North Carolina ratified the Constitution on November 21, 1789, after the beginning of the1st Congress. Its current senators are RepublicansThom Tillis andTed Budd.Jesse Helms was North Carolina's longest-serving senator (1973–2003).
| Class 2Class 2 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in2002,2008,2014, and2020. The next election will be in2026. | C | Class 3Class 3 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in2004,2010,2016, and2022. The next election will be in2028. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Senator | Party | Dates in office | Electoral history | T | T | Electoral history | Dates in office | Party | Senator | # | |
| Vacant | Nov 21, 1789 – Nov 27, 1789 | North Carolina ratified the Constitution Nov 21, 1789 but didn't elect its senators until Nov 27, 1789. | 1 | 1st | 1 | North Carolina ratified the Constitution Nov 21, 1789 but didn't elect its senators until Nov 27, 1789. | Nov 21, 1789 – Nov 27, 1789 | Vacant | ||||
| 1 | Samuel Johnston | Pro- Admin. | Nov 27, 1789 – Mar 3, 1793 | Elected in 1789.Lost re-election. | Elected in 1789.[data missing] | Nov 27, 1789 – Mar 3, 1795 | Pro- Admin. | Benjamin Hawkins | 1 | |||
| 2nd | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Alexander Martin | Anti- Admin. | Mar 4, 1793 – Mar 3, 1799 | Elected in 1792.Lost re-election. | 2 | 3rd | Anti- Admin. | |||||
| Democratic- Republican | 4th | 2 | Elected in 1795.Retired. | Mar 4, 1795 – Mar 3, 1801 | Democratic- Republican | Timothy Bloodworth | 2 | |||||
| 5th | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Jesse Franklin | Democratic- Republican | Mar 4, 1799 – Mar 3, 1805 | Elected in 1799.Lost re-election. | 3 | 6th | ||||||
| 7th | 3 | Elected in 1800.Resigned to return to theState Superior Court. | Mar 4, 1801 – Feb 17, 1807[1] | Democratic- Republican | David Stone | 3 | ||||||
| 8th | ||||||||||||
| Vacant | Mar 4, 1805 – Dec 22, 1805 | Montfort Stokes waselected in 1804 but refused the position. | 4 | 9th | ||||||||
| 4 | James Turner | Democratic- Republican | Dec 22, 1805 – Nov 21, 1816 | Elected to finish the vacant term. | ||||||||
| Feb 17, 1807[1] – Mar 3, 1807 | Vacant | |||||||||||
| 10th | 4 | Elected in 1806.Retired. | Mar 4, 1807 – Mar 3, 1813 | Democratic- Republican | Jesse Franklin | 4 | ||||||
| 11th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1810.Resigned due to ill health. | 5 | 12th | ||||||||||
| 13th | 5 | Elected in 1812.Resigned. | Mar 4, 1813 – Dec 24, 1814 | Democratic- Republican | David Stone | 5 | ||||||
| Dec 24, 1814 – Dec 1814 | Vacant | |||||||||||
| Elected to finish Stone's term.Resigned without having qualified. | Dec 1814 – Dec 5, 1815 | Democratic- Republican | Francis Locke Jr. | 6 | ||||||||
| 14th | ||||||||||||
| Dec 5, 1815 – Dec 13, 1815 | Vacant | |||||||||||
| Elected to finish Stone's term. | Dec 13, 1815 – Nov 14, 1828 | Democratic- Republican | Nathaniel Macon | 7 | ||||||||
| Vacant | Nov 21, 1816 – Dec 4, 1816 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Montfort Stokes | Democratic- Republican | Dec 4, 1816 – Mar 3, 1823 | Elected to finish Turner's term. | ||||||||
| Elected in 1816.Lost re-election. | 6 | 15th | ||||||||||
| 16th | 6 | Re-elected in 1818. | ||||||||||
| 17th | ||||||||||||
| 6 | John Branch | Democratic-Republican | Mar 4, 1823 – Mar 9, 1829 | Elected in 1822. | 7 | 18th | ||||||
| Jacksonian | 19th | 7 | Re-elected in 1825.Resigned. | Jacksonian | ||||||||
| 20th | ||||||||||||
| Nov 14, 1828 – Dec 15, 1828 | Vacant | |||||||||||
