List of United States senators from Montana

Current delegation

Montana was admitted to the Union on November 8, 1889, and elects U.S. senators to classes 1 and 2. Its current U.S. senators are Democrat Jon Tester (serving since 2007) and Republican Steve Daines (serving since 2015), making it one of five states to have a United States Senate delegation split between Republican and Democratic caucusing senators. Max Baucus is the state's longest serving senator, serving from 1978 to 2014.

List of senators[edit]

#	Senator	Party	Dates in office	Electoral history	T	C	T	Electoral history	Dates in office	Party	Senator	#
Class 1 Class 1 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 2000, 2006, 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.
Vacant			Nov 8, 1889 – Jan 1, 1890	Montana elected its first senators two months after admission to the Union.	1	51st	1	Montana elected its first senators two months after admission to the Union.	Nov 8, 1889 – Jan 2, 1890	Vacant
1	Wilbur F. Sanders	Republican	Jan 1, 1890 – Mar 3, 1893	Elected in 1890. Lost re-election.		51st		Elected in 1890. Retired.	Jan 2, 1890 – Mar 3, 1895	Republican	Thomas C. Power	1
1	Wilbur F. Sanders	Republican	Jan 1, 1890 – Mar 3, 1893	Elected in 1890. Lost re-election.		52nd
Vacant			Mar 3, 1893 – Jan 16, 1895	Legislature failed to elect.	2	53rd
2	Lee Mantle	Republican	Jan 16, 1895 – Mar 3, 1899	Elected to finish vacant term. Lost renomination.		53rd
		Republican				54th	2	Elected in Jan 1895.^[1] Lost re-election.	Mar 4, 1895 – Mar 3, 1901	Republican	Thomas H. Carter	2
		style="background-color:Template:Silver Republican Party/meta/color;" width=10px \| " \| Silver Republican				55th
3	William Clark	Democratic	Mar 4, 1899 – May 15, 1900	Elected in 1899. Resigned to avoid claim of election fraud.	3	56th
Vacant			May 15, 1900 – Mar 7, 1901	Clark was appointed to continue his term, but did not qualify.		56th
Vacant			May 15, 1900 – Mar 7, 1901			57th	3	Elected in 1901. Retired.	Mar 4, 1901 – Mar 3, 1907	Democratic	William Clark	3
4	Paris Gibson	Democratic	Mar 7, 1901 – Mar 3, 1905	Elected to finish Clark's term.^[2]^[3] Retired.		57th
4	Paris Gibson	Democratic	Mar 7, 1901 – Mar 3, 1905	Elected to finish Clark's term.^[2]^[3] Retired.		58th
5	Thomas H. Carter	Republican	Mar 4, 1905 – Mar 3, 1911	Elected Jan 16, 1905.^[4] Lost re-election.	4	59th
						60th	4	Elected Jan 16, 1907.^[5] Lost re-election as a Progressive.	Mar 4, 1907 – Mar 3, 1913	Republican	Joseph M. Dixon	4
						61st
6	Henry L. Myers	Democratic	Mar 4, 1911 – Mar 3, 1923	Elected Mar 2, 1911.	5	62nd
						63rd	5	Elected Jan 14, 1913.	Mar 4, 1913 – Mar 2, 1933	Democratic	Thomas J. Walsh	5
						64th
				Re-elected in 1916. Retired.	6	65th
						66th	6	Re-elected in 1918.
						67th
7	Burton K. Wheeler	Democratic	Mar 4, 1923 – Jan 3, 1947	Elected in 1922.	7	68th
						69th	7	Re-elected in 1924.
						70th
				Re-elected in 1928.	8	71st
						72nd	8	Re-elected in 1930. Died.^[6]
