As the share of white Texans continues to shrink, the Legislature remains mostly white and male

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The Texas Legislature has reached an overdue milestone in its historical past: Enough ladies lawmakers have now been elected over the course of 177 years to fill all 181 seats of a single legislative session, and then some.

The Legislature that convened Tuesday for its 2023 session continues to be mostly white and male. Seventy p.c of lawmakers are males. At least 54% of lawmakers are white and practically half are white males. But the incoming Legislature additionally has the highest quantity of ladies lawmakers in at the very least the final 5 periods.

Though nonetheless considerably outnumbered by the greater than 5,000 males who’ve served over the years, the addition of roughly a dozen new ladies lawmakers pushed the all-time tally of ladies elected to the state’s halls of energy to 192 — up from 179 at the begin of the final legislative session two years in the past.

This yr, ladies lawmakers took 54 of the 181 seats at the Capitol. There are twice as many Democratic ladies lawmakers as Republican. However, not like in earlier legislative periods, there are much more Republican women in the House than lawmakers named “John.”

The Legislature continues to be far much less numerous than Texas as a complete

While the share of white Texans continues to shrink, the racial and ethnic composition of the Legislature continues to fall brief of matching the state’s demographics.

If the composition of the Legislature had been aligned with the state’s demographics, there can be shut to an equal quantity of Hispanic and non-Hispanic white lawmakers. Instead, there are nonetheless greater than twice as many white legislators as Hispanic legislators. Hispanic Texans make up 40% of the inhabitants however maintain simply 25% of seats in the Legislature.

The dearth of variety is especially dangerous amongst Republicans, who maintain a big majority of legislative seats. The GOP did make some strides in the final election. The quantity of Republicans of shade elevated from 5 at the begin of the 2021 legislative session to 11 this yr.

The return of state Sen. Pete Flores to the Capitol means Republicans in the Senate received’t all be white this legislative session. Flores turned the first Hispanic Republican state senator after profitable his seat in a 2018 particular election upset. He misplaced reelection however made a comeback, partly thanks to redistricting.

Though largely outnumbered on a partisan foundation, Democrats have a extra numerous slate of lawmakers. Roughly half of Democrats in the Legislature are Hispanic, and there are extra Black Democrats than there are white.

Age breakdown in Texas Legislature

The minimal age to serve in the Legislature is 21, however the Legislature traits older as an entire. In reality, the common age of state lawmakers has gone up over the previous couple of legislative periods.

The common age of a lawmaker this yr is sort of 55. Senators have a tendency to be older than House representatives, although the chamber is gaining youthful members like Republicans Mayes Middleton, who’s 41, and Morgan LaMantia, who at 36 can be the youngest senator.

Democratic state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, the longest-serving girl and Black individual in the historical past of the Legislature, is the oldest member at 84. State Rep. Caroline Harris, a first-year Republican lawmaker, is the youngest at 29.

The age group most represented at the Capitol is between 50 and 64.

Education breakdown in the state Legislature

The Legislature is a office the place greater than a 3rd of members are attorneys, so most lawmakers have postgraduate levels. Just 33% of grownup Texans have bachelor’s levels or greater.