List of members of the California State Legislature

List of members of the California State Legislature. The California State Legislature is a bicameral body, consisting of the 40-member State Senate and the 80-member State Assembly. Its members are elected from districts across the state to represent constituents in Sacramento. The legislature convenes at the historic California State Capitol and is responsible for passing state laws, approving the state budget, and providing oversight of the executive branch.

Current membership

The current membership of the legislature was determined by the 2022 California elections, with all 80 Assembly seats and half of the 40 Senate seats contested. The Democratic Party holds a supermajority in both chambers, controlling 32 Senate seats and 62 Assembly seats. Notable current members include Senate President pro tempore Mike McGuire, who represents the North Coast, and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas from the Salinas Valley. Other prominent legislators include Anthony Rendon, the former Speaker, and Scott Wiener, a senator from San Francisco known for legislation on housing and transportation. The Republican minority is led by figures such as Brian Dahle in the Senate and James Gallagher in the Assembly.

Historical composition

Since California's admission to the Union in 1850, the legislature's partisan control has shifted significantly. For much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Republican Party was dominant, but the Great Depression and the New Deal coalition bolstered the Democratic Party. A major realignment occurred following the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978. The Democrats have held control of both chambers continuously since the 1970 California elections, except for a brief period in the mid-1990s. The legislature has also grown more diverse, with milestones including the election of the first African American member, Frederick Madison Roberts, in 1918, and the first Latino Speaker, Cruz Bustamante, in 1996.

Leadership positions

Leadership in the Senate is headed by the Senate President, a role held by the Lieutenant Governor, currently Eleni Kounalakis. Day-to-day leadership is exercised by the President pro tempore, Mike McGuire. The Senate Majority Leader is Mike McGuire, while the Senate Minority Leader is Brian Dahle. In the Assembly, the top officer is the Speaker, Robert Rivas. The Assembly Majority Leader is Isaac Bryan, and the Assembly Minority Leader is James Gallagher. These leaders control the legislative calendar, committee assignments, and caucus strategy.

Notable former members

Many former legislators have achieved significant prominence in national politics and other fields. Several have served as Governor, including Earl Warren, who later became Chief Justice of the United States, and Ronald Reagan, who became President of the United States. Jerry Brown served as both Governor and Mayor of Oakland. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris were state legislators before serving in the United States Senate; Harris later became Vice President of the United States. Other notable alumni include Nancy Pelosi, who served in the Assembly before her tenure as Speaker of the U.S. House, and Willie Brown, a long-serving Assembly Speaker and later Mayor of San Francisco. Business figures like Leland Stanford, a founder of Stanford University, also served.

District maps and demographics

Legislative districts are redrawn every decade by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission following the United States Census. The current maps, adopted for the 2022 California elections, aim to create districts of nearly equal population that comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Senate District 12 in Los Angeles County is among the most populous, while Senate District 1 covers a vast rural area in northeastern California. Demographically, districts range from heavily Latino areas like those in Los Angeles represented by María Elena Durazo to predominantly Asian American districts in the San Francisco County of the United States Senate district attorney general election|Assembly|Assembly|Assembly|Assembly|Assembly|Assembly|Assembly|Assembly and the. The district|Assembly|Assembly|Assembly and the California's |Assembly|Assembly|Assembly District 2=