List of United States senators from West Virginia

Below is a list of United States senators from West Virginia. The state's U.S. senators belong to classes 1 and 2. West Virginia is currently represented in the Senate by Independent Joe Manchin (serving since 2010) and Republican Shelley Moore Capito (serving since 2015), making it one of seven states to have a split United States Senate delegation.

Current delegation

Joe Manchin (I)

Shelley Moore Capito (R)

Robert Byrd was the state's longest serving senator, served from 1959 until his death in 2010.

List of senators

Class 1 Class 1 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 2006, 2010 (special election), 2012, and 2018. The next election will be in 2024.						C	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.
#	Senator	Party	Dates in office	Electoral history	T		T	Electoral history	Dates in office	Party	Senator	#
Vacant			Jun 19, 1863 – Aug 4, 1863	West Virginia did not elect its first Senators until Aug 4, 1863.	1	38th	1	West Virginia did not elect its first Senators until Aug 4, 1863.	Jun 19, 1863 – Aug 4, 1863	Vacant
1	Peter G. Van Winkle	Union	Aug 4, 1863 – Mar 3, 1869	Elected in 1863. Retired.				Elected in 1863.	Aug 4, 1863 – Mar 3, 1865	Union	Waitman T. Willey	1
						39th	2	Re-elected in 1865. Retired.	Mar 4, 1865 – Mar 3, 1871	Republican
		Republican				40th
2	Arthur I. Boreman	Republican	Mar 4, 1869 – Mar 3, 1875	Elected in 1868 or 1869. Retired.	2	41st
						42nd	3	Elected in 1871.	Mar 4, 1871 – Mar 3, 1883	Democratic	Henry G. Davis	2
						43rd
3	Allen T. Caperton	Democratic	Mar 4, 1875 – Jul 26, 1876	Elected in 1875. Died.	3	44th
Vacant			Jul 26, 1876 – Aug 26, 1876
4	Samuel Price	Democratic	Aug 26, 1876 – Jan 26, 1877	Appointed to continue Caperton's term. Lost election to finish Caperton's term.
Vacant			Jan 26, 1877 – Jan 31, 1877
5	Frank Hereford	Democratic	Jan 31, 1877 – Mar 3, 1881	Elected in 1877 to finish Caperton's term.
						45th	4	Re-elected in 1877. Retired.
						46th
6	Johnson N. Camden	Democratic	Mar 4, 1881 – Mar 3, 1887	Elected in 1880 or 1881.	4	47th
						48th	5	Elected in 1883.	Mar 4, 1883 – Jan 11, 1893	Democratic	John E. Kenna	3
						49th
7	Charles J. Faulkner	Democratic	Mar 4, 1887 – Mar 3, 1899	Elected in 1887.	5	50th
						51st	6	Re-elected in 1889. Died.
						52nd
									Jan 11, 1893 – Jan 25, 1893	Vacant
								Elected in 1893 to finish Kenna's term.	Jan 25, 1893 – Mar 3, 1895	Democratic	Johnson N. Camden	4
				Re-elected in 1893. Retired.	6	53rd
						54th	7	Elected in 1895.[1]	Mar 4, 1895 – Jan 4, 1911	Republican	Stephen B. Elkins	5
						55th
8	Nathan B. Scott	Republican	Mar 4, 1899 – Mar 3, 1911	Elected in 1899.[2]	7	56th
						57th	8	Re-elected in 1901.
						58th
				Re-elected in 1905. Lost renomination.	8	59th
						60th	9	Re-elected in 1907. Died.
						61st
									Jan 4, 1911 – Jan 9, 1911	Vacant
								Appointed to continue his father's term. Lost election to finish his father's term.	Jan 9, 1911 – Jan 31, 1911	Republican	Davis Elkins	6
								Elected in 1911 to finish Stephen Elkins' term. Lost re-election.	Feb 1, 1911 – Mar 3, 1913	Democratic	Clarence W. Watson	7
9	William E. Chilton	Democratic	Mar 4, 1911 – Mar 3, 1917	Elected in 1911. Lost re-election.	9	62nd
						63rd	10		Mar 4, 1913 – Apr 1, 1913	Vacant
								Elected in 1913 but took office late. Retired.	Apr 1, 1913 – Mar 3, 1919	Republican	Nathan Goff Jr.	8
						64th
10	Howard Sutherland	Republican	Mar 4, 1917 – Mar 3, 1923	Elected in 1916. Lost re-election.	10	65th
						66th	11	Elected in 1918. Retired.	Mar 4, 1919 – Mar 3, 1925	Republican	Davis Elkins	9
						67th
11	Matthew M. Neely	Democratic	Mar 4, 1923 – Mar 3, 1929	Elected in 1922. Lost re-election.	11	68th
						69th	12	Elected in 1924. Retired.	Mar 4, 1925 – Mar 3, 1931	Republican	Guy D. Goff	10
						70th
