President of the Massachusetts Senate

The president of the Massachusetts Senate is the presiding officer. Unlike the United States Congress, in which the vice president of the United States is the ex officio president of the United States Senate, in Massachusetts, the president of the Senate is elected from and by the senators. The president, therefore, typically comes from the majority party, and the president is then the de facto leader of that party.

President of the Massachusetts Senate
Seal of the Senate of Massachusetts
Seal of the Senate of Massachusetts
Incumbent
Karen Spilka
since July 26, 2018
Government of Massachusetts
StatusPresiding Officer
Member ofGeneral Court
ResidenceNone official
SeatState House, Boston, Massachusetts
NominatorMajority party of the chamber
AppointerThe Senate
Term lengthTwo Years, no term limit
Constituting instrumentConstitution of Massachusetts
Inaugural holderThomas Cushing
FormationOctober 25, 1780
DeputyPresident Pro Tempore

The current president of the Massachusetts Senate, since July 26, 2018, is Karen Spilka, a Democrat from Ashland. Democrats have had a majority in the Senate since 1959.[1] Notable former presidents of the Massachusetts Senate include U.S. president Calvin Coolidge.

List of presidents of the Massachusetts Senate
#PresidentPictureTermPartyNotes
1st Thomas Cushing October 25, 1780 – November 4, 1780[2] Cushing was elected as the first president of the Massachusetts Senate, he resigned on November 4, 1780 because he was elected the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts.[2]
2nd Jeremiah Powell November 4, 1780[2] – 1782
3rd Samuel Adams 1782–1785
4th Samuel Phillips 1785–87
1788–1801
1801–02		 F
5th Samuel Adams 1787–1788
6th David Cobb 1801–02
1802–05		 F Served as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's at-large congressional seat from March 4, 1793 – March 4, 1795.
7th Harrison Gray Otis 1805–06 F
8th John Bacon 1806–1807 DR
9th Samuel Dana 1807–1808 DR
10th Harrison Gray Otis 1808–1811 F
11th Samuel Dana 1811–1813 DR
12th John Phillips 1813–1823 Served as the first Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts.
13th Nathaniel Silsbee 1823–1826 F
14th John Mills 1826–1828
15th Sherman Leland 1828–1829
16th Samuel Lathrop 1829–1831 F
17th James Fowler 1830–1831
18th Leverett Saltonstall 1831 W
19th William Thorndike 1832
20th Benjamin T. Pickman 1833–1835
21st George Bliss 1835
22nd Horace Mann 1836–1837 W
23rd Myron Lawrence 1838–1839 W
24th Daniel P. King 1840–1841 W
25th Josiah Quincy Jr. 1842 W
26th Phineas W. Leland 1843 D
27th Frederick Robinson 1843 D
28th Josiah Quincy Jr. 1844 W
29th Levi Lincoln Jr. 1845 DR
30th William B. Calhoun 1846–1847 W
31st Zeno Scudder 1848 W
32nd Joseph M. Bell 1849 W
33rd Marshall Pinckney Wilder 1850 W
34th Henry Wilson 1851–1852 FS Was the 18th Vice President of the United States (1873–1875) and a Senator from Massachusetts (1855–1873).
35th Charles Henry Warren 1853 Whig
36th Charles Edward Cook 1854
37th Henry W. Benchley 1855 A
38th Elihu C. Baker 1856 A
39th Charles W. Upham 1857–1858 W Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 6th district from March 4, 1853 to March 3, 1855.
40th Charles Abner Phelps 1859–1860 R[3] Also served as the Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1856.
41st William Claflin 1861 R Also served as the 27th Governor of Massachusetts from 1869–1872, and as a member of the United States Congress from 1877–1881.
42nd John Henry Clifford 1862 R Also served as the Massachusetts Attorney General and, from 1853 to 1854, as the 21st Governor of Massachusetts.
