# President of the Maryland Senate

The President of the Maryland Senate is elected by a majority of the State Senators. The incumbent is Bill Ferguson who has held the role since January 8, 2020.
The Maryland Constitution of 1864 created the new position of Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, elected by the voters of the state. That officer served as president of the Senate and would assume the office of governor if the incumbent should die, resign, be removed, or be disqualified. Christopher Christian Cox was the first and only lieutenant governor to preside over the Senate in that capacity; the position was abolished in the state's 1867 Constitution, which remains in effect as amended. When the lieutenant governorship was re-established by a constitutional amendment in 1970, it did not include the Senate presidency.

## List of Senate presidents

| Order | Name (Political Party) | District | Sessions |
| 1 | Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer | | 1777–1780 |
| 2 | Matthew Tilghman | | 1780 |
| 3 | Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer | | 1780 |
| 4 | George Plater | | 1780–1782 |
| 5 | Matthew Tilghman | | 1782–1783 |
| 6 | Charles Carroll of Carrollton | | 1783 |
| 7 | Daniel Carroll | | 1783 |
| 8 | Charles Carroll of Carrollton | | 1783 |
| 9 | George Plater | | 1784 |
| 10 | John Smith | | 1784 |
| 11 | George Plater | | 1785 |
| 12 | Daniel Carroll | | 1785 |
| 13 | George Plater | | 1786 |
| 14 | John Smith | | 1786 |
| 15 | Daniel Carroll | | 1787 |
| 16 | George Plater | | 1787–1788 |
| 17 | Daniel Carroll | | 1788–1789 |
| 18 | John Smith | | 1789 |
| 19 | George Plater | | 1790 |
| 20 | William Smallwood | | 1791 |
| 21 | George Dent | | 1792 |
| 22 | William Perry | | 1792–1798 |
| 23 | John Thomas | | 1797–1800 |
| 24 | Richard Harwood | | 1801–1805 |
| 25 | William Thomas | | 1806–1807 |
| 26 | Stephen Lowrey | | 1807 |
| 27 | William Thomas | | 1807–1809 |
| 28 | Stephen Lowrey | | 1809 |
| 29 | William Thomas | | 1809–1813 |
| 30 | Elijah Davis | | 1813–1815 |
| 31 | William Spencer | | 1816–1820 |
| 32 | William R. Stuart | | 1821–1825 |
| 33 | Edward Lloyd | | 1826 |
| 34 | William H. Marriott | | 1827–1830 |
| 35 | Benjamin S. Forrest | | 1831–1834 |
| 36 | Thomas Sappington | | 1834 |
| 37 | John G. Chapman (Whig) | | 1834–1836 |
| 38 | Richard Thomas | St. Mary's | 1836–1843 |
| 39 | William Williams | Somerset | 1844–1847 |
| 40 | William Lingan Gaither | Montgomery | 1849 |
| 41 | Edward Lloyd | Talbot | 1852–1853 |
| 42 | William Lingan Gaither | Montgomery | 1854 |
| 43 | George Wells | Anne Arundel | 1856 |
| 44 | Edwin H. Webster | Harford | 1858 |
| 45 | John B. Brooke | Prince George's | 1860–1861 |
| 46 | Henry Hollyday Goldsborough | Talbot | 1861–1862 |
| 47 | John S. Sellman | Anne Arundel | 1864 |
| 48 | Christopher C. Cox (National Union)* | | 1865–1867 |
| 49 | Barnes Compton (D) | Charles | 1868–1870 |
| 50 | Henry Snyder (D) | Baltimore City, District 2 | 1872 |
| 51 | John Lee Carroll (D) | Howard | 1874 |
| 52 | Daniel Fields (D) | Caroline | 1876 |
| 53 | Edward Lloyd (D) | Talbot | 1878 |
| 54 | Herman Stump, Jr. (D) | Harford | 1880 |
| 55 | George Hawkins Williams (D) | Baltimore | 1882 |
| 56 | Henry Lloyd (D) | Dorchester | 1884 |
| 57 | Edwin Warfield (D) | Howard | 1886 |
| 58 | George Peter (D) | Montgomery | 1888 |
| 59 | Robert Franklin Brattan (D) | Somerset | 1890 |
| 60 | Edward Lloyd VII (D) | Talbot | 1892 |
| 61 | John Walter Smith (D) | Worcester | 1894 |
| 62 | William Cabell Bruce (D) | Baltimore City, District 2 | 1896 |
| 63 | John Wirt Randall (R) | Anne Arundel | 1898 |
| 64 | John Hubner (D) | Baltimore | 1900–1902 |
| 65 | Spencer Cone Jones (D) | Montgomery | 1904 |
| 66 | Joseph B. Seth (D) | Talbot | 1906–1908 |
| 67 | Arthur Pue Gorman Jr. (D) | Howard | 1910 |
| 68 | Jesse D. Price (D) | Wicomico | 1912–1914 |
| 69 | Peter J. Campbell (D) | Baltimore City, District 2 | 1916–1918 |
| 70 | William I. Norris (D) | Baltimore City, District 1 | 1920–1922 |
| 71 | David G. McIntosh Jr. (D) | Baltimore | 1924–1929 |
| 72 | Walter J. Mitchell (D) | Charles | 1931–1933 |
| 73 | Lansdale G. Sasscer (D) | Prince George's | 1935–1937 |
| 74 | Arthur H. Brice (D) | Kent | 1939–1943 |
| 75 | James J. Lindsay, Jr. (D) | Baltimore | 1944–1946 |
| 76 | Joseph R. Byrnes (D) | Baltimore City, District 5 | 1947–1950 |
| 77 | L. Harold Sothoron (D) | Prince George's | 1950 |
| 78 | George W. Della (D) | Baltimore City, District 6 | 1951–1954 |
| 79 | Louis L. Goldstein (D) | Calvert | 1955–1958 |
| 80 | George W. Della (D) | Baltimore City, District 6 | 1959–1962 |
| 81 | William S. James (D) | Harford | 1963–1974 |
| 82 | Steny Hoyer (D) | District 26 | 1975–1978 |
| 83 | James Clark, Jr. (D) | District 14 | 1979–1982 |
| 84 | Melvin A. Steinberg (D) | District 11 | 1983–1986 |
| 85 | Thomas V. 'Mike' Miller, Jr. (D) | District 27 | 1987–January 8, 2020 |
| 86 | Bill Ferguson (D) | District 46 | January 8, 2020 – Present |
* Cox was elected Lieutenant Governor under the 1864 Constitution, which made him ex officio president of the Senate.