List of United States senators from Alabama

Alabama was admitted to the Union on December 14, 1819. The state elects U.S. senators to Class 2 and Class 3. Its United States Senate seats were declared vacant from March 1861 to July 1868 due to its secession from the Union during the American Civil War. Alabama's current U.S. senators are Republican Richard Shelby (since 1987) and Democrat Doug Jones (since 2018), making it one of nine states to have a split U.S. Senate delegation.

Current delegation

Richard Shelby (R)

Doug Jones (D)

List of senators

Class 2 Class 2 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that were first elected for two United States Congresses in the election of 1819, and then the seat was contested again for the 18th, 21st, and every three Congresses (six years) thereafter. Those seats in recent years have been contested in 2002, 2008, 2014, and the next election will be in 2020.						C	Class 3 Class 3 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that were first elected for three U.S. Congresses in the election of 1819, and then the seat was contested again for the 19th, 22nd, and every three Congresses (six years) thereafter. Those seats in recent years have been contested in 1998, 2004, 2010, and 2016. The next election will be in 2022.
#	Senator	Party	Dates in office	Electoral history	T		T	Electoral history	Dates in office	Party	Senator	#
1	William R. King	Democratic- Republican	December 14, 1819 – April 15, 1844	Elected in 1819.	1	16th	1	Elected in 1819. Resigned.	December 14, 1819 – December 12, 1822	Democratic- Republican	John Williams Walker	1
						17th
								Elected to finish Walker's term. Retired.	December 12, 1822 – March 3, 1825	Democratic- Republican	William Kelly	2
		Jackson Democratic- Republican		Re-elected in 1822.	2	18th				Jackson Democratic- Republican
		Jacksonian				19th	2	Elected in 1824 or 1825. Died.	March 4, 1825 – January 24, 1826	Jacksonian	Henry H. Chambers	3
									January 24, 1826 – February 17, 1826	Vacant
								Appointed to continue Chambers's term. Successor elected.	February 17, 1826 – November 27, 1826	Jacksonian	Israel Pickens	4
								Elected to finish Chambers's term. Lost re-election.	November 27, 1826 – March 3, 1831	Jacksonian	John McKinley	5
						20th
				Re-elected in 1828.	3	21st
						22nd	3	Elected in 1831. Lost re-election.	March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1837	Jacksonian	Gabriel Moore	6
						23rd				Anti-Jacksonian
				Re-elected in 1834.	4	24th
		Democratic				25th	4	Elected in 1837. Resigned to become U.S. Supreme Court justice.	March 4, 1837 – April 22, 1837	Democratic	John McKinley	7
									April 22, 1837 – June 19, 1837	Vacant
								Elected to finish McKinley's term. Resigned.	June 19, 1837 – November 15, 1841	Democratic	Clement Comer Clay	8
						26th
				Re-elected in 1840. Resigned to become U.S. Minister to France.	5	27th
									November 15, 1841 – November 24, 1841	Vacant
								Elected to finish Clay's term.	November 24, 1841 – June 16, 1848	Democratic	Arthur P. Bagby	9
						28th	5	Re-elected in 1842. Resigned to become U.S. Minister to Russia.
Vacant			April 15, 1844 – April 22, 1844
2	Dixon Hall Lewis	Democratic	April 22, 1844 – October 24, 1848	Appointed to finish King's term.
						29th
				Elected in 1847. Died.	6	30th
									June 16, 1848 – July 1, 1848	Vacant
								Appointed to continue Bagby's term. Elected to finish Bagby's term.	July 1, 1848 – December 20, 1852	Democratic	William R. King	10
Vacant			October 24, 1848 – November 25, 1848
3	Benjamin Fitzpatrick	Democratic	November 25, 1848 – November 30, 1849	Appointed to continue Lewis's term. Successor elected.
						31st	6	Re-elected in 1848 or 1849 [data unknown/missing]. Resigned due to poor health.
4	Jeremiah Clemens	Democratic	November 30, 1849 – March 3, 1853	Elected to finish Lewis's term. Retired.
						32nd
									December 20, 1852 – January 14, 1853	Vacant
								Appointed to continue King's term. Elected December 12, 1853,[1] to finish King's term.	January 14, 1853 – March 3, 1855	Democratic	Benjamin Fitzpatrick	11
Vacant			March 4, 1853 – November 29, 1853	Legislature failed to elect.	7	33rd
5	Clement Claiborne Clay	Democratic	November 29, 1853 – January 21, 1861	Elected late in 1853.
						34th	7	Legislature failed to elect.	March 4, 1855 – November 26, 1855	Vacant
								Elected late. Withdrew.[lower-alpha 1]	November 26, 1855 – January 21, 1861	Democratic	Benjamin Fitzpatrick
						35th
				Re-elected in 1858. Withdrew.[lower-alpha 1]	8	36th
Vacant			January 21, 1861 – July 13, 1868	Civil War and Reconstruction				Civil War and Reconstruction	January 21, 1861 – July 13, 1868	Vacant
						37th	8
						38th
					9	39th
						40th	9
6	Willard Warner	Republican	July 13, 1868 – March 3, 1871	Elected in 1868 to finish vacant term. Lost re-election.				Elected in 1868 to finish vacant term.	July 13, 1868 – March 3, 1879	Republican	George E. Spencer	12
						41st
7	George Goldthwaite	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1877	Elected in 1870. Retired.	10	42nd
						43rd	10	Re-elected in 1872. Retired.
						44th
8	John Tyler Morgan	Democratic	March 4, 1877 – June 11, 1907	Elected in 1876.	11	45th
						46th	11	Elected in 1878. Died.	March 4, 1879 – December 31, 1879	Democratic	George S. Houston	13
									December 31, 1879 – January 7, 1880	Vacant
								Appointed to continue Houston's term. Successor qualified.	January 7, 1880 – November 23, 1880	Democratic	Luke Pryor	14