						72nd			Mar 2, 1933 – Mar 13, 1933	Vacant
						73rd			Mar 2, 1933 – Mar 13, 1933	Vacant
								Appointed to continue Walsh's term. Lost nomination to finish Walsh's term.	Mar 13, 1933 – Nov 6, 1934	Democratic	John E. Erickson	6
								Elected to finish Walsh's term.^[7]	Nov 7, 1934 – Jan 3, 1961	Democratic	James E. Murray	7
				Re-elected in 1934.	9	74th		Elected to finish Walsh's term.^[7]
						75th	9	Elected to full term in 1936.
						76th
				Re-elected in 1940. Lost renomination.	10	77th
						78th	10	Re-elected in 1942.
						79th
8	Zales Ecton	Republican	Jan 3, 1947 – Jan 3, 1953	Elected in 1946. Lost re-election.	11	80th
						81st	11	Re-elected in 1948.
						82nd
9	Mike Mansfield	Democratic	Jan 3, 1953 – Jan 3, 1977	Elected in 1952.^[8]	12	83rd
						84th	12	Re-elected in 1954. Retired.
						85th
				Re-elected in 1958.	13	86th
						87th	13	Elected in 1960.^[9]	Jan 3, 1961 – Jan 12, 1978	Democratic	Lee Metcalf	8
						88th
				Re-elected in 1964.	14	89th
						90th	14	Re-elected in 1966.
						91st
				Re-elected in 1970. Retired.	15	92nd
						93rd	15	Re-elected in 1972. Died.
						94th
10	John Melcher	Democratic	Jan 3, 1977 – Jan 3, 1989	Elected in 1976.	16	95th
									Jan 12, 1978 – Jan 22, 1978	Vacant
								Appointed to finish Metcalf's term. Lost nomination to full term. Resigned early to give successor preferential seniority.	Jan 22, 1978 – Dec 14, 1978	Democratic	Paul G. Hatfield	9
									Dec 14, 1978 – Dec 15, 1978	Vacant
								Appointed early to finish Metcalf's term, having already been elected to the next term.^[10]	Dec 15, 1978 – Feb 6, 2014	Democratic	Max Baucus	10
						96th	16	Elected in 1978.
						97th
				Re-elected in 1982. Lost re-election.	17	98th
						99th	17	Re-elected in 1984.
						100th
11	Conrad Burns	Republican	Jan 3, 1989 – Jan 3, 2007	Elected in 1988.	18	101st
						102nd	18	Re-elected in 1990.
						103rd
				Re-elected in 1994.	19	104th
						105th	19	Re-elected in 1996.
						106th
				Re-elected in 2000. Lost re-election.	20	107th
						108th	20	Re-elected in 2002.
						109th
12	Jon Tester	Democratic	Jan 3, 2007 – present	Elected in 2006.	21	110th
						111th	21	Re-elected in 2008. Resigned to become U.S. Ambassador to China, having already planned to retire at the end of term.
						112th
				Re-elected in 2012.	22	113th
									Feb 6, 2014 – Feb 9, 2014	Vacant
								Appointed to finish Baucus's term. Ran for election to full term, but withdrew.	Feb 9, 2014 – Jan 3, 2015	Democratic	John Walsh	11
						114th	22	Elected in 2014.	Jan 3, 2015 – present	Republican	Steve Daines	12
						115th
				Re-elected in 2018.	23	116th
						117th	23	Re-elected in 2020.
						118th
To be determined in the 2024 election.					23	119th
To be determined in the 2024 election.					23	120th	24	To be determined in the 2026 election.
#	Senator	Party	Years in office	Electoral history	T		T	Electoral history	Years in office	Party	Senator	#
Class 1							Class 2

