The Rhode Island General Assembly

Generational Breakdown of the Rhode Island General Assembly

The Rhode Island General Assembly is characterized by an overrepresentation of the Baby Boomer Generation. Almost 56% of all legislators are Baby Boomers. The second largest generation in the General Assembly is Generation X (26%). A little more than 14% belong to the Millennial Generation. The smallest generation is the Silent Generation (less than 4%). The average age of the General Assembly is almost 55.

Generational Breakdown of the Rhode Island House of Representatives

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

• The average age of the Rhode Island House of Representatives is 54.5
• The youngest member is Katherine Kazarian, age 28
• The oldest member is Samuel Azzinaro, age 76
• Seven individuals are Young Elected Leaders:
  • Katherine Kazarian (28)
  • Moira Jayne Walsh (28)
  • Mario F. Mendez (29)
  • Karen Alzate (31)
  • Shelby Maldonado (31)
  • Alex D. Marszalkowski (32)
  • Evan P. Shanley (32)

Generational Breakdown of the Rhode Island Senate

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

• The average age of the Rhode Island Senate is 55.6
• The youngest member is Samuel Bell, age 29
• The oldest member is Harold Metts, age 71
• There are 2 Young Elected Leaders in the Rhode Island Senate:
  • Samuel Bell (29)
  • Ryan Pearson (30)

Gender Breakdown of the Rhode Island General Assembly

Women are underrepresented in the Rhode Island General Assembly. Only 38% of the legislators are female, 62% are male. Female legislators are on average almost two years younger than their male colleagues. A higher percentage of women is found among Young Elected Leaders. Four out of 9 Young Elected Leaders are female.

In the Rhode Island House of Representatives, 27 out of 75 Representatives are female (36%). Four YELs in the Assembly are female, 3 are male, turning the overall gender composition around. In the Rhode Island Senate, 16 of the 38 Senators are female (42%). Both of the 2 YELs in the Senate are male.

Gender by Generation in the Rhode Island House of Representatives

Gender by Generation in the Rhode Island Senate

Ethnic Breakdown of the Rhode Island General Assembly

Over 70% of the legislators in the Rhode Island General Assembly are White/Caucasian. Only 4.42%, 5 legislators, are Black/African American. Similarly, only a little more than 5% are Hispanic/Latino. One legislator is identified as “other” ethnicity in the data available to us. The ethnic composition of the House of Representatives is more diverse than the Senate. For almost 19% of the legislators, we do not have any information on their ethnicity.

Ethnicity by Generation in the Rhode Island House of Representatives

Ethnicity by Generation in the Rhode Island Senate

Partisan Breakdown of the Rhode Island General Assembly

The Democratic Party has an overwhelming majority both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. In the House of Representatives, All nine YELs are Democrats.

Partisanship by Generation of the Rhode Island House of Representatives

Partisanship by Generation of the Rhode Island Senate

Notes

1. The Young Elected Leaders Project collects and analyzes data on young elected officials across the country.  We define Young Elected Leaders (YELs) 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 April 2019 and was conducted on April 28, 2019.