| Elected to finish Macon's term.Retired. | Dec 15, 1828 – Mar 3, 1831 | Jacksonian | James Iredell Jr. | 8 | ||||||||
| Re-elected in 1828.Resigned to becomeU.S. Secretary of the Navy. | 8 | 21st | ||||||||||
| Vacant | Mar 9, 1829 – Dec 9, 1829 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Bedford Brown | Jacksonian | Dec 9, 1829 – Nov 16, 1840 | Elected to finish Branch's term. | ||||||||
| 22nd | 8 | Elected in 1830.Resigned. | Mar 4, 1831 – Mar 19, 1836 | Jacksonian | Willie P. Mangum | 9 | ||||||
| 23rd | National Republican | |||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1835.Resigned. | 9 | 24th | ||||||||||
| Mar 19, 1836 – Dec 5, 1836 | Vacant | |||||||||||
| Elected to finish Mangum's term. | Dec 5, 1836 – Nov 16, 1840 | Jacksonian | Robert Strange | 10 | ||||||||
| Democratic | 25th | 9 | Elected to full term in 1836.Resigned. | Democratic | ||||||||
| 26th | ||||||||||||
| Vacant | Nov 16, 1840 – Nov 25, 1840 | Nov 16, 1840 – Nov 25, 1840 | Vacant | |||||||||
| 8 | Willie P. Mangum | Whig | Nov 25, 1840 – Mar 3, 1853 | Elected to finish Brown's term. | Elected to finish Strange's term.[data missing] | Nov 25, 1840 – Mar 3, 1843 | Whig | William Graham | 11 | |||
| Elected in 1841. | 10 | 27th | ||||||||||
| 28th | 10 | Elected in 1843.Resigned. | Mar 4, 1843 – Jul 25, 1846 | Democratic | William Henry Haywood Jr. | 12 | ||||||
| 29th | ||||||||||||
| Jul 25, 1846 – Nov 25, 1846 | Vacant | |||||||||||
| Elected to finish Haywood's term. | Nov 25, 1846 – Mar 3, 1855 | Whig | George Badger | 13 | ||||||||
| Re-elected in 1847.Lost re-election. | 11 | 30th | ||||||||||
| 31st | 11 | Re-elected in 1849.Retired. | ||||||||||
| 32nd | ||||||||||||
| Vacant | Mar 4, 1853 – Dec 6, 1854 | Legislature failed to elect | 12 | 33rd | ||||||||
| 9 | David S. Reid | Democratic | Dec 6, 1854 – Mar 3, 1859 | Elected to finish vacant term.Lost re-election. | ||||||||
| 34th | 12 | Elected in 1855.Resigned to becomeU.S. District Court Judge. | Mar 4, 1855 – May 5, 1858 | Democratic | Asa Biggs | 14 | ||||||
| 35th | ||||||||||||
| May 5, 1858 – May 7, 1858 | Vacant | |||||||||||
| Appointed to continue Biggs's term. | May 7, 1858 – Mar 11, 1861 | Democratic | Thomas L. Clingman | 15 | ||||||||
| Elected Nov 23, 1858 to finish Biggs's term. | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Thomas Bragg | Democratic | Mar 4, 1859 – Mar 8, 1861 | Elected in 1858 or 1859.Resigned and subsequently expelled for support of the Confederacy. | 13 | 36th | ||||||
| 37th | 13 | Re-elected in 1861.Resigned and subsequently expelled for support of the Confederacy. | ||||||||||
| Civil War andReconstruction | Mar 11, 1861 – Jul 14, 1868 | Vacant | ||||||||||
| Vacant | Jul 11, 1861 – Jul 14, 1868 | Civil War andReconstruction | ||||||||||
| 38th | ||||||||||||
| 14 | 39th | |||||||||||
| 40th | 14 | |||||||||||
| 11 | Joseph C. Abbott | Republican | Jul 14, 1868 – Mar 3, 1871 | Elected in 1868 to finish vacant term.Lost renomination. | Elected in 1868 to finish vacant term.Retired. | Jul 14, 1868 – Mar 3, 1873 | Republican | John Pool | 16 | |||
| 41st | ||||||||||||
| Vacant | Mar 4, 1871 – Jan 30, 1872 | Legislature failed to elect | 15 | 42nd | ||||||||
| 12 | Matt W. Ransom | Democratic | Jan 30, 1872 – Mar 3, 1895 | Elected to finish vacant term. | ||||||||
| 43rd | 15 | Elected in 1872.Lost re-election. | Mar 4, 1873 – Mar 3, 1879 | Democratic | Augustus S. Merrimon | 17 | ||||||
| 44th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1876. | 16 | 45th | ||||||||||
