Meet Your 84th Texas Legislature: White. Male. Middle-Aged. Christian.
What does the Texas Legislature look like? On average: white, male, middle-aged, Christian — and educated at a public university. That's according to a Texas Tribune analysis of demographics in the Texas Capitol.
While lawmaker demographics are changing by the session, it's safe to say the makeup of the 84th Legislature is out of whack with the state's overall population. Women make up half of the state's population, for example, but they only hold 20 percent of the seats under the Pink Dome. White Texans are now in the minority, but 65 percent of legislators are white. Only a third of Texans have a college degree, while most state lawmakers do. (In fact, a third of state lawmakers have law degrees.)
With the legislative session officially gaveled in, here's a look at the demographics of the Texas Lege — by lawmakers' race, gender, age, time in office, education and religion.
Note: The counts in these charts include all members of the Texas Senate and the Texas House, excluding three empty seats in the House.
Charts created with Datawrapper by Jolie McCullough
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