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 starting 1935 the beginning of their term is January 3, not March 4.

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 2012, and the next full election will be in 2018.

#	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	Pro- Administration	February 7, 1795 – February 28, 1801	3 (Continued)		Elected to finish Read's term
		Federalist		4
				5	3	Re-elected in 1796 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
		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 3, 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 Lost re-election
				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
				113	39	Re-elected in 2012
				114
				115

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 2008, 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
				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 1835 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
				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
				114	39	Re-elected in 2014

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