"Immediately after [the Senate of the United States] shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year"-
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: ARTICLE I, Section 3, clause 2
NOTE: [letters] and [numerals] in brackets refer to the order in which each state appears in TABLE II.
| Class 1[next regular election: Tuesday 5 November 2024] |
Class 2[next regular election: Tuesday 3 November 2026] |
Class 3[next regular election: Tuesday 7 November 2028] |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona [47] | Alabama [22] | Alabama [22] |
| California [31] | Alaska [49] | Alaska [49] |
| Connecticut [C] | Arkansas [25] | Arizona [47] |
| Delaware [F] | Colorado [38] | Arkansas [25] |
| Florida [27] | Delaware [F] | California [31] |
| Hawaii [50] | Georgia [J] | Colorado [38] |
| Indiana [19] | Idaho [44] | Connecticut [C] |
| Maine [23] | Illinois [21] | Florida [27] |
| Maryland [G] | Iowa [30] | Georgia [J] |
| Massachusetts [B] | Kansas [34] | Hawaii [50] |
| Michigan [26] | Kentucky [15] | Idaho [44] |
| Minnesota [32] | Louisiana [18] | Illinois [21] |
| Mississippi [20] | Maine [23] | Indiana [19] |
| Missouri [24] | Massachusetts [B] | Iowa [30] |
| Montana [42] | Michigan [26] | Kansas [34] |
| Nebraska [37] | Minnesota [32] | Kentucky [15] |
| Nevada [36] | Mississippi [20] | Louisiana [18] |
| New Jersey [D] | Montana [42] | Maryland [G] |
| New Mexico [48] | Nebraska [37] | Missouri [24] |
| New York [11] | New Hampshire [A] | Nevada [36] |
| North Dakota [40] | New Jersey [D] | New Hampshire [A] |
| Ohio [17] | New Mexico [48] | New York [11] |
| Pennsylvania [E] | North Carolina [12] | North Carolina [12] |
| Rhode Island [13] | Oklahoma [46] | North Dakota [40] |
| Tennessee [16] | Oregon [33] | Ohio [17] |
| Texas [28] | Rhode Island [13] | Oklahoma [46] |
| Utah [45] | South Carolina [I] | Oregon [33] |
| Vermont [14] | South Dakota [41] | Pennsylvania [E] |
| Virginia [H] | Tennessee [16] | South Carolina [I] |
| Washington [39] | Texas [28] | South Dakota [41] |
| West Virginia [35] | Virginia [H] | Utah [45] |
| Wisconsin [29] | West Virginia [35] | Vermont [14] |
| Wyoming [43] | Wyoming [43] | Washington [39] |
| Wisconsin [29] | ||
| Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 |
NOTE:(letters) in parentheses refer to footnotes underneath
this table.
"date lots drawn" is the date by which both of the first Senators elected by the State had
been sworn in and officially seated but does not necessarily coincide with
the date on- or even the order in- which the State was formally admitted
to the Union.
| State | date lots drawn | Electoral "Classes" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. New Hampshire(a) | 15 May 1789 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| B. Massachusetts(a) | 15 May 1789 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| C. Connecticut(a) | 15 May 1789 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| D. New Jersey(a) | 15 May 1789 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| E. Pennsylvania(a) | 15 May 1789 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| F. Delaware(a) | 15 May 1789 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| G. Maryland(a) | 15 May 1789 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| H. Virginia(a) | 15 May 1789 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| I. South Carolina(a) | 15 May 1789 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| J. Georgia(a) | 15 May 1789 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 11. New York(b) | 28 July 1789 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| 12. North Carolina(c) | 29 January 1790 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 13. Rhode Island(d) | 25 June 1790 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| 14. Vermont(b) | 4 November 1791 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| 15. Kentucky(c) | 5 November 1792 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 16. Tennessee(d) | 5 December 1796 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| 17. Ohio(b) | 25 October 1803 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| 18. Louisiana(c) | 7 December 1812 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 19. Indiana(d) | 12 December 1816 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| 20. Mississippi(b) | 11 December 1817 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| 21. Illinois(c) | 4 December 1818 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 22. Alabama(d) | 22 December 1819 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 23. Maine(b) | 13 November 1820 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| 24. Missouri(c) | 3 December 1821 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| 25. Arkansas(d) | 5 December 1836 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 26. Michigan(b) | 26 January 1837 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| 27. Florida(c) | 1 December 1845 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| 28. Texas(d) | 30 March 1846 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| 29. Wisconsin(b) | 26 June 1848 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| 30. Iowa(c) | 26 December 1848 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 31.California(d) | 10 September 1850 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| 32.Minnesota(b) | 12 May 1858 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| 33. Oregon(c) | 14 February 1859 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 34. Kansas(d) | 4 July 1861 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 35. West