								Elected to finish Houston's term.	November 24, 1880 – March 3, 1897	Democratic	James L. Pugh	15
						47th
				Re-elected in 1882.	12	48th
						49th	12	Re-elected in 1884.
						50th
				Re-elected in 1888.	13	51st
						52nd	13	Re-elected in 1890. Lost renomination.[2]
						53rd
				Re-elected in 1894.	14	54th
						55th	14	Elected in 1897.[3]	March 4, 1897 – July 27, 1907	Democratic	Edmund Pettus	16
						56th
				Re-elected in 1900.	15	57th
						58th	15	Re-elected January 26, 1903. Re-elected early in 1907,[4][5] but died.
						59th
				Re-elected January 22, 1907.[4][5] Died.	16	60th
Vacant			June 11, 1907 – June 18, 1907
9	John H. Bankhead	Democratic	June 18, 1907 – March 1, 1920	Appointed to continue Morgan's term. Elected July 16, 1907, to finish Morgan's term.
									July 27, 1907 – August 6, 1907	Vacant
								Elected to finish Pettus's term.	August 6, 1907 – August 8, 1913	Democratic	Joseph F. Johnston	17
						61st	16	Elected August 6, 1907, to next term. Died.
						62nd
				Re-elected early January 17, 1911.	17	63rd
								Henry D. Clayton (D) was appointed August 12, 1913, to continue the term, but his appointment was challenged and withdrawn. Franklin P. Glass (D) was appointed November 17, 1913, to continue the term, but the Senate refused to seat him.[6]	August 8, 1913 – May 11, 1914	Vacant
								Elected to finish Johnston's term. Retired.	May 11, 1914 – March 3, 1915	Democratic	Francis S. White	18
						64th	17	Elected in 1914.	March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1927	Democratic	Oscar Underwood	19
						65th
				Re-elected in 1918. Died.	18	66th
Vacant			March 1, 1920 – March 5, 1920
10	B. B. Comer	Democratic	March 5, 1920 – November 2, 1920	Appointed to continue Bankhead's term. Successor elected.
11	James Thomas Heflin	Democratic	November 3, 1920 – March 3, 1931	First elected to finish Bankhead's term.
						67th	18	Re-elected in 1920. Retired.
						68th
				Re-elected in 1924. Disqualified.	19	69th
						70th	19	Elected in 1926.	March 4, 1927 – August 19, 1937	Democratic	Hugo Black	20
						71st
12	John H. Bankhead II	Democratic	March 4, 1931 – June 12, 1946	Elected in 1930.	20	72nd
						73rd	20	Re-elected in 1932. Resigned to become U.S. Supreme Court justice.
						74th
				Re-elected in 1936.	21	75th
								Appointed (by her husband, the Governor) to finish Black's term. Resigned when her successor won the Democratic primary.	August 20, 1937 – January 10, 1938	Democratic	Dixie Bibb Graves	21
								Appointed to continue Graves's term. Elected April 26, 1938 to finish Graves's term.	January 11, 1938 – January 3, 1969	Democratic	J. Lister Hill	22
						76th	21	Re-elected in 1938.
						77th
				Re-elected in 1942. Died.	22	78th
Vacant			June 12, 1946 – June 15, 1946
13	George R. Swift	Democratic	June 15, 1946 – November 5, 1946	Appointed to continue Bankhead's term. Successor elected.
14	John Sparkman	Democratic	November 6, 1946 – January 3, 1979	Elected to finish Bankhead's term.		78th
						79th	22	Re-elected in 1944.
						80th
				Re-elected in 1948.	23	81st
						82nd	23	Re-elected in 1950.
						83rd
				Re-elected in 1954.	24	84th
						85th	24	Re-elected in 1956.
						86th
				Re-elected in 1960.	25	87th
						88th	25	Re-elected in 1962. Retired.
						89th
				Re-elected in 1966.	26	90th
						91st	26	Elected in 1968.	January 3, 1969 – June 1, 1978	Democratic	James Allen	23
						92nd
				Re-elected in 1972. Retired.	27	93rd
						94th	27	Re-elected in 1974. Died.
						95th
								Appointed to continue her husband's term. Lost nomination to finish her husband's term.	June 8, 1978 – November 7, 1978	Democratic	Maryon Pittman Allen	24
								Elected to finish James Allen's term. Lost renomination; resigned one day early to give his successor advantageous seniority.	November 7, 1978 – January 2, 1981	Democratic	Donald W. Stewart	25
15	Howell Heflin	Democratic	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1997	Elected in 1978.	28	96th
								Appointed to finish Stewart's term, having already been elected to the next term.	January 2, 1981 – January 3, 1987	Republican	Jeremiah Denton	26
						97th	28	Elected in 1980. Lost re-election.
						98th
				Re-elected in 1984.	29	99th
						100th	29	Elected in 1986.	January 3, 1987 – November 9, 1994	Democratic	Richard Shelby	27
						101st
				Re-elected in 1990. Retired.	30	102nd
						103rd	30	Re-elected in 1992. Changed party in 1994 with the Republican Revolution.
									November 9, 1994 – Present	Republican
						104th
16	Jeff Sessions	Republican	January 3, 1997 – February 8, 2017	Elected in 1996.	31	105th
						106th	31	Re-elected in 1998.
						107th
				Re-elected in 2002.	32	108th
						109th	32	Re-elected in 2004.
						110th
				Re-elected in 2008.	33	111th
						112th	33	Re-elected in 2010.
						113th
				Re-elected in 2014. Resigned to become U.S. Attorney General.	34	114th
						115th	34	Re-elected in 2016.
17	Luther Strange	Republican	February 9, 2017 – January 3, 2018	Appointed to continue Sessions's term. Lost nomination to finish Sessions's term.
18	Doug Jones	Democratic	January 3, 2018 – Present	Elected December 12, 2017 to finish Sessions's term.
						116th
To be determined in the 2020 election.					35	117th
						118th	35	To be determined in the 2022 election.
#	Senator	Party	Years in office	Electoral history	T		T	Electoral history	Years in office	Party	Senator	#
Class 2							Class 3

