Tennessee Senate

The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the Tennessee state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.

The Tennessee Senate, according to the state constitution of 1870, is composed of 33 members, one-third the size of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Senators are to be elected from districts of substantially equal population. According to the constitution a county is not to be joined to a portion of another county for purposes of creating a district; this provision has been overridden by the rulings of the Supreme Court of the United States in "Baker v. Carr" (369 US 182 1962) and "Reynolds v. Sims" (337 U.S. 356 1964) The Tennessee constitution has been amended to allow that if these rulings are ever changed or reversed, a referendum may be held to allow the senate districts to be drawn on a basis other than substantially equal population.

Until 1966, Tennessee state senators served two-year terms. That year the system was changed, by constitutional amendment, to allow four-year terms. In that year, senators in even-numbered districts were elected to two-year terms and those in odd-numbered districts were elected to four-year terms. This created a staggered system in which only half of the senate is up for election at any one time. Districts are to be sequentially and consecutively numbered; the scheme basically runs from east to west and north to south.

Republicans attained an elected majority in the Senate in the 104th General Assembly (2005-2006) for the first time since Reconstruction; a brief majority in the 1990s was the result of two outgoing senators switching parties.

The senate elects one of its own members as Speaker; the Speaker automatically becomes Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee. The current "Speaker of the Senate and Lieutenant Governor" is Republican Ron Ramsey, who was elected to the position in 2007, succeeding John S. Wilder, who had held the post since 1971. Although the Republican Party had attained a one-member majority in the November 2004 election, Wilder, a Democrat, had held his seat due to the support of some Republicans.

Make up of Tennessee Senate, 105th General Assembly (2007-2008)

Before March 14, 2007, Republicans held a one-vote majority. The party affiliation and district numbers of Senators are listed after their names in the following list.

^ Berke was elected in a special election to succeed Ward Crutchfield.
(x) retiring after 2008

Officers

*Lieutenant Governor also Speaker of the Senate: Ron Ramsey
*Speaker Pro Tem: Rosalind Kurita
*Deputy Speaker: Tim Burchett
*Republican Leader: Mark Norris
*Republican Caucus Chairman: Diane Black
*Democratic Leader: James F. Kyle, Jr.
*Democratic Caucus Chairman: Joe M. Haynes

External links

* [http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/senate/swelcome.htm Tennessee Senate]
* [http://www.vote-smart.org/official_state_legislator.php?type=office&state_id=TN&criteria=upper Project Vote Smart - State Senate of Tennessee]