Tennessee Senate

The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the 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, that a referendum may be held to allow the senate districts to be drawn on a basis other than substansially 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. The senate elects one of its own members as Speaker; the Speaker automatically becomes Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee. Since 1971, the office of Speaker of the Senate and Lieutenant Governor has been held by John S. Wilder of Braden. Wilder has traditionally depended on the support of both Republicans and Democrats for his support; therefore the Tennessee Senate is currently organized on a rather bipartisan basis with members of both parties serving as committee chairs, an unusual situation in a body elected on a partisan basis. The body elected in November 2004 consisted of 17 Republicans and 16 Democrats, the Republicans' first elected majority since Reconstruction; a brief majority in the 1990s was the result of two outgoing senators switching parties.

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

Affiliation		Mitglieder
Template:American politics/party colours/Republican|	Republican Party	16
Template:American politics/party colours/Democratic|	Democratic Party	16
Template:American politics/party colours/Independent|	Independent	1 (as of March 14, 2007)
Total		33
Government Majority		0

The party affiliation and district numbers of Senators are listed after their names in this list.

District	Name	Party
1st	Steve Southerland	Rep
2nd	Ron Ramsey	Rep
3rd	Rusty Crowe	Rep
4th	Micheal R. Williams	Ind (as of March 14, 2007)
5th	Randy McNally	Rep
6th	Jamie Woodson	Rep
7th	Tim Burchett	Rep
8th	Raymond Finney	Rep
9th	Dewayne Bunch	Rep
10th	Ward Crutchfield	Dem
11th	Bo Watson	Rep
12th	Tommy Kilby	Dem
13th	Bill Ketron	Rep
14th	Jerry W. Cooper	Dem
15th	Charlotte Burks	Dem
16th	Jim Tracy	Rep
17th	Mae Beavers	Rep
18th	Diane Black	Rep
19th	Thelma Harper	Dem
20th	Joe M. Haynes	Dem
21st	Douglas Henry	Dem
22nd	Rosalind Kurita	Dem
23rd	Jack Johnson	Rep
24th	Roy Herron	Dem
25th	Doug Jackson	Dem
26th	John S. Wilder	Dem
27th	Lowe Finney	Dem
28th	James F. Kyle, Jr.	Dem
29th	Ophelia Ford	Dem
30th	Shea Flinn	Dem
31st	Paul Stanley	Rep
32nd	Mark Norris	Rep
33rd	Reginald Tate	Dem

Make up of Tennessee Senate, 104th General Assembly

Affiliation		Mitglieder
Template:American politics/party colours/Republican|	Republican Party	18
Template:American politics/party colours/Democratic|	Democratic Party	15
Total		33
Government Majority		3

Officers

• Lieutenant Governor also Speaker of the Senate: Ron Ramsey
• Speaker Pro Tem: Micheal R. Williams
• Democratic Leader: James F. Kyle, Jr.
• Democratic Caucus Chairman: Joe M. Haynes
• Republican Leader: Ron Ramsey
• Republican Caucus Chairman: Jeff Miller

The party affiliation and district numbers of Senators are listed after their names in this list.

District	Name	Party
1st	Steve Southerland	Rep
2nd	Ron Ramsey	Rep
3rd	Rusty Crowe	Rep
4th	Micheal R. Williams	Rep
5th	Randy McNally	Rep
6th	Jamie Woodson	Rep
7th	Tim Burchett	Rep
8th	Raymond Finney	Rep
9th	Jeff Miller	Rep
10th	Ward Crutchfield	Dem
11th	David Fowler	Rep
12th	Tommy Kilby	Dem
13th	Bill Ketron	Rep
14th	Jerry W. Cooper	Dem
15th	Charlotte Burks	Dem
16th	Jim Tracy	Rep
17th	Mae Beavers	Rep
18th	Diane Black	Rep
19th	Thelma Harper	Dem
20th	Joe M. Haynes	Dem
21st	Douglas Henry	Dem
22nd	Rosalind Kurita	Dem
23rd	Jim Bryson	Rep
24th	Roy Herron	Dem
25th	Doug Jackson	Dem
26th	John S. Wilder	Dem
27th	Don McLeary	Rep
28th	James F. Kyle, Jr.	Dem
29th	Ophelia Ford	Dem
30th	Stephen I. Cohen	Dem
31st	Curtis S. Person, Jr.	Rep
32nd	Mark Norris	Rep
33rd	Kathryn I. Bowers	Dem

External links

• Official website