1	Ninian Edwards	Democratic- Republican	December 3, 1818 – March 3, 1824	1	Elected in 1818
				2	Re-elected in 1819 Resigned
		Adams Republican
Vacant			March 3, 1824 – November 24, 1824
2	John McLean	Crawford Republican	November 24, 1824 – March 3, 1825		Elected to finish Edwards's term Lost re-election
3	Elias Kane	Democratic	March 4, 1825 – December 12, 1835	3	Elected in 1825
				4	Re-elected in 1831 Died
Vacant			December 12, 1835 – December 30, 1835
4	William Lee D. Ewing	Democratic	December 30, 1835 – March 3, 1837		Appointed to continue Kane's term Lost election
5	Richard M. Young	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1843	5	Elected in 1837 Retired
6	Sidney Breese	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1849	6	Elected in 1843 Lost renomination
Vacant			March 3, 1849 – October 27, 1849	7	Senator-elect James Shields was elected in 1849, but not seated, having not attained the legal minimum age
7	James Shields	Democratic	October 27, 1849 – March 3, 1855		Elected to finish the vacant term, having attained the minimum age Lost re-election
8	Lyman Trumbull	Democratic	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1873	8	Elected in 1855
		Republican
				9	Re-elected in 1861
				10	Re-elected in 1867
		Liberal Republican
9	Richard J. Oglesby	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1879	11	Elected in 1873 Retired
10	John A. Logan	Republican	March 4, 1879 – December 26, 1886	12	Elected in 1879
				13	Re-elected in 1885 Died
Vacant			December 26, 1886 – January 19, 1887
11	Charles B. Farwell	Republican	January 19, 1887 – March 3, 1891		Elected to finish Logan's term Retired
12	John M. Palmer	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1897	14	Elected in 1890 Retired
13	William E. Mason	Republican	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1903	15	Elected in 1896 Retired
14	Albert J. Hopkins	Republican	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1909	16	Elected in 1902 Lost re-election
Vacant			March 3, 1909 – June 18, 1909	17
15	William Lorimer	Republican	June 18, 1909 – July 13, 1912		Elected late in 1909 Election voided
Vacant			July 13, 1912 – March 26, 1913
16	Lawrence Y. Sherman	Republican	March 26, 1913 – March 3, 1921		Elected to finish Lorimer's term
				18	Re-elected in 1914 Retired
17	William B. McKinley	Republican	March 4, 1921 – December 7, 1926	19	Elected in 1920 Died, having lost renomination
18	Frank L. Smith	Republican	December 7, 1926 – February 9, 1928		Appointed to finish McKinley's term, having been elected to the next term. Not seated due to claims of fraud and corruption
				20	Elected to full term in 1926 Again not seated due to claims of fraud and corruption. Resigned, without having been seated
Vacant			February 9, 1928 – December 3, 1928
19	Otis F. Glenn	Republican	December 3, 1928 – March 3, 1933		Elected to finish Smith's term Lost re-election
20	William H. Dieterich	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939	21	Elected in 1932 Retired
21	Scott W. Lucas	Democratic	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1951	22	Elected in 1938
				23	Re-elected in 1944 Lost re-election
22	Everett Dirksen	Republican	January 3, 1951 – September 7, 1969	24	Elected in 1950
				25	Re-elected in 1956
				26	Re-elected in 1962
				27	Re-elected in 1968 Died
Vacant			September 7, 1969 – September 17, 1969
23	Ralph Tyler Smith	Republican	September 17, 1969 – November 3, 1970		Appointed to continue Dirksen's term Lost election to finish Dirksen's term
24	Adlai Stevenson III	Democratic	November 17, 1970 – January 3, 1981		Elected to finish Dirksen's term
				28	Re-elected in 1974 Retired
25	Alan J. Dixon	Democratic	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1993	29	Elected in 1980
				30	Re-elected in 1986 Lost renomination
26	Carol Moseley Braun	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1999	31	Elected in 1992 Lost re-election
27	Peter Fitzgerald	Republican	January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2005	32	Elected in 1998 Retired
28	Barack Obama	Democratic	January 3, 2005 – November 16, 2008	33	Elected in 2004 Resigned to become U.S. President
Vacant			November 16, 2008 – December 31, 2008
29	Roland Burris	Democratic	December 31, 2008 – November 29, 2010		Appointed to continue Obama's term Retired
30	Mark Kirk	Republican	November 29, 2010 – Incumbent		Elected to finish Obama's term
				34	Elected to full term in 2010
#	Senator	Party	Years	Term	Electoral history

Living former Illinois senators

As of September 2011, six former senators are alive:

Senator	Class	↑ Term	Date of birth (and age)
Adlai Stevenson III	3	1970–1981	October 10, 1930 (1930-10-10)
Alan J. Dixon		1981–1993	July 7, 1927 (1927-07-07)
Carol Moseley Braun		1993–1999	August 16, 1947 (1947-08-16)
Peter Fitzgerald		1999–2005	October 20, 1960 (1960-10-20)
Barack Obama		2005–2008	August 4, 1961 (1961-08-04)
Roland Burris		2008–2010	August 3, 1937 (1937-08-03)

See also

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