Living former senators

As of August 2020, there are three living former U.S. senators from Alabama. The most recent senator to die was Maryon Pittman Allen (served June–November 1978) on July 23, 2018. The most recently serving senator to die was Howell Heflin (served 1979–1997) on March 29, 2005.

Senator	Term of office	Date of birth (and age)
Donald W. Stewart	November 7, 1978 – January 2, 1981	(1940-02-04) February 4, 1940
Jeff Sessions	January 3, 1997 – February 8, 2017	(1946-12-24) December 24, 1946
Luther Strange	February 9, 2017 – January 3, 2018	(1953-03-01) March 1, 1953

See also

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

Notes

1. Clay and Fitzpatrick along with several other senators announced they were withdrawing from the Senate on January 21, 1861, due to their states' decisions to secede from the Union. Clay's seat was declared vacant by the Senate on March 14, 1861, but Fitzpatrick's was vacant because his term ended on March 4, 1861.

References

1. Byrd, p. 76.
2. Schlup, Leonard C.; Ryan, James Gilbert (February 16, 2018). "Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age". M.E. Sharpe – via Google Books.
3. "Senator Pettus Re-elected". The New York Times. January 27, 1903. p. 3.
4. "NO CHOICE IN RHODE ISLAND". The New York Times. January 23, 1907. p. 1.
5. The Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1908. New York: The Tribune Association. 1908. p. 258.
6. Byrd, p. 340.

External links

• 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.