List of United States state legislatures
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Each state in the United States has a legislative branch as part of its form of civil government. Most of the fundamental details of the legislature are specified in the state constitution. Forty-nine (49) state legislatures are bicameral bodies, composed of a lower house (Assembly, General Assembly, State Assembly, House of Delegates or House of Representatives) and an upper house (Senate). The Nebraska Legislature is the lone unicameral body.
The exact names, dates, term lengths, term limits, electoral districts, and other details are at the discretion of the individual states.
Party summary
The party composition of the legislatures (and party summary of the individual chambers), as of 2013, was:[1]
27 | Republican-controlled Legislatures |
17 | Democratic-controlled Legislatures |
5 | Split Legislatures |
1 | Officially non-partisan (Nebraska) |
50 | Total |
"Split" means that either the two chambers have different majority parties (e.g., Democratic Senate and Republican House), that one chamber is evenly split between parties, or that a coalition or "hung" chamber has occurred.
In several states, the party that controls the state legislature may not be the one that usually wins the state in presidential elections. Also note that due to politics, a party with a numerical majority in a chamber may be forced to share power with other parties due to informal coalitions, or outright cede power due to divisions.
The table below shows total state government control, which means the governor and the chamber majorities are all of the same party.
24 | Republican-controlled governments |
12 | Democratic-controlled governments |
3 | Democratic Governor/Republican-controlled Legislature |
4 | Republican Governor/Democratic-controlled Legislature |
1 | Independent Governor/Democratic-controlled Legislature |
1 | Republican Governor/Split Legislature |
4 | Democratic Governor/Split Legislature |
1 | Republican Governor/Non-partisan Legislature (Nebraska) |
50 | Total |
In the 2010 election, the Republican Party took control of a majority of the state legislative bodies, in which a net of 19 of the 49 partisan legislative bodies changed from Democratic Party control to Republican Party control.
Statistics
State legislatures
(After elections held on November 6, 2012.)[2]
Total State Representatives = 7382[9]
District of Columbia and territorial legislatures
Federal district or insular area | Name | Lower House | Upper House | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Party strength |
Term (Years) |
Name | Party strength |
Term (Years) | ||
District of Columbia | Council (Unicameral) | D 11, 2 Ind. | 4 | ||||
American Samoa | Fono | House of Representatives | 20 Ind. | 2 | Senate | 18 Ind. | 4 |
Guam | Legislature (Unicameral) | D 8–7 | 2 | ||||
Northern Mariana Islands | Legislature | House of Representatives | R 12–4 Cov., Ind. 3–1 D |
2 | Senate | Coal. 6–3 | 4 |
Puerto Rico | Legislative Assembly | House of Representatives | NPP 32–18 PDP | 4 | Senate | NPP 17–9 PDP,1 Ind | 4 |
U. S. Virgin Islands | Legislature (Unicameral) | D 9–4 ICM, 2 Ind. | 2 |
See also
- National Conference of State Legislatures
- Comparison of U.S. state governments
- United States state legislatures' partisan trend
Notes
- The two nonvoting members of the Maine House of Representatives, elected by the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe respectively, are not counted in the above table, as they are not counted in similar tabulations in State Government web sites.
- As of July 17, 2012, Wisconsin's State Senate shifted to Democratic control.[10]
Notes
- ^ National Conference of State Legislatures. "A GOP wave washed over state legislatures on Election Day". Retrieved 2012.
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(help) - ^ http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections/statevote.aspx
- ^ The California Constitution names it the "California Legislature", but it brands itself the "California State Legislature".
- ^ The Louisiana Constitution vests legislative authority in "a legislature, consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives," and refers to it as "the legislature" throughout, without officially designating a term for the two houses together. However, the two bodies do use the term "Louisiana State Legislature" in official references to itself.
- ^ In practice, the New York State Assembly and the New York Senate are often referred to together as the "New York State Legislature"; however, the New York State Constitution refers only to those two bodies separately and does not designate a name for the legislature as a whole. (See the Wikipedia article on the New York State Legislature.)
- ^ The Utah Constitution names it "the Legislature of the State of Utah", but legislature brands itself as the "Utah State Legislature".
- ^ The Washington Constitution names it "the legislature of the state of Washington", but legislature brands itself as the "Washington State Legislature".
- ^ The Wyoming Constitution names it "the legislature of the State of Wyoming", but legislature brands itself as the "Wyoming State Legislature".
- ^ http://www.ncsl.org/documents/statevote/2010_Legis_and_State_post.pdf
- ^ [1]