Connecticut State Senate
Connecticut State Senate | |
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Connecticut General Assembly | |
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Type | |
Type | |
Term limits | None |
History | |
New session started | January 4, 2023 |
Leadership | |
Majority Leader | |
Minority Leader | |
Structure | |
Seats | 36 |
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Political groups | Majority
Minority
|
Length of term | 2 years |
Authority | Article III, Section 1,Connecticut Constitution |
Salary | $40,000/year |
Elections | |
Last election | November 8, 2022 (36 seats) |
Next election | November 5, 2024 (36 seats) |
Redistricting | Legislative Control |
Meeting place | |
State Senate Chamber Connecticut State Capitol Hartford,Connecticut | |
Website | |
Official Senate Page |
TheConnecticut State Senateis theupper houseof theConnecticut General Assembly,thestate legislatureof theU.S. stateofConnecticut.The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Senators are elected to two-year terms withoutterm limits.The Connecticut State Senate is one of 14 state legislative upper houses whose members serve two-year terms; four-year terms are more common.
As in otherupper housesof state and territorial legislatures and the federalU.S. Senate,the Senate is reserved with special functions such as confirming or rejectinggubernatorialappointments to the state's executive departments, the state cabinet, commissions and boards. Unlike a majority of U.S. state legislatures, both theConnecticut House of Representativesand the State Senate vote on the composition to theConnecticut Supreme Court.
The Senate meets within theState CapitolinHartford.
History[edit]
The Senate has its basis in the earliest incarnation of the General Assembly, the "General Corte" established in 1636 whose membership was divided between at least six generally elected magistrates (the predecessor of the Senate) and three-member "committees" representing each of the towns of theConnecticut Colony(the predecessors of the House of Representatives). TheFundamental Orders of Connecticut,adopted in 1639, renamed the committees to "deputies", the Corte to the Court, and established that the magistrates were generally elected for yearlong terms; the magistrate who received the highest number of votes would serve as governor for the year, so long as he had previously served as a magistrate and had not been governor the previous year. Other magistrates were elected deputy governor, secretary, and treasurer. Although the magistrates and deputies sat together, they voted separately and in 1645 it was decreed that a measure had to have the approval of both groups in order to pass. TheCharter of 1662replaced the six magistrates with twelve assistants, not including the governor and deputy governor, and renamed the legislature to the General Assembly. In 1698, the General Assembly split into a bicameral body, divided between the Council and the House of Representatives. The Council contained the twelve assistants, deputy governor, and governor, who led the body, while the House was led by a Speaker elected from among its members. Because the governor led it and other notables sat in it, the Council took precedence to the House and when the two chambers were at odds, the House deferred to the council.[citation needed]The1818 constitutionrenamed the council to the Senate,[1]removed the governor and deputy governor from its membership, and removed all remaining judicial and executive authority from it, but it remained largely the same in that it still consisted of twelve generally elected members. It was in 1828 that senatorial districts were established and the number of senators revised to between eight and twenty-four; the number was altered to between twenty-four and thirty-six in 1901, with the General Assembly setting it at thirty-six immediately. Senatorial terms were raised to two years in 1875.[2]
In 1814–15, theHartford Conventionmet in the Connecticut Senate chamber of what is now theOld State House.
Leadership of the Senate[edit]
TheLieutenant Governor of Connecticutserves as the President of the Senate, but only casts a vote if required to break a tie. In the absence of the lieutenant governor, thePresident Pro Tempore of the Connecticut Senatepresides. The President pro tempore is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the entire Senate through a Senate Resolution. The President pro tempore is the chief leadership position in the Senate. The Senatemajorityandminorityleaders are elected by their respective party caucuses.
The President of the Senate isSusan Bysiewiczof theDemocratic Party.The President pro tempore is DemocratMartin Looney(D-New Haven). TheMajority LeaderisBob Duff(D-Norwalk) and theMinority LeaderisStephen Harding(R-Brookfield).
Current leadership[edit]
Position | Senator | District | |
---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant Governor | Susan Bysiewicz | — | |
President Pro Tempore | Martin Looney | 11 | |
Majority Leader | Bob Duff | 25 | |
Minority Leader | Stephen Harding | 30 |
Make-up of the Senate[edit]
As of January 2023, the makeup of the Connecticut Senate consisted of 24 seats forDemocratsand 12 seats forRepublicans.In the 2022 elections, Democrats picked up District 20, giving them 24 seats to the Republicans' 12 seats.
↓ | ||
24 | 12 | |
Democratic | Republican |
Affiliation | Party | Total | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Republican | Vacant | ||
End of Previous Legislature: 2021–2023 | 23 | 13 | 36 | 0 |
Start of Current Legislature: 2023–2025 | 24 | 12 | 36 | 0 |
Latest Voting Share | 66.7% | 33.3% | 100% |
Members of the Senate[edit]
Current members of the Connecticut Senate, as of January 4, 2023.
- ^Senator was first elected in a special election.
Past composition of the Senate[edit]
See also[edit]
- Connecticut State Capitol
- Connecticut General Assembly
- Connecticut House of Representatives
- Historic Members of the Connecticut Senate
References[edit]
- ^Orcutt, Jacob (Fall 2018)."Connecticut's Old State House: Where the Constitution of 1818 Was Born".Connecticut Explored.Vol. 16, no. 4. pp. 46–48.RetrievedJanuary 26,2021.
- ^Under the Gold Dome: An Insider's Look at the Connecticut Legislature,by Judge Robert Satter. New Haven: Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, 2004, pp. 16–27.
- ^"Senate Members (listed Alpha betically)".Connecticut General Assembly.RetrievedFebruary 14,2013.
External links[edit]
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