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.
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[edit] Party summary
The party composition of the legislatures, as of 2012, was[1]:
| 27 | Republican-controlled Legislatures |
| 15 | Democratic-controlled Legislatures |
| 7 | 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.
| 22 | Republican-controlled governments |
| 11 | Democratic-controlled governments |
| 5 | Democratic Governor/Republican-controlled Legislature |
| 3 | Republican Governor/Democratic-controlled Legislature |
| 1 | Independent Governor/Democratic-controlled Legislature |
| 3 | 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.
[edit] Statistics
[edit] State legislatures
(After elections held on November 2, 2010.)[2][3]
Total State Representatives = 7382[11]
[edit] District of Columbia and territorial legislatures
| State | Name | Lower House | Upper House | ||||
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| Name | Party strength |
Term (Years) |
Name | Party strength |
Term (Years) |
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| American Samoa | Fono | House of Representatives | 20 Ind. | 2 | Senate | 18 Ind. | 4 |
| District of Columbia | Council (Unicameral) | D 11, 2 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 | ||||
[edit] Map key
| Color | Name | Abbreviation | Notes |
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Democratic Party | D | Major national party; has state-level parties in each state |
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Republican Party | R | Major national party; has state-level parties in each state |
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Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party | DFL | Minnesota affiliate of the Democratic Party |
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North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party | D-NPL | North Dakota affiliate of the Democratic Party |
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Constitution Party | C | National third party |
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Vermont Progressive Party | P | State-level third party operating only in Vermont |
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Covenant Party | Cov. | Territorial-level third party operating only in Northern Mariana Islands |
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New Progressive Party | NPP | Territorial-level third party operating only in Puerto Rico |
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Popular Democratic Party | PDP | Territorial-level third party operating only in Puerto Rico |
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Puerto Rican Independence Party | PIP | Territorial-level third party operating only in Puerto Rico |
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Independent Citizens Movement | ICM | Territorial-level third party operating only in the U.S. Virgin Islands |
| [None] | Governing coalition | Coal. | A coalition of members of the Democratic and Republican parties in power in the Alaska Senate or a coalition of the Covenant and Democratic parties and independents in power in the Northern Mariana Islands Senate. |
| Tie | Tie | Chamber divided equally between the Republican and Democratic parties in the Oregon House of Representatives. | |
| Independent | Ind. | People who were elected without a party backing or people who left their party while in office | |
| Vacant | Vac. | Resignations, disqualifications, impeachments, expulsions and deaths |
[edit] See also
- National Conference of State Legislatures
- State Legislative Sourcebook
- Comparison of U.S. state governments
- United States state legislatures' partisan trend
[edit] Notes
- All 10 of the Democrats and 6 of the Republicans in the Alaska Senate form a governing coalition with the remaining 4 Republicans in opposition.[12][13][14][15]
- 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.
[edit] Notes
- ^ National Conference of State Legislatures. "A GOP wave washed over state legislatures on Election Day.". http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=21696. Retrieved 2010.
- ^ http://www.ncsl.org/documents/statevote/2010_Legis_and_State_post.pdf
- ^ http://www.ncsl.org/tabid/21253/default.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".
- ^ Parties iron out power sharing in Senate Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. March 20,2012.
- ^ 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
- ^ Bipartisan gang takes over Alaska state Senate. Anchorage Daily News. November 29, 2006.
- ^ McGuire joins bipartisan coalition. Anchorage Daily News. December 20, 2006.
- ^ "Alaska's Senate Bipartisan Working Group". Alaska Senate Bipartisan Working Group. 2010. http://www.aksenate.org/. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
- ^ "Alaska State Legislature's Senate Minority". http://www.aksenateminority.com/. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
[edit] External links
- National Conference of State Legislatures
- State Legislatures Internet Links
- State Legislatures, State Laws, and State Regulations: Website Links and Telephone Numbers
- Legislative Session Calendars and Bill Introduction Deadlines
