California State Senate

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California State Senate
Type
Type	Upper House
Leadership
President of the Senate	John Garamendi, (D) since January 8, 2007
President pro tempore	Darrell Steinberg, (D) since November 30, 2008
Minority Leader	Dennis Hollingsworth, (R) since February 18, 2009
Structure
Members	40
Political groups	Democratic Party Republican Party
Election
Last election	November 4, 2008
Meeting place
Senate Chamber California State Capitol Sacramento, CA, US
Web site
http://www.sen.ca.gov

The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 State Senators. The state legislature meets in the state capital, Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote. The officers of the Senate, elected at the start of each legislative session, are; President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Secretary of the Senate Gregory Schmidt, Senate Sergeant at Arms Tony Beard.

Prior to 1968, state senate districts were restricted such that one county could only hold at most one seat. This led to the situation of Los Angeles County, with 6 million residents as of 1968, receiving 600 times less representation than residents of Alpine County and Calaveras County, some of California's least populous counties. The federal Reynolds v. Sims decision by the United States Supreme Court compelled all states to draw up districts with equal populations. As such, boundaries were changed such that equal representation was provided.^[1]

Senators serve four year terms. The terms of the Senators are staggered so that half the membership is elected every two years. The Senators representing the odd-numbered districts are elected in years evenly divisible by four. The Senators from the even-numbered districts are elected in the intervening even-numbered years. Senators are limited to two terms.^[2]

Each Senator represents approximately 846,791 Californians, which is more than the approximately 639,088 residents in each of California's Congressional Districts.

Contents 1 Senators 2 Current composition 3 Seating chart 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Senators

See:

• California State Legislature, 2009-2010 Session
• California State Legislature, 2007-2008 Session
• California State Legislature, 2005-2006 Session
• California State Legislature, 2003-2004 Session
• California State Legislature, 2001-2002 Session
• California State Legislature, 1999-2000 Session

[edit] Current composition

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total
	Democratic	Republican		Vacant
End of previous legislature	25	15	40	0
Begin	24	15	39	1
Current	25	15	40	0
Latest voting share	62.5%	37.5%

[edit] Seating chart

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*

*

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Garamendi

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Walters

Ashburn

*

Denham

Benoit

*

Florez

Ducheny

*

Padilla

Negrete McLeod

*

Oropeza

Cedillo

*

Calderon

Yee

Huff

Cogdill

*

Aanestad

Strickland

*

Maldonado

Wright

*

Kehoe

Simitian

*

Correa

Romero

*

Liu

Hancock

Runner

Wyland

*

Cox

Harman

*

Dutton

Hollingsworth

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Corbett

Price

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Lowenthal

Pavley

*

Alquist

Wiggins

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*

*

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Leno

Steinberg

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DeSaulnier

Wolk

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[edit] See also

• Bill (proposed law)
• California State Senate elections, 2008
• California State Assembly
• California State Capitol
• California State Capitol Museum
• California State Legislature
• California State Senate Districts
• Districts in California
• Members of the California State Legislature

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• California State Senate
• California Legislative District Maps (1911-Present)
• Map of Senate Districts
• Project Vote Smart - State Senate of California

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