New Congress will have a few more veterans, but their share of lawmakers is still near a record low
The new House will have 80 members who’ve served in the military, or 18.4% of members. That’s up from 75, or 17.2%, in the 117th Congress.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The new House will have 80 members who’ve served in the military, or 18.4% of members. That’s up from 75, or 17.2%, in the 117th Congress.
21% of the roughly 1,000 candidates for U.S. Senate, House or state governor on the fall ballot claim some degree of military experience.
Women make up just over a quarter of all members of the 117th Congress – the highest percentage in U.S. history.
The 2018 midterm elections significantly boosted the number of Millennials and Generation Xers in the lower chamber.
Turnout in this year’s primaries for Congress and most state governorships surged compared with the last midterms in 2014, particularly among Democrats. Nearly a fifth (19.6%) of registered voters – about 37 million – cast ballots in primary elections for the U.S. House of Representatives – a 56% increase over the 23.7 million who voted in 2014’s House primaries. Turnout that year was 13.7% of registered voters.
Mitch McConnell’s decision to shorten the chamber’s August recess isn’t unprecedented. But in an election year – when a third of senators are on the campaign trail – it’s unusual.
More members of the U.S. House of Representatives are choosing not to seek re-election than at any time in the past quarter-century.
At least 65 of the current voting members of Congress are immigrants or the children of immigrants. These members represent nearly half of U.S. states.
Senate seats have rarely flipped to the other party in recent special elections, and turnout usually lags compared with regular elections for the same seat.
The vast majority of proposed amendments die quiet, little-mourned deaths in committees and subcommittees.
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