12	Henry D. Hatfield	Republican	Mar 4, 1929 – Jan 3, 1935	Elected in 1928. Lost re-election.	12	71st
						72nd	13	Elected in 1930.	Mar 4, 1931 – Jan 12, 1941	Democratic	Matthew M. Neely	11
						73rd
Vacant			Jan 3, 1935 – Jun 21, 1935	Senator-elect was not yet qualified to serve.	13	74th
13	Rush Holt Sr.	Democratic	Jun 21, 1935 – Jan 3, 1941	Elected in 1934. Could not take seat until 2 days after reaching age 30 on Jun 19, 1935. Lost renomination.
						75th	14	Re-elected in 1936. Resigned.
						76th
14	Harley M. Kilgore	Democratic	Jan 3, 1941 – Feb 28, 1956	Elected in 1940.	14	77th
								Appointed to continue Neely's term. Lost election to finish Neely's term.	Jan 13, 1941 – Nov 17, 1942	Democratic	Joseph Rosier	12
								Elected in 1942 to finish Neely's term. Retired.	Nov 18, 1942 – Jan 3, 1943	Republican	Hugh I. Shott	13
						78th	15	Elected in 1942. Lost re-election.	Jan 3, 1943 – Jan 3, 1949	Republican	Chapman Revercomb	14
						79th
				Re-elected in 1946.	15	80th
						81st	16	Elected in 1948.	Jan 3, 1949 – Jan 18, 1958	Democratic	Matthew M. Neely	15
						82nd
				Re-elected in 1952. Died.	16	83rd
						84th	17	Re-elected in 1954. Died.
Vacant			Feb 28, 1956 – Mar 13, 1956
15	William Laird III	Democratic	Mar 13, 1956 – Nov 6, 1956	Appointed to continue Kilgore's term. Retired when his successor was elected.
16	Chapman Revercomb	Republican	Nov 7, 1956 – Jan 3, 1959	Elected in 1956 to finish Kilgore's term. Lost re-election.
						85th
									Jan 18, 1958 – Jan 25, 1958	Vacant
								Appointed to continue Neely's term. Lost election to finish Neely's term.	Jan 25, 1958 – Nov 4, 1958	Republican	John Hoblitzell	16
								Elected in 1958 to finish Neely's term.	Nov 5, 1958 – Jan 3, 1985	Democratic	Jennings Randolph	17
17	Robert Byrd	Democratic	Jan 3, 1959 – Jun 28, 2010	Elected in 1958.	17	86th
						87th	18	Re-elected in 1960.
						88th
				Re-elected in 1964.	18	89th
						90th	19	Re-elected in 1966.
						91st
				Re-elected in 1970.	19	92nd
						93rd	20	Re-elected in 1972.
						94th
				Re-elected in 1976.	20	95th
						96th	21	Re-elected in 1978. Retired.
						97th
				Re-elected in 1982.	21	98th
						99th	22		Jan 3, 1985 – Jan 15, 1985	Vacant
								Elected in 1984. Seated late in order to complete his term as Governor of West Virginia.	Jan 15, 1985 – Jan 3, 2015	Democratic	Jay Rockefeller	18
						100th
				Re-elected in 1988.	22	101st
						102nd	23	Re-elected in 1990.
						103rd
				Re-elected in 1994.	23	104th
						105th	24	Re-elected in 1996.
						106th
				Re-elected in 2000.	24	107th
						108th	25	Re-elected in 2002.
						109th
				Re-elected in 2006. Died.	25	110th
						111th	26	Re-elected in 2008. Retired.
Vacant			Jun 28, 2010 – Jul 16, 2010
18	Carte Goodwin	Democratic	Jul 16, 2010 – Nov 15, 2010	Appointed to continue Byrd's term. Retired when his successor was elected.
19	Joe Manchin	Democratic	Nov 15, 2010 – present	Elected in 2010 to finish Byrd's term.
						112th
				Re-elected in 2012.	26	113th
						114th	27	Elected in 2014.	Jan 3, 2015 – present	Republican	Shelley Moore Capito	19
						115th
				Re-elected in 2018. Left the Democratic Party on May 31, 2024. Retiring at the end of term.	27	116th
						117th	28	Re-elected in 2020.
						118th
		Independent
20	Jim Justice	Republican	Taking office Jan 3, 2025	Elected in 2024.	28	119th
						120th	29	To be determined in the 2026 election.
#	Senator	Party	Years in office	Electoral history	T	C	T	Electoral history	Years in office	Party	Senator	#
Class 1							Class 2

See also

• United States portal
• West Virginia portal
• Politics portal

• List of United States representatives from West Virginia
• United States congressional delegations from West Virginia
• Elections in West Virginia

References

1. "Elkins Elected in West Virginia". The New York Times. January 24, 1895. p. 5.
2. "WEST VIRGINIA'S NEW SENATOR". The New York Times. January 26, 1899. p. 2.