Virginia(b) | 7 December 1863 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| 36. Nevada(c) | 1 February 1865 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| 37. Nebraska(d) | 4 March 1867 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| 38. Colorado(b) | 4 December 1876 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 39. Washington(c) | 2 December 1889 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| 40. North Dakota(d) | 4 December 1889 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| 41. South Dakota(b) | 4 December 1889 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 42. Montana(c) | 16 April 1890 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| 43. Wyoming(d) | 1 December 1890 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| 44. Idaho(b) | 5 January 1891 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 45. Utah(c) | 27 January 1896 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| 46. Oklahoma(d) | 16 December 1907 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 47. Arizona(b) | 2 April 1912 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
| 48. New Mexico(c) | 2 April 1912 | Class 1 | Class 2 | |||
| 49. Alaska(d) | 7 January 1959 | Class 2 | Class 3 | |||
| 50. Hawaii(b) | 24 August 1959 | Class 1 | Class 3 | |||
(a) On 14 May 1789, the Senate approved a plan to implement the
requirements of Art.I, Sec.3, cl.2 of the U.S. Constitution that the Senate be
divided into three electoral "Classes" so that one third of that body might be
chosen every second year. There were 10 States represented in Congress at the
time (of the original 13 independent United States, North Carolina and Rhode
Island had not as yet ratified the Constitution while New York- although having
already ratified that document- had not yet chosen its Senators): thus, 20
Senators were to be so divided into three groups, as follows...
GROUP A had a
Senator each from N.H., Conn., Pa., Md., S.C. and Ga.
GROUP B had a Senator
each from N.H., Mass., N.J., Del., Va., S.C. and Ga.
GROUP C had a Senator
each from Mass., Conn., N.J., Pa., Del., Md. and Va.
The following day, the
first Senator on each list (the two from N.H. and one from Mass.) each blindly
drew from a box containing pieces of paper on which were inscribed the numerals
"1", "2" and "3". As a result of this first lot drawing, GROUP C became "Class
1" to vacate their seats after the second year, GROUP B became "Class 2" to
vacate their seats after the fourth year and GROUP A became "Class 3" to vacate
their seats after the sixth year; originally, there were 7 Senators each in
Classes "1" and "2" and 6 Senators in Class "3"- "Class 3", therefore, was short
one Senator of a full one-third of the Senate. These results are reflected in
the first ten states listed in TABLE II and labeled with the letters
A through J.
(b) When NEW YORK [11 in TABLE II] seated its first two Senators, a double lot drawing was held to determine their electoral "Classes": first, each Senator blindly drew from a box containing a piece of paper on which was inscribed the numeral "3" [as it was "Class 3" which was, at the time, short one Senator of a full one-third of the Senate] and a piece of paper which was blank. Thereafter, the Senator who drew the blank piece of paper was obliged to again blindly draw, this time from a box containing pieces of paper inscribed with the numerals "1" and "2" [the remaining Classes]: he drew "1"- now "Class 1" had 8 Senators while Classes "2" and "3" had 7 Senators each, each being one Senator short of a full one-third of the Senate. Every third state after New York (those marked "(b)" in TABLE II: 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35, 38, 41, 44, 47 and 50) has had a similar double lot drawing in which the first draw is between whichever "Class" is short one Senator (this will always be the "Class" not chosen by either Senator from the immediately preceding State in the order of the drawing of lots in TABLE II) and a blank, after which the Senator who has drawn the blank draws from between the remaining two "Classes".
(c) When NORTH CAROLINA [12 in TABLE II] seated its first two Senators, a lot drawing was held to determine their electoral "Classes": each Senator blindly drew from a box containing pieces of paper on which were inscribed the numerals "2" and "3" [as it were these two "Classes" which were each short one Senator at the time]- each "Class" now had a full one-third of the Senate [8 of the then 24 Senators in each "Class"]. Every third state after North Carolina (those marked "(c)" in TABLE II: 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 42, 45 and 48) has had a similar lot drawing in which the Senators draw from between the two "Classes" which are each one short of being equal with a third "Class" (these will always be other than the "Class" which appears next to BOTH of the two immediately preceding States in the order of the drawing of lots in TABLE II).
(d) When RHODE ISLAND [13 in TABLE II] seated its first two Senators, a lot drawing was held to determine their electoral "Classes": each Senator blindly drew from a box containing pieces of paper on which were inscribed the numerals "1", "2" and "3" as in the very first lot drawing [each "Class" up till now having had a full one-third of the Senate], each Senator only permitted to draw one piece of paper; as it happened, these Senators drew "1" and "2". Every third State after Rhode Island (those marked "(d)" in TABLE II: 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37, 40, 43, 46 and 49) has had a similar lot drawing in which the Senators draw any two of all three "Classes".