California State Senate

Coordinates: 38°34′36″N 121°29′37″W / 38.57667°N 121.49361°W / 38.57667; -121.49361

California State Senate
Type
Type	Upper House
Leadership
President of the Senate	Abel Maldonado, (R) since April 27, 2010
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
Website
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 California State Capitol in 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 the President pro tem Darrell Steinberg, Secretary of the Senate Gregory Schmidt, and 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 to provide more equitable representation.^[1]

Senators are limited to serving two four-year terms, which 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.^[2]

Each senator represents approximately 846,791 Californians, which is more than the approximately 639,088 residents in each of California's congressional districts.

The red tones of the California State Senate Chamber are based on the British House of Lords, which is outfitted in a similar color. Likewise, the California State Assembly Chamber is decorated green, parallel to the British House of Commons. Almost every decorating element of the Senate chamber is identical to those in the Assembly.

Contents 1 Senators 2 Senate 2.1 Officers 2.2 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] Senate

[edit] Officers

Position	Name	Party	District
Lieutenant Governor	Abel Maldonado	Republican
President Pro Tem	Darrell Steinberg	Democratic	6th–Sacramento
Majority Leader	Dean Florez	Democratic	16th–Shafter
Minority Leader	Dennis Hollingsworth	Republican	36th–Murrieta
Majority Caucus Chair	Jenny Oropeza	Democratic	28th–Long Beach
Minority Caucus Chair	Bob Huff	Republican	29th–Diamond Bar
Majority Whip	Vacant
Minority Whip	Tom Harman	Republican	35th–Huntington Beach

[edit] Composition

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total
	Democratic	Republican		Vacant
End of previous legislature	25	15	40	0
Begin[3]	24	15	39	1
June 8, 2009[4]	25		40	0
November 30, 2009[5]		14	39	1
April 27, 2010[6]		13	38	2
June 9, 2010[7]		14	39	1
July 13, 2010[8]		13	38	2
August 23, 2010[9]		14	39	1
Latest voting share	64.1%	35.9%

[edit] Seating chart

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Maldonado

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Walters

Ashburn

*

Denham

Strickland

*

Florez

Ducheny

*

Padilla

Negrete McLeod

*

Oropeza

Cedillo

*

Calderon

Yee

Huff

Cogdill

*

Aanestad

Blakeslee

*

Emmerson

Wright

*

Kehoe

Simitian

*

Correa

Romero

*

Liu

Hancock

Runner

Wyland

*

Harman

*

Dutton

Hollingsworth

*

Corbett

Price

*

Lowenthal

Pavley

*

Alquist

Wiggins

*

*

*

*

*

*

Leno

Steinberg

*

DeSaulnier

Wolk

[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

v • d • e Current members of the California State Senate President (ex officio): Abel Maldonado (R) • President pro tempore: Darrell Steinberg (D) • Majority Leader: Dean Florez (D) • Minority Leader: Dennis Hollingsworth (R) Democratic (25) • Republican (14) • Vacancies (1)     Vacant Pat Wiggins (D) Mark Leno (D) Sam Aanestad (R) Lois Wolk (D) Darrell Steinberg (D) Mark DeSaulnier (D) Leland Yee (D) Loni Hancock (D) Ellen Corbett (D) Joe Simitian (D) Jeff Denham (R) Elaine Alquist (D) Dave Cogdill (R) Sam Blakeslee (R) Dean Florez (D) George Runner (R) Roy Ashburn (R) Tony Strickland (R) Alex Padilla (D) Carol Liu (D) Gil Cedillo (D) Fran Pavley (D) Gloria Romero (D) Roderick Wright (D) Curren Price (D) Alan Lowenthal (D) Jenny Oropeza (D) Bob Huff (R) Ronald Calderon (D) Robert Dutton (R) Gloria Negrete McLeod (D) Mimi Walters (R) Lou Correa (D) Tom Harman (R) Dennis Hollingsworth (R) Bill Emmerson (R) Mark Wyland (R) Christine Kehoe (D) Denise Moreno Ducheny (D) See also: California State Legislature • California State Assembly

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