THE 111th CONGRESS | feature
GET TO KNOW CONGRESS © Images.com/Corbis
California has 53 representatives, the most of any state.
13 former governors serve in Congress— 12 in the Senate and 1 in the House.
17
women serve in the Senate— 13 Democrats and 4 Republicans. 75 women serve in the House— 58 Democrats and 17 Republicans. These are the most women to ever serve in the history of Congress.
259
women have been elected to serve
in Congress since 1917.
In the First Congress, a member of the House represented 30,000 citizens. Today, a Congressman/woman represents an average of 650,000 citizens.
To date, 6 African-Americans have served in the U.S. Senate.
When Congress was created in 1789, there were 65 House members and 26 senators. The House of Representatives has had 435 members since 1911. The Senate now has 100 members, 2 from each state.
Georgia elected the first female senator— Rebecca Latimer Felton in 1922.
Montana was the first state to elect a woman to Congress— Jeannette Rankin, a Republican.
have only
one representative to represent
their entire state in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The average age of House members is 56; the average age of senators is 62.
12.4 percent of members of Congress are Baptists; 10.7 percent are Methodists; 7.1 percent are Episcopalians; 8.1 percent are Presbyterians; 8.4 percent are Jews; 2.6 percent are Mormons. 2 members of Congress are Muslim; and 2 members of Congress are Buddhists.
Sources: The Center on Congress at Indiana University; Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life; Politico; U.S. Senate history
MAY/JUNE 2010
North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming—
»
7 states—Alaska, Delaware, Montana,
47 CAPITOL IDEAS
Mississippi elected the first African-American senator— Hiram Revels in 1870.
267
former state legislators
serve in Congress—226 in the House and 41 in the Senate.