| 46th | 16 | Elected in 1879. | Mar 4, 1879 – Apr 14, 1894 | Democratic | Zebulon Vance | 18 | ||||||
| 47th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1883. | 17 | 48th | ||||||||||
| 49th | 17 | Re-elected in 1884. | ||||||||||
| 50th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1889.Lost re-election. | 18 | 51st | ||||||||||
| 52nd | 18 | Re-elected in 1890.Died. | ||||||||||
| 53rd | ||||||||||||
| Apr 14, 1894 – Apr 19, 1894 | Vacant | |||||||||||
| Appointed to continue Vance's term.Successor qualified. | Apr 19, 1894 – Jan 23, 1895 | Democratic | Thomas J. Jarvis | 19 | ||||||||
| Elected in 1894 to finish Vance's term. | Jan 23, 1895 – Mar 3, 1903 | Republican | Jeter C. Pritchard | 20 | ||||||||
| 13 | Marion Butler | Populist | Mar 4, 1895 – Mar 3, 1901 | Elected in 1894.Lost re-election. | 19 | 54th | ||||||
| 55th | 19 | Re-elected in 1897.[2]Lost re-election. | ||||||||||
| 56th | ||||||||||||
| 14 | F. M. Simmons | Democratic | Mar 4, 1901 – Mar 3, 1931 | Elected in 1901.[3] | 20 | 57th | ||||||
| 58th | 20 | Elected in 1903. | Mar 4, 1903 – Dec 12, 1930 | Democratic | Lee S. Overman | 21 | ||||||
| 59th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1907.[4] | 21 | 60th | ||||||||||
| 61st | 21 | Re-elected in 1909 | ||||||||||
| 62nd | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1913 | 22 | 63rd | ||||||||||
| 64th | 22 | Re-elected in 1914. | ||||||||||
| 65th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1918. | 23 | 66th | ||||||||||
| 67th | 23 | Re-elected in 1920. | ||||||||||
| 68th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1924.Lost renomination. | 24 | 69th | ||||||||||
| 70th | 24 | Re-elected in 1926.Died. | ||||||||||
| 71st | ||||||||||||
| Appointed to continue Overman's term.Lost election to finish Overman's term. | Dec 13, 1930 – Dec 4, 1932 | Democratic | Cameron A. Morrison | 22 | ||||||||
| 15 | Josiah Bailey | Democratic | Mar 4, 1931 – Dec 15, 1946 | Elected in 1930. | 25 | 72nd | ||||||
| Elected to finish Overman's term. | Dec 5, 1932 – Jan 3, 1945 | Democratic | Robert Reynolds | 23 | ||||||||
| 73rd | 25 | Elected to full term in 1932. | ||||||||||
| 74th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1936. | 26 | 75th | ||||||||||
| 76th | 26 | Re-elected in 1938.Retired. | ||||||||||
| 77th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1942.Died. | 27 | 78th | ||||||||||
| 79th | 27 | Elected in 1944. | Jan 3, 1945 – May 12, 1954 | Democratic | Clyde R. Hoey | 24 | ||||||
| Vacant | Dec 15, 1946 – Dec 18, 1946 | |||||||||||
| 16 | William B. Umstead | Democratic | Dec 18, 1946 – Dec 30, 1948 | Appointed to continue Bailey's term.Lost election to finish Bailey's term. | ||||||||
| 80th | ||||||||||||
| 17 | J. Melville Broughton | Democratic | Dec 31, 1948 – Mar 6, 1949 | Elected to finish Bailey's term. | ||||||||
| Elected to full term in 1948.Died. | 28 | 81st | ||||||||||
| Vacant | Mar 6, 1949 – Mar 29, 1949 | |||||||||||
| 18 | Frank Graham | Democratic | Mar 29, 1949 – Nov 26, 1950 | Appointed to continue Broughton's term.Lost nomination to finish Broughton's term. | ||||||||
| 19 | Willis Smith | Democratic | Nov 27, 1950 – Jun 26, 1953 | Elected to finish Broughton's term.Died. | ||||||||
| 82nd | 28 | Re-elected in 1950.Died. | ||||||||||
| 83rd | ||||||||||||
| Vacant | Jun 26, 1953 – Jul 10, 1953 | |||||||||||
| 20 | Alton Lennon | Democratic | Jul 10, 1953 – Nov 28, 1954 | Appointed to continue Broughton's term.Lost nomination to finish Broughton's term. | ||||||||
