Representation of Congress

The Representation of Congress

Religious breakdown:

• Christian: 491 (91.8%) -> Protestant 306 (57.2%) -> Catholic 164 (30.7%)
• Jewish: 28 (5.2%)
• Buddhists: 2 (0.4%)
• Muslims: 2 (0.4%)
• Hindus: 1 (0.2%)

Women:

• Women in the Senate: 20 (14D, 6R)
• Women in the House: 84 (62D, 22R)
• Total women in Congress: 104 out of 535 (18.6%)

Ethnic minorities:

• White: 444
• Black: 46 (or 48, depends on source)
• Hispanic: 32 (0r 37 depends on source)
• Asian: 11
• Native American: 2
• Total ethnic minorities: 17%

Political parties

• Senate: 44 Democrats, 2 Independents, 54 Republicans
• House: 188 Democrats (43%), 247 Republicans (56%)

 Other

• Age: Senate is older than the House, average age is 61 to 57. Democrats on average are older, 62 to 60 in the Senate and 59 to 54 in the House
• 5 LGBT in the House (All Democrats) - 1 bisexual in the Senate (Democrat)
• Incumbents: 74%
• New to office: 25%
• Disability: 1 in the House, 2 in the Senate

 Women are often poorly represented in Congress because they are under represented in state legislatures – a ‘pool’ from where aspiring members of Congress are selected. After 2012, only 24% of state legislatures were women. Women only make up more than 30% in 8 states – Colorado having the highest at 42%. 16 states (10 in the South) have a population of women in state legislatures less than 20% - Louisiana (2013) at just 11%.

With regards to race, the House is more ethnically diverse than the Senate. This is because federal courts have enabled states to draw congressional district boundaries to form districts that are likely to return a Representative from an ethnic minority group. These districts attempt to group together scattered minority voters. In 2008 only in 16 states did African-Americans make up more than 10% of state legislatures. Most  in state legislatures are in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia