List of U.S. state legislatures
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
All United States states are required to possess a legislative branch. Most of the fundamental details of the legislature are specified in the state constitution. 49 state legislatures are bicameral bodies, composed of a lower house Assembly, House of Delegates, or House of Representatives and a upper house Senate. The Nebraska Legislature is the lone unicameral body.
The exact names, dates, term limits (if any), term lengths, electoral districts, and other details are left up to the discretion of the individual states. The following shows the state, names, membership, parties and terms of each state's legislature.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Party summary
As of November 16, 2006, the party composition of the legislatures is[1]:
21 | Democratic-controlled Legislatures |
15 | Republican-controlled Legislatures |
13 | Split Legislatures |
1 | Nonpartisan Legislature (Nebraska) |
50 | Total |
"Split" means that the two houses have different majorities (EG. Democratic Senate v. Republican lower house), or an even seated house is split between parties exactly.
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.
[edit] Vital statistics
State | Name | Lower House | Upper House | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Party Strengths |
Term (Years) |
Name | Party Strengths |
Term (Years) |
||
Alabama | Legislature | House of Representatives | D 62-43 | 4 | Senate | D 23-12 | 4 |
Alaska | Legislature | House of Representatives | R 23-17 | 2 | Senate | R 11-9 | 4 |
Arizona | Legislature | House of Representatives | R 32-28 | 2 | Senate | R 18-12 | 2 |
Arkansas | General Assembly | House of Representatives | D 75-25 | 2 | Senate | D 27-8 | 4 |
California | Legislature | State Assembly | D 47-33 | 2 | Senate | D 25-15 | 4 |
Colorado | General Assembly | House of Representatives | D 39-26 | 2 | Senate | D 20-15 | 4 |
Connecticut | General Assembly | House of Representatives | D 106-45 | 2 | Senate | D 24-12 | 2 |
Delaware | General Assembly | House of Representatives | R 23-18 | 2 | Senate | D 13-8 | 4 |
Florida | Legislature | House of Representatives | R 79-41 | 2 | Senate | R 26-14 | 4 |
Georgia | General Assembly | House of Representatives | R 106-74 | 2 | Senate | R 34-22 | 2 |
Hawaii | Legislature | House of Representatives | D 43-8 | 2 | Senate | D 20-5 | 4 |
Idaho | Legislature | House of Representatives | R 51-19 | 2 | Senate | R 28-7 | 2 |
Illinois | General Assembly | House of Representatives | D 66-52 | 2 | Senate | D 37-22 | 2 or 4 |
Indiana | General Assembly | House of Representatives | D 51-49 | 2 | Senate | R 33-17 | 4 |
Iowa | General Assembly | House of Representatives | D 54-46 | 2 | Senate | D 30-20 | 4 |
Kansas | Legislature | House of Representatives | R 77-48 | 2 | Senate | R 30-10 | 4 |
Kentucky | General Assembly | House of Representatives | D 62-38 | 2 | Senate | R 21-16 1 Ind. |
4 |
Louisiana | Legislature | House of Representatives | D 60-40 1 Ind. 3 Vac. |
4 | Senate | D 24-15 | 4 |
Maine | Legislature | House of Representatives | D 89-60 2 Ind. |
2 | Senate | D 18-17 | 2 |
Maryland | General Assembly | House of Delegates | D 108-33 | 4 | Senate | D 34-13 | 4 |
Massachusetts | General Court | House of Representatives | D 139-19 2 Vac. |
2 | Senate | D 35-5 1 Vac. |
2 |
Michigan | Legislature | House of Representatives | D 58-52 | 2 | Senate | R 21-17 | 4 |
Minnesota | Legislature | House of Representatives | DFL 85-49 | 2 | Senate | DFL 44-23 | 4 |
Mississippi | Legislature | House of Representatives | D 76-46 | 4 | Senate | R 27-25 | 4 |
Missouri | General Assembly | House of Representatives | R 92-71 | 2 | Senate | R 21-13 | 4 |
