List of United States senators from Arkansas

Arkansas was admitted to the Union on June 15, 1836, and elects its senators to class 2 and class 3. Arkansas's Senate seats were declared vacant in July 1861, due to its secession from the Union. They were again filled from June 1868. Its current senators are Republicans John Boozman and Tom Cotton. John L. McClellan was Arkansas's longest-serving senator (1943–1977).

Current delegation

List of senators

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Class 2
Class 2 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 2002, 2008, 2014, and 2020.
The next election will be in 2026.
C Class 3
Class 3 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 2004, 2010, 2016, and 2022.
The next election will be in 2028.
# Senator Party Dates in office Electoral history T T Electoral history Dates in office Party Senator #
1  
William S. Fulton
Jacksonian Sep 18, 1836 –
Aug 15, 1844
Elected in 1836. 1 24th 1 Elected in 1836. Sep 18, 1836 –
Mar 15, 1848
Jacksonian  
Ambrose Hundley Sevier
1
Democratic 25th 2 Re-elected in 1837. Democratic
26th
Re-elected in 1840.
Died.
2 27th
28th 3 Re-elected in 1843.
Resigned.
Vacant Aug 15, 1844 –
Nov 8, 1844
 
2  
Chester Ashley
Democratic Nov 8, 1844 –
Apr 29, 1848
Elected to finish Fulton's term.
29th
Elected to a full term in 1846.
Died.
3 30th
  Mar 15, 1848 –
Mar 30, 1848
Vacant
Appointed to finish Sevier's term.[1] Mar 30, 1848 –
Apr 11, 1853
Democratic  
Solon Borland
2
Vacant Apr 29, 1848 –
May 12, 1848
 
3  
William K. Sebastian
Democratic May 12, 1848 –
Jul 11, 1861
Appointed to continue Ashley's term.
Elected in 1848 to finish Ashley's term.[2]
31st 4 Elected to full term in 1848.
Resigned.
32nd
Elected to full term in 1853. 4 33rd
  Apr 11, 1853 –
Jul 6, 1853
Vacant
Appointed to continue Borland's term.
Elected in 1854 to finish Borland's term.[2]
Jul 6, 1853 –
Mar 3, 1861
Democratic  
Robert Ward Johnson
3
34th 5 Re-elected in 1855.
Retired.
35th
Re-elected in 1859.
Expelled.
(Expulsion was reversed by the Senate in 1877).
5 36th
37th 6 Elected in 1860 or 1861.
Expelled for supporting the Confederacy.
Mar 4, 1861 –
Jul 11, 1861
Democratic  
Charles B. Mitchel
4
Vacant Jul 11, 1861 –
Jun 22, 1868
Civil War and Reconstruction Civil War and Reconstruction Jul 11, 1861 –
Jun 23, 1868
Vacant
38th
6 39th
40th 7
4  
Alexander McDonald
Republican Jun 22, 1868 –
Mar 3, 1871
Elected upon readmission.
Lost re-election.
Elected upon readmission.
Unknown if retired or lost re-election.
Jun 23, 1868 –
Mar 3, 1873
Republican  
Benjamin F. Rice
5
41st
5  
Powell Clayton
Republican Mar 4, 1871 –
Mar 3, 1877
Elected in 1870.
Unknown if retired or lost re-election.
7 42nd
43rd 8 Elected in 1872 or 1873.
Retired.
Mar 4, 1873 –
Mar 3, 1879
Republican  
Stephen W. Dorsey
6
44th
6  
Augustus H. Garland
Democratic Mar 4, 1877 –
Mar 6, 1885
Elected in 1876. 8 45th
46th 9 Elected in 1878.
Retired.
Mar 4, 1879 –
Mar 3, 1885
Democratic  
James D. Walker
7
47th
Re-elected in 1883.
Resigned to become U.S. Attorney General.
9 48th
49th 10 Elected in 1885. Mar 4, 1885 –
Mar 3, 1903
Democratic  
James K. Jones
8
Vacant Mar 6, 1885 –
Mar 20, 1885
 
7  
James H. Berry
Democratic Mar 20, 1885 –
Mar 3, 1907
Elected to finish Garland's term.
50th
Re-elected in 1889. 10 51st
52nd 11 Re-elected in 1891.
53rd
Re-elected in 1895. 11 54th
55th 12 Re-elected in 1897.
Lost re-election.
56th
Re-elected in 1901.
Lost re-election.
12 57th
58th 13 Elected in 1903. Mar 4, 1903 –
Oct 1, 1916
Democratic  
James P. Clarke
9
59th
8  
Jeff Davis
Democratic Mar 4, 1907 –
Jan 3, 1913
Elected in 1907.[3]
Died.
13 60th
61st 14 Re-elected in 1909.
62nd
Vacant Jan 3, 1913 –
Jan 6, 1913
 
