 HOUSE  246 Republicans  188 Democrats  1 vacancy  84 women (62 D, 22 R)  46 African-American  (44 D, 2 R)  10 Asian-American  34 Hispanic  2 American Indian  6 openly LGB  SENATE  54 Republicans  44 Democrats  2 Independents  20 women (14 D, 6 R)  2 African-American  (1 D, 1 R)  1 Asian-American  3 Hispanic  1 openly LGB

 HOUSE  247 Protestant  136 Catholic  22 Jewish  8 Mormon  3 Buddhist  2 Moslem  1 Hindu  SENATE  52 Protestant  27 Catholic  11 Jewish  7 Mormon  1 Buddhist

(Following data from 113 th Congress) Average age of Sens.: 62 Average age of Reps.: 57 Median age in the US: 37.2

 Total membership: 541 (House + Senate)  214 businesspeople  201 lawyers  102 educators  29 farmers  19 physicians  11 accountants  9 current military personnel (Reserves/National Guard)  9 social workers  9 scientists  5 ministers  5 radio talk show hosts  4 law enforcement professionals

 99% of Senators and 93% of House members are college graduates  226 members have law degrees  25 members have medical degrees  22 members have no education beyond high school  US: 41.1% have no education beyond high school  US: 45.6% have some college education  US: 10.5% have advanced degrees

 Women:  16.8% of members of Congress  51% of US population  African-Americans:  8.1% of members of Congress  12.6% of US population  Hispanic:  5.7% of members of Congress  16.3% of US population

 Median US household income, 2010: $49,445 Salary of a member of Congress: $174,000 Members of Congress who are millionaires: 268 Members of Congress who have been on welfare: 1

 Name recognition  David Mayhew: Credit-claiming, “advertising” oneself  Fundraising advantage  hp hp  Federal spending (pork barrel)  Franking (free mailing)  Constituency service/casework  Morris Fiorina: They deliberately make programs complicated so constituents need help with them

 Descriptive representation: Someone who looks like you  Substantive representation: Someone who shares your policy views  Tim Scott – conservative black Republican who won a Senate seat in SC with more white support than black support  Leading vote-getter in the 2014 SC statewide elections among opposed candidates (84,000 more votes than Lindsey Graham got for the other Senate seat)  White voters supported a candidate of the other race because they shared his policy views  Scott’s Democratic opponent was also black – SC would have elected a black Senator in either case

 Based on Justice Department’s interpretation of Voting Rights Act of 1982, that minority communities had to have the “maximum opportunity” to “elect candidates of their choice”  Greatly increased number of African-Americans in the US House following 1992 elections (new districting plans using 1990 Census)  James Clyburn elected first black Rep. from SC since 1897  Melvin Watt and Eva Clayton first black Reps. from NC since 1901

 Argument was that it was necessary because of white voters’ reluctance to support black candidates  Required packing minorities (African Americans or Hispanics) into supermajorities in districts, making adjoining districts whiter and more Republican (“bleaching”)  DOJ benchmark was that a district had to have 65% minority population in order to guarantee the election of a minority candidate (higher birthrates among minorities mean a smaller proportion of the population is eligible to vote, and turnout among eligible voters has historically been lower)

 DOJ refused to preclear (approve) NC’s districting plan with one black-majority district, on the grounds that there were enough black citizens in the state to create two (16% of the population = 2 out of 12 CDs)  Challenged as an equal protection violation against white voters ( Shaw v. Reno and subsequent cases)  Race may not be the “predominant consideration” in drawing districts  Political gerrymandering is legally acceptable  White Democrats get squeezed out

North Carolina’s 12 th Congressional District,

DistrictDROtherWinWin % 1254,64477,2886,134D75.32% 2128,973174,0669,358R55.72% 3114,314195,5710R63.11% 4259,53488,9510D74.47% 5148,252200,9450R57.54% 6142,267222,1160R60.96% 7168,695168,0410D50.10% 8137,139160,6954,446R53.16% 9171,503194,5379,650R51.78% 10144,023190,8260R56.99% 11141,107190,3190R57.42% 12247,59163,3170D79.63% 13160,115210,4950R56.80% Total2,218,1572,137,16729,5889 R, 4 D 50.59%48.74%

DistrictDROtherWinWin % 12247,59163,3170D79.63% 1254,64477,2886,134D75.32% 4259,53488,9510D74.47% 3114,314195,5710R63.11% 6142,267222,1160R60.96% 5148,252200,9450R57.54% 11141,107190,3190R57.42% 10144,023190,8260R56.99% 13160,115210,4950R56.80% 2128,973174,0669,358R55.72% 8137,139160,6954,446R53.16% 9171,503194,5379,650R51.78% 7168,695168,0410D50.10% Total2,218,1572,137,16729,5889 R, 4 D 50.59%48.74%

 Barack Obama won North Carolina and Virginia in  Tim Scott was elected to the US Senate from South Carolina in  Does this undermine the argument that the only way to elect minority candidates is through race-conscious districting?