Montana | State Legislature | House of Representatives | R 50-49 1 C |
2 | Senate | D 26-24 | 4 |
Nebraska | Legislature | [Unicameral, non-partisan] (49) | 4 | ||||
Nevada | Legislature | Assembly | D 27-15 | 2 | Senate | R 11-10 | 4 |
New Hampshire | General Court | House of Representatives | D 239-161 | 2 | Senate | D 14-10 | 2 |
New Jersey | Legislature | General Assembly | D 49-31 | 2 | Senate | D 22-18 | 2, 4, 4 |
New Mexico | Legislature | House of Representatives | D 41-28 1 Vac. |
2 | Senate | D 24-18 | 4 |
New York | Legislature | Assembly | D 105-45 | 2 | Senate | R 33-29 | 2 |
North Carolina | General Assembly | House of Representatives | D 68-52 | 2 | Senate | D 31-19 | 2 |
North Dakota | Legislative Assembly | House of Representatives | R 61-33 | 4 | Senate | R 26-21 | 4 |
Ohio | General Assembly | House of Representatives | R 53-46 | 2 | Senate | R 21-12 | 4 |
Oklahoma | Legislature | House of Representatives | R 57-44 | 2 | Senate | D 24-24* | 4 |
Oregon | Legislative Assembly | House of Representatives | D 31-29 | 2 | Senate | D 18-11 1 Ind. |
4 |
Pennsylvania | General Assembly | House of Representatives | D 102-101 | 2 | Senate | R 29-21 | 4 |
Rhode Island | General Assembly | House of Representatives | D 61-14 | 2 | Senate | D 33-5 | 2 |
South Carolina | General Assembly | House of Representatives | R 74-50 | 2 | Senate | R 26-20 | 4 |
South Dakota | Legislature | House of Representatives | R 50-20 | 2 | Senate | R 20-15 | 2 |
Tennessee | General Assembly | House of Representatives | D 53-46 | 2 | Senate | R 16-16* 1 Ind. |
4 |
Texas | Legislature | House of Representatives | R 85-65 | 2 | Senate | R 20-11 | 4 |
Utah | Legislature | House of Representatives | R 56-19 | 2 | Senate | R 21-8 | 4 |
Vermont | General Assembly | House of Representatives | D 93-49 6 P 2 Ind. |
2 | Senate | D 23-7 | 2 |
Virginia | General Assembly | House of Delegates | R 57-40 3 Ind. |
2 | Senate | R 23-17 | 4 |
Washington | Legislature | House of Representatives | D 62-36 | 2 | Senate | D 32-17 | 4 |
West Virginia | Legislature | House of Delegates | D 72-28 | 2 | Senate | D 23-11 | 4 |
Wisconsin | Legislature | State Assembly | R 53-46 | 2 | Senate | D 18-15 | 4 |
Wyoming | Legislature | House of Representatives | R 43-17 | 2 | Senate | R 23-7 | 4 |
[edit] Map key
Color | Name | Abbreviation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Democratic party | D | Has state level parties in each state | |
Republican party | R | Has state level parties in each state | |
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party | DFL | Minnesota's state Democratic party | |
[None] | Constitution Party | C | National third party |
[None] | Vermont Progressive Party | P | Third party running at state level in Vermont |
[None] | Independent (politics) | Ind. | People who were elected without a party backing or people who left their party while in office |
[None] | Vacant | Vac. | Resignations, disqualifications, impeachments, expulsions and deaths |
[edit] 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.
- The Oklahoma Senate is tied between Democrats and Republicans, so the tie-breaking vote belongs to the state's Lieutenant Governor, Jari Askins, a Democrat.
- The Tennessee Senate is tied at 16 Republicans and 16 Democrats after a GOP Senator left the party to become an independent. However, he only left the Republican Party after the election of the Speaker, so the Republicans still have organisational control.
[edit] External links
Below are links and URL's to all 50 state legislature websites as of January 1, 2006. For most states the only place where the full text of the statutes are available online is the state legislature's website.
