Demographics of the 119th Congress

Who represents you? Here are the demographics of the new US Congress

Updated: January 3, 2025, 12:09 p.m. EST

The 119th United States Congress begins on Friday as new members are scheduled to be sworn in on Capitol Hill. As Washington prepares for the new legislative session, let’s find out who will be in office. Republicans will have a bicameral majority over Democrats after securing their Senate lead by swapping four seats in November’s elections. The Senate now consists of 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats. In the House of Representatives, Republicans have a narrow lead of 219 votes to 215 over Democrats. Florida’s District 1 is currently vacant since Matt Gaetz retired on Nov. 21 after the Justice Department investigated him for alleged sex trafficking. A special election is scheduled in the new year to fill the vacant seat. The Republican primary is January 28th and the general election is April 1st. In both chambers of Congress, members are overwhelmingly white. Hispanic and Latino Americans are particularly underrepresented, and blacks are underrepresented in the House of Representatives. View in the app? Click here for the best interactive experience. Over 90% of elected Republicans in Congress are white. In the United States, whites only make up about 58% of the total population. Democratic members of Congress are more racially and ethnically diverse, with about 56% white, 21% black and 12% Hispanic/Latino. The 119th Congress has not yet reached 50-50 on gender equality. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, there will be one fewer women in the new session than on Election Day in 2024. Democrats are more evenly split, with women making up 42% of members in both chambers. Among Republicans, only 15% are women. When it comes to age – which has been at the heart of discussions about the presidential seat – senators are, on average, slightly older than representatives, but the generational differences are quite large. Generation Z has already arrived on Capitol Hill, with Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Florida, taking office in 2023. Frost remains the youngest member of Congress at 27, while Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is the oldest at 91. Grassley has served in the Senate for 44 years. His most years of service are with House Representatives: Christopher Smith, R-New Jersey; Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland; and Harold Rogers, R-Kentucky. Other interesting demographic facts: There were 26 Mikes/Michaels elected to the 119th Congress. John/Jon is in second place with 22 members. The most common birth month was February and the most common birthday of the month was 4. Representative Sanford Bishop, D-Georgia; Michael Guest, R-Mississippi; and Claudia Tenney, R-New York, are the three lucky people whose birthdays fall on February 4th. The first transgender member of Congress — Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Deleware — will be sworn in on Jan. 3. Meet your senators and representatives below. PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsK GZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcm FtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnR Xaw5kb3c9pt1llnnnvdxjjjzsl0w3jdlnnnnnnn0dodd1llmrhdgfbimrhdgfbimrhdgf3cmfwcgvylwlawdodcjdwjdwJ9FX0PKX0S8L3NJCMLWDD4 =