List of United States state legislatures

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Each state in the United States has a legislature as part of its form of civil government. 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, 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 determined by the individual states' laws.

Party summary

The party composition of the legislatures (and party summary of the individual legislative chambers), as of January 2015, is:

31 Republican-controlled legislatures
11 Democratic-controlled legislatures
8 Split legislatures
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 political party that controls the legislature is not the one that usually wins the state in Presidential elections. Also note that, due to the workings of politics, a party with a numerical majority in a chamber may be forced to share power with other parties due to informal coalitions or may cede power outright because of divisions.

The table below shows total state government control in 31 states, which means that the Governor and the legislative-chamber majorities are all of the same political party.

23 Republican-controlled governments
7 Democratic-controlled governments
7 Democratic governor/Republican-controlled legislature
4 Republican governor/Democratic-controlled legislature
1 Independent governor/Republican-controlled legislature
4 Republican governor/Split legislature
4 Democratic governor/Split legislature
50 Total

Statistics

State legislatures

As of January 2015[citation needed]
State Governor Name Lower house Upper house
Name Party strength Term
(years)
Name Party strength Term
(years)
Alabama Governor Legislature House of Representatives R 72–33 4 Senate R 26–8, 1 ind. 4
Alaska Governor Legislature House of Representatives R/Coalition 27(23 R, 4 D)–12 D, 1 Ind. 2 Senate R/Coalition 15(14 R, 1 D)–5 D 4
Arizona Governor State Legislature House of Representatives R 36–24 2 Senate R 17–13 2
Arkansas Governor General Assembly House of Representatives R 64–35, 1 Ind. 2 Senate R 24–11 4
California Governor State Legislature[nb 1] State Assembly D 52–28 2 State Senate D 26–14 4
Colorado Governor General Assembly House of Representatives D 34–31 2 Senate R 18–17 4
Connecticut Governor General Assembly House of Representatives D 87–64 2 Senate D 21–15 2
Delaware Governor General Assembly House of Representatives D 25–16 2 Senate D 12–9 4
Florida Governor Legislature House of Representatives R 81–39 2 Senate R 26–14 4
Georgia Governor General Assembly House of Representatives R 118–61, 1 ind. 2 State Senate R 38–18 2
Hawaii Governor State Legislature House of Representatives D 44–7 2 Senate D 24–1 4
Idaho Governor Legislature House of Representatives R 56–14 2 Senate R 28–7 2
Illinois Governor General Assembly House of Representatives D 71–47 2 Senate D 39–20 2 or 4
Indiana Governor General Assembly House of Representatives R 71–29 2 Senate R 40–10 4
Iowa Governor General Assembly House of Representatives R 57–43 2 Senate D 26–24 4
Kansas Governor Legislature House of Representatives R 97–28 2 Senate R 32–8 4
Kentucky Governor General Assembly House of Representatives D 50–46, 4 vac. 2 Senate R 27–11 4
Louisiana Governor State Legislature (self-designated)[nb 2] House of Representatives R 59–44, 2 ind. 4 State Senate R 26–13 4
Maine Governor Legislature House of Representatives D 78–69, 4 ind. 2 Senate R 20–15 2
Maryland Governor General Assembly House of Delegates D 91–50 4 Senate D 33–14 4
Massachusetts Governor General Court House of Representatives D 125-35 2 Senate D 34-6 2
Michigan Governor Legislature House of Representatives R 61–46, 3 vac. 2 Senate R 27–11 4
Minnesota Governor Legislature House of Representatives R 72–61, 1 vac. 2 Senate DFL 39–28 2, 4, 4
Mississippi Governor Legislature House of Representatives R 73–48, 1 Un. 4 State Senate R 32–20 4
Missouri Governor General Assembly House of Representatives R 117–45, 1 Ind. 2 Senate R 24–8, 2 vac. 4
Montana Governor Legislature House of Representatives R 59–41 2 Senate R 29–21 4
Nebraska Governor Legislature (unicameral) Legislature (unicameral) Nonpartisan (49 members) R 35-13, 1 Ind. 4 Legislature (unicameral) Nonpartisan (49 members) R 35-13, 1 Ind. 4
Nevada Governor Legislature Assembly R 25–17 2 Senate R 11–10 4
New Hampshire Governor General Court House of Representatives R 239–160, 1 ind. 2 Senate R 14–10 2
New Jersey Governor Legislature General Assembly D 51–29 2 Senate D 24–16 2, 4, 4
New Mexico Governor Legislature House of Representatives R 37–33 2 Senate D 24–18 4
New York Governor State Legislature State Assembly D 106-44 2 State Senate R/Coalition 38(32 R, 6 D)-25 D 2
North Carolina Governor General Assembly House of Representatives R 74–45, 1 Ind. 2 Senate R 34–16 2
North Dakota Governor Legislative Assembly House of Representatives R 71–23 4 Senate R 32–15 4
Ohio Governor General Assembly House of Representatives R 65–34 2 Senate R 23–10 4
Oklahoma Governor Legislature House of Representatives R 71–30 2 Senate R 40–8 4
Oregon Governor Legislative Assembly House of Representatives D 35–25 2 State Senate D 18–12 4
Pennsylvania Governor General Assembly House of Representatives R 118–82, 3 vac. 2 State Senate R 30–19, 1 vac. 4
Rhode Island Governor General Assembly House of Representatives D 63–11, 1 ind. 2 Senate D 32–5, 1 ind. 2
South Carolina Governor General Assembly House of Representatives R 78–46 2 Senate R 28–18 4
South Dakota Governor Legislature House of Representatives R 58–12 2 Senate R 27–8 2
Tennessee Governor General Assembly House of Representatives R 73-26 2 Senate R 28–5 4
Texas Governor Legislature House of Representatives R 98–52 2 Senate R 20–11 4
Utah Governor State Legislature[nb 3] House of Representatives R 63–12 2 Senate R 24–5 4
Vermont Governor General Assembly House of Representatives D 85–53, 6 Prog., 6 ind. 2 Senate D 20–9, 1 ind. 2
Virginia Governor General Assembly House of Delegates R 66–34 2 Senate R 21–19 4
Washington Governor State Legislature[nb 4] House of Representatives D 50–48 2 State Senate R/Coalition 26(25 R, 1 D)-23 D 4
West Virginia Governor Legislature House of Delegates R 64–36 2 Senate R 18-16 4
Wisconsin Governor Legislature State Assembly R 63–36 2 State Senate R 19–14 4
Wyoming Governor Legislature House of Representatives R 51–9 2 Senate R 26–4 4

Total state legislators = 7383[1]

See also

Notes

  1. The Constitution of California names it the "California Legislature", but the Legislature brands itself as the "California State Legislature".
  2. The Constitution of Louisiana 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.
  3. The Constitution of Utah names it the "Legislature of the State of Utah", but the Legislature brands itself as the "Utah State Legislature".
  4. The Constitution of Washington names it "the legislature of the state of Washington", but the Legislature brands itself as the "Washington State Legislature".

References

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External links