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Classes of United States Senators

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Thethree classes of United States Senators are made up of 33 or 34Senate seats each. The purpose of the classes is to determine which Senate seats will be up for election in a given year.

Senators are elected to six-year terms, and every two years the members of one class, or approximately one-third of the senators, face election or re-election.[1]

Terms for senators inClass I expire in 2031,Class II in 2027, andClass III in 2029.[1]

Authority

Article I, section 3 of theConstitution requires theSenate to be divided into three classes for purposes of elections.

Article I, Section 3:

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State,chosen by the Legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

Immediately after they 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..

Class I

Senators inClass I were elected to office in theNovember 2024 general election, unless they took their seat through appointment or special election. Class I terms run from the beginning of the119th Congress on January 3, 2025, to the end of the 121st Congress on January 3, 2031.

States with a Class I senator:[2]

Class II

Senators inClass II were elected to office in theNovember 2020 general election, unless they took their seat through appointment or special election. Class II terms run from the beginning of the117th Congress on January 3, 2021, to the end of the119th Congress on January 3, 2027.

States with a Class II senator:[3]

Class III

Senators inClass III were elected to office in theNovember 2022 general election, unless they took their seat through appointment or special election. Class III terms run from the beginning of the118th Congress on January 3, 2023, to the end of the 120th Congress on January 3, 2029.

States with a Class III senator:[4]

See also

External links

Footnotes

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