State name | Abbr | URL (without "http://") |
---|---|---|
Alabama | AL | www.legislature.state.al.us |
Alaska | AK | w3.legis.state.ak.us |
Arizona | AZ | www.azleg.state.az.us |
Arkansas | AR | www.arkleg.state.ar.us |
California | CA | www.legislature.ca.gov |
Colorado | CO | www.leg.state.co.us |
Connecticut | CT | www.cga.ct.gov |
Delaware | DE | www.legis.state.de.us |
Florida | FL | www.leg.state.fl.us |
Georgia | GA | www.legis.state.ga.us |
Hawaii | HI | www.capitol.hawaii.gov |
Idaho | ID | www.legislature.idaho.gov |
Illinois | IL | www.ilga.gov |
Indiana | IN | www.state.in.us/legislative |
Iowa | IA | www.legis.state.ia.us |
Kansas | KS | www.kslegislature.org |
Kentucky | KY | www.lrc.state.ky.us |
Louisiana | LA | www.legis.state.la.us |
Maine | ME | janus.state.me.us/legis/ |
Maryland | MD | mlis.state.md.us |
Massachusetts | MA | www.mass.gov/legis/ |
Michigan | MI | www.legislature.mi.gov |
Minnesota | MN | www.leg.state.mn.us |
Mississippi | MS | www.ls.state.ms.us |
Missouri | MO | www.moga.state.mo.us |
Montana | MT | leg.state.mt.us |
Nebraska | NE | www.leg.ne.gov |
Nevada | NV | www.leg.state.nv.us |
New Hampshire | NH | gencourt.state.nh.us |
New Jersey | NJ | www.njleg.state.nj.us |
New Mexico | NM | legis.state.nm.us |
New York | NY | State Senate: www.senate.state.ny.us State Assembly: assembly.state.ny.us |
North Carolina | NC | www.ncleg.net |
North Dakota | ND | www.legis.nd.gov |
Ohio | OH | www.legislature.state.oh.us/ |
Oklahoma | OK | www.lsb.state.ok.us |
Oregon | OR | www.leg.state.or.us |
Pennsylvania | PA | www.legis.state.pa.us |
Rhode Island | RI | www.rilin.state.ri.us |
South Carolina | SC | www.scstatehouse.net |
South Dakota | SD | legis.state.sd.us |
Tennessee | TN | www.legislature.state.tn.us |
Texas | TX | www.capitol.state.tx.us |
Utah | UT | www.le.state.ut.us |
Vermont | VT | www.leg.state.vt.us |
Virginia | VA | legis.state.va.us |
Washington | WA | www1.leg.wa.gov/legislature |
West Virginia | WV | www.legis.state.wv.us |
Wisconsin | WI | www.legis.state.wi.us |
Wyoming | WY | legisweb.state.wy.us |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
Legislatures in the United States |
---|
United States Congress: United States House of Representatives • United States Senate State legislatures: Alabama (H, S) • Alaska (H, S) • Arizona (H, S) • Arkansas (H, S) • California (A, S) • Colorado (H, S) • Connecticut (H, S) • Delaware (H, S) • Florida (H, S) • Georgia (H, S) • Hawaii (H, S) • Idaho (H, S) • Illinois (H, S) • Indiana (H, S) • Iowa (H, S) • Kansas (H, S) • Kentucky (H, S) • Louisiana (H, S) • Maine (H, S) • Maryland (H, S) • Massachusetts (H, S) • Michigan (H, S) • Minnesota (H, S) • Mississippi (H, S) • Missouri (H, S) • Montana (H, S) • Nebraska • Nevada (A, S) • New Hampshire (H, S) • New Jersey (GA, S) • New Mexico (H, S) • New York (A, S) • North Carolina (H, S) • North Dakota (H, S) • Ohio (H, S) • Oklahoma (H, S) • Oregon (H, S) • Pennsylvania (H, S) • Rhode Island (H, S) • South Carolina (H, S) • South Dakota (H, S) • Tennessee (H, S) • Texas (H, S) • Utah (H, S) • Vermont (H, S) • Virginia (H, S) • Washington (H, S) • West Virginia (H, S) • Wisconsin (A, S) • Wyoming (H, S) Territorial legislatures: American Samoa (H, S) • District of Columbia • Guam • Northern Mariana Islands (H, S) • Puerto Rico (H, S) • U.S. Virgin Islands Local governments |