Senators, U.S.

Maine has had 38 U.S. Senators from statehood in 1820 through the elections of the year 2010. Theirs terms, residence, and party affiliations are listed below.

Unlike U.S. Representatives, who are elected every two years from one of our two Congressional Districts, U.S. Senators are elected by all voters in the State. Each Senator serves a six year term and are chosen in different election years. So, there are two different election cycles, we can label them “A” and “B,” one for each Senate seat. Here are some years in which Maine’s U.S. Senators are elected:

Political party affiliation is designated by [W] = Whig; [D] = Democrat; [R] = Republican.

1820-1829 John Chandler, Monmouth [D]
1820-1833 John Holmes, Alfred [D]
1827-1828 Albion K. Parris, Portland [D] (resigned)
1829-1835 Peleg Sprague, Hallowell [D] (resigned)
1835-1841 John Ruggles, Thomaston [D]
1833-1836 Ether Shepley, Saco [D] (resigned)
1837-1843 Ruel Williams, Augusta [D] (resigned)
1843-1847 John Fairfield, Saco [D] (died)
1841-1847 George Evans, Gardiner [W]
1848-1848 Wyman B.S. Moore, Bangor [D]
1848-1857 Hannibal Hamlin, Hampden [D] (resigned)
1847-1853 James W. Bradbury, Augusta [D]
1854-1864 William Pitt Fessenden, Portland [W] (resigned)
1857-1857 Amos Nourse, Bath [R]
1857-1861 Hannibal Hamlin, Hampden [R] (resigned)
1861-1876 Lot Morrill, Augusta [R] (resigned)
1864-1865 Nathan A. Farwell, Rockland [R]
1865-1869 William Pitt Fessenden, Portland [W]
1869-1881 Hannibal Hamlin, Bangor [R]
1876-1881 James G. Blaine, Augusta [R] (resigned)
1881-1911 William P. Frye, Lewiston [R] (died)
1881-1911 Eugene Hale, Ellsworth [R]
1911-1913 Obadiah Gardiner, Rockland [D]
1911-1917 Charles F. Johnson, Waterville [D]
1913-1916 Edwin C. Burleigh, Augusta [R] (died)
1916-1926 Bert M. Fernald, West Poland [R] (died)
1917-1941 Frederick Hale, Portland [R]
1926-1931 Arthur R. Gould, Presque Isle [R]
1931-1949 Wallace H. White, Jr., Auburn [R]
1941-1952 Ralph Owen Brewster, Dexter [R] (resigned)
1949-1973 Margaret Chase Smith, Skowhegan [R]
1953-1959 Frederick G. Payne, Waldoboro [R]
1959-1980 Edmund S. Muskie, Waterville [D] (resigned)
1973-1979 William D. Hathaway, Auburn [D]
1980-1995 George J. Mitchell, Portland [D]
1979-1997 William S. Cohen, Bangor [R]
1999-2013 Olympia J. Snowe, Auburn [R]
1997-2015 Susan Collins, Bangor [R]

Additional resources

Elections Division, Department of Secretary of State Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library

Grover, Archer Lewis. Historical Graph: Showing Senators & Representatives from the State of Maine to the United States Congress, 1820-1946. Hallowell, Me The Author. 1946.