Politics

How Senators Are Elected

Why can't we toss them all?

Zippy the Purple Squirrel
Staff Writer, Your Vote Travels
March 23, 2026
6 min read
The illuminated United States Capitol in Washington DC at twilight with the famous reflection pool. — Elxeneize

There are 100 US Senators. Two from each state. They are elected for a term of 6 years.

Just to keep things interesting, they are divided into three classes. Every two years one class is up for election. No state has two Senators in the same class.

So who is up for election this year?

35 Senators are up for election. 22 Republicans and 13 Democrats. The current class is

  • Alabama - Tommy Tuberville (retiring)
  • Illinois - Dick Durbin (retiring)
  • Iowa - Joni Ernst (retiring)
  • Kentucky - Mitch McConnel (retiring)
  • Michigan - Gary Peters (retiring)
  • Minnesota - Tina Smith (retiring)
  • Montana - Steve Daines (retiring)
  • New Hampshire - Jeanne Shaheen (retiring)
  • North Carolina - Thom Tillis (retiring)
  • Wyoming - Cynthia Lummis (retiring)

  • Alaska - Dan Sullivan
  • Arkansas - Tom Cotton
  • Colorado - John Hickenlooper
  • Delaware - Chris Coons
  • Georgia - Jon Ossoff
  • Idaho - Jim Risch
  • Kansas - Roger Marshall
  • Louisiana - Bill Cassidy
  • Maine - Susan Collins
  • Massachusetts - Ed Markey
  • Mississippi - Cindy Hyde-Smith
  • Nebraska - Pete Ricketts
  • New Jersey - Cory Booker
  • New Mexico - Ben Ray Luján
  • Oklahoma - Markwayne Mullin
  • Oregon - Jeff Merkley
  • Rhode Island - Jack Reed
  • South Carolina - Lindsey Graham
  • South Dakota - Mike Rounds
  • Tennessee - Bill Hagerty
  • Texas - John Cornyn
  • Virgina - Mark Warner
  • West Virginia - Shelley Moore Capito

Special Elections

There are two special elections for Senators that were replaced in the middle of their terms (Marco Rubio and JD Vance)

  • Forida - Ashley Moody
  • Ohio - Jon Husted

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