This article lists all appointed United States senators since the 1913 ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which established the direct election of senators, as well as means of filling vacant Senate seats.
The following states require Senate vacancies to be filled only by elections and do not allow state governors to fill them through appointments.
The following 10 states allow state governors to fill Senate vacancies through appointments. However, a special election must be held within a few months of the vacancy.
The following 36 states allow state governors to fill Senate vacancies through appointments. An appointed senator may serve out the balance of the term or until after the next statewide general election.
In the past, retiring or defeated senators often resigned after the general election but before the expiration of their term due to various reasons.
One of the common reason was to allow state governors to appoint their successors to the vacated seat. This enabled their successors to gain extra seniority over other freshmen senators for the purposes of obtaining choice committee assignments. This practice ended in 1980 after both parties established new party rules that no longer gave seniority to senators who entered Congress early by being appointed to fill the vacancy just before the end of a Congress. Seniority still counted in obtaining choice of office and parking space assignments.
In the election years of 1966, 1974, and 1978, changes to pension laws made it advantageous for senators to resign before December 31, rather than wait until their term expired in early January, contributing to the increase in the number of appointed senators.
In addition, 3 senators died after the election of their successors, allowing their successors to be appointed and take office early.
There have been a total of 255 senators appointed to the United States Senate since the 1913 ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, including 208 appointments made before the next scheduled or special election and 47 appointments made of senators-elect who have already been elected to the seat.
The following is a list of individuals appointed to the Senate preceding an election. Only appointments made after the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, which established the direct election of senators, are included. The Senate Historical Office does not maintain records of senators who were appointed before the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment.
For a list of senators-elect appointed to the Senate after being elected, see List of senators-elect appointed to the Senate.
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The following is a list of senators-elect appointed to the Senate after being elected. Only appointments made after the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, which established the direct election of senators, are included.
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