9  
John N. Heiskell
Democratic Jan 6, 1913 –
Jan 29, 1913
Appointed to continue Davis's term.
Successor qualified.
10  
William M. Kavanaugh
Democratic Jan 29, 1913 –
Mar 3, 1913
Elected to finish Davis's term.
Retired.
11  
Joe T. Robinson
Democratic Mar 4, 1913 –
Jul 14, 1937
Elected in 1913.[a] 14 63rd
64th 15 Re-elected in 1914.
Died.
  Oct 1, 1916 –
Nov 8, 1916
Vacant
Elected to finish Clarke's term.
Lost renomination.
Nov 8, 1916 –
Mar 3, 1921
Democratic  
William F. Kirby
10
65th
Re-elected in 1918. 15 66th
67th 16 Elected in 1920. Mar 4, 1921 –
Nov 6, 1931
Democratic  
Thaddeus H. Caraway
11
68th
Re-elected in 1924. 16 69th
70th 17 Re-elected in 1926.
Died.
71st
Re-elected in 1930. 17 72nd
  Nov 6, 1931 –
Nov 13, 1931
Vacant
Appointed to finish her husband's term.
Elected in 1932 to finish her husband's term.
Nov 13, 1931 –
Jan 3, 1945
Democratic  
Hattie Caraway
12
73rd 18 Re-elected in 1932.
74th
Re-elected in 1936.
Died.
18 75th
Vacant Jul 14, 1937 –
Nov 15, 1937
 
12  
John E. Miller
Democratic Nov 15, 1937 –
Mar 31, 1941
Elected to finish Robinson's term.
Resigned to become U.S. District Judge.
76th 19 Re-elected in 1938.
Lost renomination.
77th
Vacant Mar 31, 1941 –
Apr 1, 1941
 
13  
Lloyd Spencer
Democratic Apr 1, 1941 –
Jan 3, 1943
Appointed to finish Robinson's term.
Retired.
14  
John L. McClellan
Democratic Jan 3, 1943 –
Nov 28, 1977
Elected in 1942. 19 78th
79th 20 Elected in 1944. Jan 3, 1945 –
Dec 31, 1974
Democratic  
J. William Fulbright
13
80th
Re-elected in 1948. 20 81st
82nd 21 Re-elected in 1950.
83rd
Re-elected in 1954. 21 84th
85th 22 Re-elected in 1956.
86th
Re-elected in 1960. 22 87th
88th 23 Re-elected in 1962.
89th
Re-elected in 1966. 23 90th
91st 24 Re-elected in 1968.
Lost re-nomination, then resigned.
92nd
Re-elected in 1972.
Died.
24 93rd
  Dec 31, 1974 –
Jan 3, 1975
Vacant
94th 25 Elected in 1974. Jan 3, 1975 –
Jan 3, 1999
Democratic  
Dale Bumpers
14
95th
Vacant Nov 28, 1977 –
Dec 10, 1977
 
15  
Kaneaster Hodges Jr.
Democratic Dec 10, 1977 –
Jan 3, 1979
Appointed to finish McClellan's term.
Retired.
16  
David Pryor
Democratic Jan 3, 1979 –
Jan 3, 1997
Elected in 1978. 25 96th
97th 26 Re-elected in 1980.
98th
Re-elected in 1984. 26 99th
100th 27 Re-elected in 1986.
101st
Re-elected in 1990.
Retired.
27 102nd
103rd 28 Re-elected in 1992.
Retired.
104th
17  
Tim Hutchinson
Republican Jan 3, 1997 –
Jan 3, 2003
Elected in 1996.
Lost re-election.
28 105th
106th 29 Elected in 1998. Jan 3, 1999 –
Jan 3, 2011
Democratic  
Blanche Lincoln
15
107th
18  
Mark Pryor
Democratic Jan 3, 2003 –
Jan 3, 2015
Elected in 2002. 29 108th
109th 30 Re-elected in 2004.
Lost re-election.
110th
Re-elected in 2008.
Lost re-election.
30 111th
112th 31 Elected in 2010. Jan 3, 2011 –
present
Republican  
John Boozman
16
113th
19  
Tom Cotton
Republican Jan 3, 2015 –
present
Elected in 2014. 31 114th
115th 32 Re-elected in 2016.
116th
Re-elected in 2020. 32 117th
118th 33 Re-elected in 2022.
119th
To be determined in the 2026 election. 33 120th
121st 34 To be determined in the 2028 election.
# Senator Party Years in office Electoral history T C T Electoral history Years in office Party Senator #
Class 2 Class 3

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Robinson was the last U.S. senator elected by a state legislature before the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ "Solon Borland (1811–1864) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas". www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net.
  2. ^ a b Byrd, Robert C.; Wolff, Wendy (October 1, 1993). The Senate, 1789-1989: Historical Statistics, 1789-1992 (volume 4 Bicentennial ed.). U.S. Government Printing Office., page 80
  3. ^ The Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1908. New York: The Tribune Association. 1908. p. 258.