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State Legislative Districts

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Features of State Legislatures
Length of terms: Representatives • Senators
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In the 50 states, there are 99 state legislative chambers. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the "Legislature," or the "State Legislature," while in 19 states, the legislature is called the "General Assembly." In Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the legislature is called the "General Court," while North Dakota and Oregon designate the legislature as the "Legislative Assembly."

Composition

Every state (except Nebraska) has a bicameral legislature, meaning that the legislature consists of two separate legislative chambers (or "houses"); Nebraska has a unicameral, or one-chamber legislature. In all bicameral legislatures, the smaller chamber is called the "Senate" and is usually referred to as the "upper house." (Nebraskan legislators are referred to as "senators" for historical reasons; when the legislature was reorganized, the lower house was abolished and the Senate renamed). The smaller chamber usually, but not always, has the exclusive power to confirm appointments made by the governor and to try articles of impeachment. (In a few states, a separate Executive Council, composed of members elected from large districts, performs the confirmation function.) Members of the smaller chamber represent more citizens and usually serve for longer terms than members of the larger chamber, generally four years. In 41 states, the larger chamber is called the "House of Representatives." Five states designate the larger chamber the "Assembly" and three states call it the "House of Delegates." Members of the larger chamber usually serve for terms of two years. The larger chamber customarily has the exclusive power to initiate taxing legislation and articles of impeachment.

States with multi-member districts

See also: State legislative chambers that use multi-member districts

According to the Vermont Legislative Research Service, there are five forms of MMD:[1]

1. Bloc: Voters receive as many votes as there are open seats, and can vote once for a particular candidate. All votes must be used.
2. Bloc with partial abstention (BPA): Same as bloc, except voters can elect not to use all of their votes.
3. Cumulative: Voters may use their votes however they wish, such as splitting their votes between multiple candidates or using all of them on a single candidate. This system was not used in state legislative elections as of 2020. The last state to use the system was Illinois, which ended the practice in 1982.[2]
4. Staggered: Two legislators represent the same district with elections happening in different years.
5. Seat/post: Instead of running in a pool of candidates with the aim of finishing strongly enough, candidates run for a specific seat as in a single-member district.

Scholars argue that as a matter of structure, staggered and post forms should not be considered MMDs due to races having the appearance of those for single-member districts.[2][3]

Forms can be mixed; bloc voting can occur in a post election, and districts can vary in a state.

New Hampshire allows for floterial districts, separate districts that geographically overlap each other. The area of overlap gives the effect of a multi-member district.


States employing multimember districts
State State Senate House of Representatives Range of members
Arizona - BPA 2
Idaho - Post 2
Maryland - BPA/Post 3
New Hampshire - BPA 1-11
New Jersey - BPA 2
North Dakota - BPA 2
South Dakota - BPA/Post 2
(Districts 26 and 28: 2 posts)
Vermont BPA BPA House: 1-2
Senate: 1-3
Washington - Post 2
(2 posts per district)
West Virginia Staggered - Senate: 2


Districts by state

The following table details the number of districts and seats in each legislative chamber. Chambers with multi-member districts are bolded.

Legislative seats and districts
State Senate districts Senate seats House districts House seats Total districts Total seats
Alabama 35 35 105 105 140 140
Alaska 20 20 40 40 60 60
Arizona 30 30 30 60 60 90
Arkansas 35 35 100 100 135 135
California 40 40 80 80 120 120
Colorado 35 35 65 65 100 100
Connecticut 36 36 151 151 187 187
Delaware 21 21 41 41 62 62
Florida 40 40 120 120 160 160
Georgia 56 56 180 180 236 236
Hawaii 25 25 51 51 76 76
Idaho 35 35 35 70 70 105
Illinois 59 59 118 118 177 177
Indiana 50 50 100 100 150 150
Iowa 50 50 100 100 150 150
Kansas 40 40 125 125 165 165
Kentucky 38 38 100 100 138 138
Louisiana 39 39 105 105 144 144
Maine 35 35 151 151 186 186
Maryland 47 47 67[4] 141 114 188
Massachusetts 40 40 160 160 200 200
Michigan 38 38 110 110 148 148
Minnesota 67 67 134 134 201 201
Mississippi 52 52 122 122 174 174
Missouri 34 34 163 163 197 197
Montana 50 50 100 100 150 150
Nebraska 49 49 0 0 49 49
Nevada 21 21 42 42 63 63
New Hampshire 24 24 204 400 228 424
New Jersey 40 40 40 80 80 120
New Mexico 42 42 70 70 112 112
New York 63 63 150 150 213 213
North Carolina 50 50 120 120 170 170
North Dakota 47 47 47 94 94 141
Ohio 33 33 99 99 132 132
Oklahoma 48 48 101 101 149 149
Oregon 30 30 60 60 90 90
Pennsylvania 50 50 203 203 253 253
Rhode Island 38 38 75 75 113 113
South Carolina 46 46 124 124 170 170
South Dakota 35 35 37[5] 70 72 105
Tennessee 33 33 99 99 132 132
Texas 31 31 150 150 181 181
Utah 29 29 75 75 104 104
Vermont 13 30 104 150 117 180
Virginia 40 40 100 100 140 140
Washington 49 49 49 98 98 147
West Virginia 17 34 67 100 84 134
Wisconsin 33 33 99 99 132 132
Wyoming 31 31 62 62 93 93
Total 1,938 1,973 4,828 5,413 6,766 7,386

Legislative districts

Click one of the links below for an overview of individual district articles.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Vermont Legislative Research Service, "The Pros and Cons of Multi-Member Districts," accessed July 25, 2012
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 West North Carolina Library Network, "The Mismeasure of MMD: Reassessing the Impact of Multi Member Districts on Descriptive Representation in U.S. State Legislatures" by Lilliard Richardson and Christopher Cooper, accessed July 25, 2012
  3. ↑ The Georgia Political Economy Group, School of Public and International Affairs, The University of Georgia, "Ideological Extremism, Branding, and Electoral Design: Multimember versus Single Member Districts" by Anthony Bertelli and Lilliard Richardson, November 10, 2006
  4. ↑ There are 47 district numbers in the Maryland State House. Counted individually, there are 67 districts. For example, Districts 1A, 1B, and 1C add up to three seats, while District 4—which has three legislators—counts as one district.
  5. ↑ South Dakota House of Representatives District 26 and District 28 are both split into two districts representing different geographic areas.
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