Classes of United States Senators
The Senate of the United States is divided into three classes, which determine in which election year pending which senators for re-election.
Each state is represented in Congress by two senators who are normally elected for a term of six years. The United States Constitution provides that every two years one-third of the Senate is to be elected. To achieve this, a part on each one of three classes Senator. The election will be in November of even-numbered years instead, the term begins and ends at the beginning of the following year.
Of the senators whose term began in 1789, ended this for nine after two years, for a further nine after four years and only for the other eight after six years. Of the senators added later Come States always an also began with a shortened term. If a Senate seat vacant because the incumbent dies, resigns or is dismissed from the office, a successor shall be determined or selected only for the unexpired term.
If both senators of a state are simultaneously election (due to vacancy or a newly admitted State ), the elections are still performed separately. The allocation of classes to the States is firm and has not changed since 1789. The Senate seats new added states are distributed to the classes that they remain the same size as possible. Should the U.S. So take a 51st state, so would the senators in Classes I and II
The three classes
Class I
As a class, that I will be referred to the nationals in 1789 started with two year terms. The following elections were held in November or any year that a remainder of 2 when divided by 6 have, so in 1790, 1796, ..., 2000, 2006, 2012, etc. For the class I currently include 33 senators, namely each a senator from Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, California, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Iceland, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Of the 33 senators of Class I are currently 23 Democrats and eight Republicans; join the selected supported by the Democrats Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as well as Angus King of Maine, another Independent who is also a member of the democratic faction.
Class II
As a class II that is called, their relatives began in 1789 with four -year terms. The following elections were held in November or any year have when divided by 6 has a remainder of 4, ie 1792, 1798, ..., 2002, 2008, 2014, etc. For class II currently includes 33 senators, namely each a Senator from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Iceland, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Of the 33 senators of the class II currently has 20 of the Democratic Party, 13 Republicans.
Class III
As a class III that is referred to, their relatives began in 1789 with six -year terms. The following elections were held in November and those years that are divisible by 6, ie 1794, 1800, ..., 2004, 2010, 2016, etc. The class III are currently 34 senators, that is one a senator from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, California, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
Of the 34 senators of the class III currently 24 has ten of the Democratic party, the Republicans.