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See the Young Elected Leaders in the 116th United States Senate

The Delaware General Assembly

Delaware’s General Assembly consists of two chambers: a 21-member Senate and a 41-member House of Representatives. The most recent election for the General Assembly was November 6, 2018. The Delaware General Assembly maintains age requirements for candidacy; Senate: 27 years of age, House: 21 years of age.

 

Delaware Demographic Background

Delaware’s population strongly resembles the United States as a whole in terms of its age composition. 1,2 The largest generation with 25.6% is the Baby Boomer Generation, followed by Millennials (21.9%). About 20.5% of the population belong to Generation X and 12.7% to the Silent Generation.

About 63% of Delaware’s population is White/Caucasian, followed by 21.30% Black/American.3 About 7% belong to other or multiple ethnicities/races. Almost 9% identify as Hispanic/Latino.

Generational Breakdown of the Delaware General Assembly

The average age of a Delaware state legislator is 56.2. Baby Boomers are the largest represented generation in the General Assembly.  A quarter of all legislators belongs to Generation X. Millennials are represented by 9 legislators (14.5%). Only 4 legislators belong to the Silent Generation. Seven legislators are Young Elected Leaders age 35 or younger.

 

Generational Composition of the Delaware General Assembly

 

Generational Breakdown of the Delaware House of Representatives
Generation Number of Members % of Total Members
Millenial Generation 7 17.07%
Generation X 10 24.40%
Baby Boomer Generation 21 51.22%
Silent Generation 1 2.44%
NA* 2 4.90%

Note: *Indicates state legislators for whom there is no birth date on record.

  • The average age of the Delaware House of Representatives is 54.6
  • The youngest member is 31/32 years old (Jesse Vanderwende)
  • The oldest member is 73 years old (John A. Kowalko Jr.)
  • Six individuals are Young Elected Leaders
    • Jesse Vanderwende (31/32)
    • David Bentz (32/33)
    • Sean Matthews (32/33)
    • Michael F. Smith (33/34)
    • Bryan W. Shupe (34/35)
    • Melissa Minor-Brown (34/35)
Generational Breakdown of the Delaware Senate
Generation Number of Members % of Total Members
Millenial Generation 2 9.52%
Generation X 6 28.57%
Baby Boomer Generation 8 38.10%
Silent Generation 3 14.29%
NA* 2 9.52%

Note: *Indicates state legislators for whom there is no birth date on record.

  • The average age of the Delaware Senate is 59.4 years
  • The youngest member is 33/34 years old (Anthony Delcollo)
  • The oldest member is 80 years old (Bruce C. Ennis)
  • There is one Young Elected Leader in the Delaware Senate (Anthony Delcollo)

Gender Breakdown of the Delaware General Assembly

Women are underrepresented in the Delaware General Assembly: Only 24% of legislators are female. There is a difference in the average age between male and female legislators, with women being 3 years younger than men on average.

Generation X is notable for having a much more balanced gender proportion than generations before or after:  Almost 40% of Gen X legislators are women. There is only one female Young Elected Leader of the 7 in the Delaware General Assembly.

 

Gender of Delaware House of Representatives

 

Gender by Generation in the Delaware House of Representatives

 

Gender of the Delaware Senate

Gender by Generation in the Delaware Senate

Ethnic Breakdown of the Delaware General Assembly

The vast majority of legislators in the Delaware General Assembly are White/Caucasian (85.5%). Only 8 legislators (13%) are Black/African American, and 1 legislator is Hispanic/Latino. Six out of 7 YELs are White/Caucasian as well, reflecting the overall ethnic composition of the General Assembly.

In the Delaware Senate, it is notable that Generation X is the only generation with ethnic diversity. All other generations are 100% White/Caucasian.

 

Ethnicity of the Delaware House of Representatives

 

Ethnicity by Generation in the Delaware House of Representatives

 

Ethnicity of the Delaware Senate

 

Ethnicity by Generation in the Delaware Senate

Partisan Breakdown of the Delaware General Assembly

Around 60% of the legislators in the Delaware General Assembly are Democrats. Both chambers have a democratic majority.

Among YELs, the partisan composition is actually reversed: Out of the 7 Young Elected Leaders in the General Assembly, 3 are Democrats and four are Republicans.

 

Partisanship of the Delaware House of Representatives

 

Partisanship by Generation of the Delaware House of Representatives

 

Partisanship of the Delaware Senate

 

Partisanship by Generation of the Delaware Senate

Notes

  1. The Young Elected Leaders Project collects and analyzes data on young elected officials across the country.  We define Young Elected Leaders as officials 35 years and younger. We define the generations following the Pew Research Center:
  • Generation Z: 1997-2012
  • Millennial Generation: 1981-1996
  • Generation X: 1965-1980
  • Baby Boom Generation: 1946-1964
  • Silent Generation: 1928-1945

2. Single Years of Age and Sex, 2010, US Census.

3. Geographic and Housing Estimates (Age, Sex, Race, Households and Housing, …) 2017, US Census.

This analysis is based on data from May 2019 and was conducted on May 25, 2019.

See the Young Elected Leaders in the 116th United States Senate