Living former senators[edit]

As of April 2024, there are two living former U.S. senators from Montana. The most recent senator to die was John Melcher (served 1977–1989) on April 12, 2018. The most recently serving senator to die was Conrad Burns (served 1989–2007) on April 28, 2016.

Senator	Term of office	Date of birth (and age)
Max Baucus	1978–2014	(1941-12-11) December 11, 1941 (age 82)
John Walsh	2014–2015	(1960-11-03) November 3, 1960 (age 63)

Superlatives[edit]

Longest service[edit]

Senator	First served	Last served	Length of service
Max Baucus	December 15, 1978Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	February 6, 2014Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	35 years, 53 days (12,837 days)
James E. Murray	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	26 years, 57 days (9,554 days)
Mike Mansfield	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	24 years, 0 days (8,766 days)
Burton K. Wheeler	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	23 years, 305 days (8,706 days)
Thomas J. Walsh	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	19 years, 363 days (7,303 days)

Shortest service[edit]

Senator	First served	Last served	Length of service
Paul G. Hatfield	January 22, 1978Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	December 14, 1978Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	10 months, 3 weeks and 1 day (326 days)
John Walsh	February 9, 2014Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	January 3, 2015Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	10 months, 3 weeks and 4 days (328 days)
John E. Erickson	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	1 year, 7 months, 3 weeks and 3 days (603 days)
Wilbur F. Sanders	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	3 years, 2 months and 2 days (1,157 days)
Paris Gibson	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".	3 years, 11 months, 3 weeks and 3 days (1,457 days)

Youngest at beginning of service[edit]

Senator	Date of birth	First served	Age
Max Baucus	December 11, 1941	December 15, 1978	37 years and 4 days
Joseph M. Dixon	July 31, 1867	March 4, 1907	39 years, 7 months and 4 days
Thomas H. Carter	October 30, 1854	March 4, 1895	40 years, 4 months and 4 days
Burton K. Wheeler	February 27, 1882	March 4, 1923	41 years and 5 days
Lee Mantle	December 13, 1851	January 16, 1895	43 years, 1 month and 3 days

Oldest at end of service[edit]

Senator	Date of birth	Last served	Age
James E. Murray	May 3, 1876	January 3, 1961	84 years and 8 months
Paris Gibson	July 1, 1830	March 3, 1905	74 years, 8 months and 2 days
Mike Mansfield	March 16, 1903	January 3, 1977	73 years, 9 months and 18 days
Thomas J. Walsh	June 12, 1859	March 2, 1933	73 years, 8 months and 18 days
Max Baucus	December 11, 1941	February 6, 2014	72 years, 1 month and 26 days

References[edit]

↑ Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, ed. (1904). "The Province and the States: A History of the Province of Louisiana Under France and Spain, And of the Territories and States of the United States Formed Therefrom" (Vol. VI ed.). Madison, Wisconsin: Western Historical Association. p. 457.
↑ Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Paris Gibson". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved Aug 28, 2011.
↑ "Gibson, Paris, (1830 - 1920)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Retrieved Aug 28, 2011.
↑ The World Almanac and Encyclopedia 1906. New York: The Press Publishing Co. New York World. 1905. p. 108. Search this book on
↑ The Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1908. New York: The Tribune Association. 1908. p. 259. Search this book on
↑ Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Sen. Thomas J. Walsh". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved Aug 26, 2011.
↑ Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Sen. James E. Murray". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved Aug 29, 2011.
↑ Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Mike Mansfield". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved Aug 28, 2011.
↑ Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Sen. Lee Metcalf". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved Aug 28, 2011.
↑ Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Sen. Max Baucus". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved Aug 29, 2011.

[1] Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, ed. (1904). "The Province and the States: A History of the Province of Louisiana Under France and Spain, And of the Territories and States of the United States Formed Therefrom" (Vol. VI ed.). Madison, Wisconsin: Western Historical Association. p. 457.

[gibson2-2] Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Paris Gibson". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved Aug 28, 2011.

[gibson3-3] "Gibson, Paris, (1830 - 1920)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Retrieved Aug 28, 2011.

[4] The World Almanac and Encyclopedia 1906. New York: The Press Publishing Co. New York World. 1905. p. 108. Search this book on

[5] The Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1908. New York: The Tribune Association. 1908. p. 259. Search this book on

[tjwalsh-6] Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Sen. Thomas J. Walsh". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved Aug 26, 2011.

[jemurray-7] Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Sen. James E. Murray". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved Aug 29, 2011.

[mansfield2-8] Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Mike Mansfield". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved Aug 28, 2011.

[metcalf-9] Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Sen. Lee Metcalf". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved Aug 28, 2011.

[baucus-10] Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Sen. Max Baucus". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved Aug 29, 2011.

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