43rd Jonathan E. Field 1863–1865 R
44th Joseph Adams Pond 1866 – October 28, 1867 Died in office at age 40.
45th George O. Brastow 1868–1869 Also served as a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council, and as the first Mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts.
46th Robert Carter Pitman 1869 Resigned
47th George O. Brastow 1869 Also served as a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council, and as the first Mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts.
48th Horace Hopkins Coolidge 1870–1872
49th George B. Loring 1873–1876 R
50th John B. D. Cogswell 1877–1879 R
51st Robert R. Bishop 1880–1882 R
52nd George Glover Crocker 1883 R
53rd George A. Bruce 1884 R Also served as the fourth Mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts.
54th Albert E. Pillsbury 1885–1886 R Served as the Attorney General of Massachusetts from 1891 to 1894. Drafted original bylaws of the NAACP.
55th Halsey J. Boardman 1887–1888 R
56th Harris C. Hartwell 1889 R
57th Henry H. Sprague 1890–1891 R
58th Alfred S. Pinkerton 1892–1893 R
59th William M. Butler 1894–1895 R Also served as United States Senator from Massachusetts from November 13, 1924 to December 6, 1926 and was chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1924 to 1928.
60th George P. Lawrence 1896–1897 R
61st George E. Smith 1898–1900 R
62nd Rufus A. Soule 1901–1902 R
63rd George R. Jones 1903–1904 R
64th William F. Dana[4] 1905–1906 R
65th William D. Chapple 1907–1908 R
66th Allen T. Treadway 1909–1911 R Served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1913 until January 3, 1945.
67th Levi H. Greenwood 1912–1913 R
68th Calvin Coolidge 1914–1915 R Later served as the 30th President of the United States (1923–1929).
69th Henry Gordon Wells 1916–1918 R
70th Edwin T. McKnight 1919–1920 R
71st Frank G. Allen 1921–1924 R Also was the 51st Governor of Massachusetts.
72nd Wellington Wells 1925–1928 R
73rd Gaspar G. Bacon 1929–1932 R
74th Erland F. Fish 1933–1934 R
75th James G. Moran 1935–1936 R Elected by 19 Democrats and 1 Republican.[5]
76th Samuel H. Wragg 1937–1938 R
77th Joseph R. Cotton 1939–1940 R
78th Angier L. Goodwin 1941 R
79th Jarvis Hunt 1942–1944 R
80th Arthur W. Coolidge 1945–1946 R
81st Donald W. Nicholson 1947 R
82nd Harris S. Richardson 1948 R
83rd Chester A. Dolan Jr. 1949 D
Harris S. Richardson 1950 R
84th Richard I. Furbush 1951–1956 R
85th Newland H. Holmes 1957–1958 R
86th John E. Powers 1959–1964 D
87th Maurice A. Donahue 1964–1971 D
88th Kevin B. Harrington 1971–1978 D
89th William Bulger 1978–1996 D
90th Tom Birmingham 1996–2003 D
91st Robert Travaglini 2003–2007 D
92nd Therese Murray 2007–2015 D
93rd Stan Rosenberg 2015–2017 D
94th Harriette L. Chandler
2017–2018 D
95th Karen Spilka
2018– D

A = American, D = Democratic, R = Republican, W = Whig

See also

Notes
  1. Boston Globe, September 21, 1988
  2. Massachusetts General Court - Senate (January 1, 1879), The Journal of the Senate for the year 1879, Boston, Massachusetts: Massachusetts General Court - Senate, p. 5
  3. Brown, Edgar M. (1859), Annual Register of the Executive and Legislative Department of the Government of Massachusetts, 1859, Boston, Massachusetts: Alfred Mudge & Son Printers, p. 4.
  4. "William Franklin Dana". New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 1922.
  5. Merrill, John (January 11, 1935). "Moran Wins in Senate, Faints". The Boston Daily Globe.

Bibliography
  • The Massachusetts State House, p. 141-42. Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Boston, 1953.
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