| May 12, 1954 – Jun 5, 1954 | Vacant | |||||||||||
| Appointed to continue Hoey's term.Elected in 1954 to finish Hoey's term. | Jun 5, 1954 – Dec 31, 1974 | Democratic | Sam Ervin | 25 | ||||||||
| 21 | W. Kerr Scott | Democratic | Nov 29, 1954 – Apr 16, 1958 | Elected in 1954 to finish Broughton's term. | ||||||||
| Elected to full term in 1954.Died. | 29 | 84th | ||||||||||
| 85th | 29 | Re-elected in 1956. | ||||||||||
| Vacant | Apr 16, 1958 – Apr 19, 1958 | |||||||||||
| 22 | B. Everett Jordan | Democratic | Apr 19, 1958 – Jan 3, 1973 | Appointed to continue Scott's term.Elected in 1958 to finish Scott's term. | ||||||||
| 86th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1960. | 30 | 87th | ||||||||||
| 88th | 30 | Re-elected in 1962. | ||||||||||
| 89th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1966.Lost renomination. | 31 | 90th | ||||||||||
| 91st | 31 | Re-elected in 1968.Retired and resigned early. | ||||||||||
| 92nd | ||||||||||||
| 23 | Jesse Helms | Republican | Jan 3, 1973 – Jan 3, 2003 | Elected in 1972. | 32 | 93rd | ||||||
| Dec 31, 1974 – Jan 3, 1975 | Vacant | |||||||||||
| 94th | 32 | Elected in 1974.Lost re-election. | Jan 3, 1975 – Jan 3, 1981 | Democratic | Robert Morgan | 26 | ||||||
| 95th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1978. | 33 | 96th | ||||||||||
| 97th | 33 | Elected in 1980.Died. | Jan 3, 1981 – Jun 29, 1986 | Republican | John P. East | 27 | ||||||
| 98th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1984. | 34 | 99th | ||||||||||
| Jun 29, 1986 – Jul 14, 1986 | Vacant | |||||||||||
| Appointed to continue East's term.Lost election to finish East's term. | Jul 14, 1986 – Nov 4, 1986 | Republican | Jim Broyhill | 28 | ||||||||
| Elected to finish East's term. | Nov 5, 1986 – Jan 3, 1993 | Democratic | Terry Sanford | 29 | ||||||||
| 100th | 34 | Elected to full term in 1986.Lost re-election. | ||||||||||
| 101st | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1990. | 35 | 102nd | ||||||||||
| 103rd | 35 | Elected in 1992.Lost re-election. | Jan 3, 1993 – Jan 3, 1999 | Republican | Lauch Faircloth | 30 | ||||||
| 104th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1996.Retired. | 36 | 105th | ||||||||||
| 106th | 36 | Elected in 1998.Retired to run forU.S. President. | Jan 3, 1999 – Jan 3, 2005 | Democratic | John Edwards | 31 | ||||||
| 107th | ||||||||||||
| 24 | Elizabeth Dole | Republican | Jan 3, 2003 – Jan 3, 2009 | Elected in 2002.Lost re-election. | 37 | 108th | ||||||
| 109th | 37 | Elected in 2004. | Jan 3, 2005 – Jan 3, 2023 | Republican | Richard Burr | 32 | ||||||
| 110th | ||||||||||||
| 25 | Kay Hagan | Democratic | Jan 3, 2009 – Jan 3, 2015 | Elected in 2008.Lost re-election. | 38 | 111th | ||||||
| 112th | 38 | Re-elected in 2010. | ||||||||||
| 113th | ||||||||||||
| 26 | Thom Tillis | Republican | Jan 3, 2015 – present | Elected in 2014. | 39 | 114th | ||||||
| 115th | 39 | Re-elected in 2016.Retired. | ||||||||||
| 116th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 2020.Retiring at the end of term. | 40 | 117th | ||||||||||
| 118th | 40 | Elected in 2022. | Jan 3, 2023 – present | Republican | Ted Budd | 33 | ||||||
| 119th | ||||||||||||
| To be determined in the2026 election. | 41 | 120th | ||||||||||
| 121st | 41 | To be determined in the2028 election. | ||||||||||
| # | Senator | Party | Years in office | Electoral history | T | C | T | Electoral history | Years in office | Party | Senator | # |
| Class 2 | Class 3 | |||||||||||