Senator Senators , also referred to as Galactic Senators , were individuals who represented the many planet s of the galaxy in the Senate of the Galactic Republic . Many senators supported and cheered Sheev Palpatine ' s proclamation that turned the Republic into the Galactic Empire at the end of the Clone Wars . The senators then became members of the Imperial Senate . Fourteen years into Imperial Senate ' s existence , the power of the senators had grown weaker as the Emperor ' s planetary governor s and Moff s exercised more responsibility over their planets and systems . A few years later , the Imperial Senate was disbanded by the Emperor . Shortly after the Battle of Endor , the Rebel Alliance achieved their goal and restored the Republic in the form of the New Republic . As one of its first acts in the long process of bringing back democracy to the galaxy , the Republic restored the Galactic Senate . History . Galactic Republic . During the last decades of the Galactic Republic , senators represented the Republic ' s various member worlds and commerce guilds including the Trade Federation at the Galactic Senate on Coruscant . During the Invasion of Naboo , Sheev Palpatine served as Naboo ' s senator in the Galactic Senate while Lott Dod represented the Trade Federation . Their functions including representing their homeworld s , adjudicating on galactic disputes , and debating and voting on legislation and motions . By the time of the Separatist Crisis , the Senate had at least two thousand senators . Several Loyalist senators , including the Naboo senator Padmé Amidala , the Alderaanian senator Bail Organa , and the Ryloth senator Orn Free Taa formed the Loyalist Committee to advise Supreme Chancellor Palpatine . During the Clone Wars , the Confederacy of Independent Systems established a rival Separatist Senate on the planet Raxus . Some prominent Separatist senators including the Onderonian Mina Bonteri and her son Lux Bonteri , Prime Minister Bec Lawise , and Voe Atell . Towards the end of the conflict , several concerned senators including Amidala , Organa , and Mon Mothma formed the Delegation of 2 , 000 to criticize Palpatine ' s conduct of the war and to petition him to return his emergency powers to the Galactic Senate . Galactic Empire . Following the Proclamation of the New Order , the Galactic Senate was revamped as the Imperial Senate of the Galactic Empire . While many senators welcomed the establishment of the Empire as an end to the carnage and destruction of the Clone Wars , others like Amidala and Organa were unhappy with the New Order . After Palpatine crowned himself as Emperor , the Imperial Senate ' s powers were progressively curtailed . By the fourteenth year of the Age of the Empire , Imperial senators wielded less power than planetary governor s . The Emperor preserved the Senate in order to convince its member worlds that they still had a part to play in the new government . In secret , the Emperor planned to abolish the Senate once the Death Star had been completed so that he could rule the Empire through terror . Some senators like the Thrad senator Nadea Tural continued attending Senate sessions since she believed that the Empire passed legislation which had been voted into law . However , the Emperor often did not implement legislation introduced by the Senate . Some other notable senators included Bail Organa ' s adopted daughter Leia Organa , and the " Senator - in - exile " Gall Trayvis . Following the theft of the Death Star plans , Darth Vader arrested Prince ss Leia for aiding the Rebel Alliance . Emperor Palpatine promptly dissolved the Imperial Senate . In addition , Tural and several other dissident senators were im prison ed at the Arrth - Eno Prison Complex on Coruscant . The Alliance attempted to rescue the imprisoned senators but the Emperor hatched a successful plot to kill the senators and the Rebel spies . Official Imperial propaganda claimed that the rebels had bombed the prison in order to deny these senators a trial . New Republic . Following the Battle of Endor , the New Republic , the successor government established by the Alliance to Restore the Republic , re - established the Galactic Senate on Chandrila . Their duties included representing their homeworlds , debating and voting on legislation and motions , and investigating intrasystem disputes and criminal factions that threatened the New Republic . New Republic senatorial protocol also differentiated senators into two main categories : senior senator and junior senator . About twenty years after the events on Endor , two major senatorial factions had emerged in the Galactic Senate : the Centrists , who desired a stronger galactic government and military ; and the Populists , who wanted to preserve considerable autonomy for member worlds . The rivalry and philosophical differences between the two factions created deadlock in the Senate , which led to much inaction on the part of the New Republic . In response to this deadlock , the Centrists proposed the creation of a new office called First Senator , which would wield considerable power over the economy and military . Some prominent New Republic senators included Leia Organa , the Gatalenta senator Tai - Lin Garr , the Arkanis senator Lady Carise Sindian , and the Riosa n senator Ransolm Casterfo . Prior to the destruction of the Hosnian system , several New Republic senators including Lady Carise and Erudo Ro - Kiintor were secretly colluding with the First Order , a remnant of the Old Empire .