Who's In Power.

• Position: Statistical Data Included

Now that most state legislatures are back at work, it is time to take a fresh look at the partisan landscape that emerged from the historic 2000 election.

Nailing down the exact partisan affiliation of all 7,424 state legislators immediately after an election is always a challenge because of deaths, resignations and party switching. There are also the inevitable recounts and close elections that sometimes take weeks to determine. This chart is from an NCSL canvass of all 99 legislative chambers on Jan. 11, 2001, and reflects the certified results of the memorable 2000 election.

The biggest change since the election is that because of a party switch, Republicans now control the South Carolina Senate. For the first time since the 19th century, the GOP controls both houses in the Palmetto State--a big change since 1963 when Democrats held every single seat.

Another big change was in Missouri where Republicans claimed the Senate for the first time since 1950 after three late January special elections to fill vacancies. Republicans won two seats and a Democrat won the other. The Missouri Senate now has an 18-16 Republican majority.

Today, the GOP controls 18 state legislatures, Democrats 16, and there are 15 states where the parties split control. The last time the Democrats controlled as few as 16 states was 1952.

The overall number of state legislators keeps increasing for Republicans, and the GOP is in a considerably better position going into the 2000 redistricting cycle than it was in 1991 when Republicans controlled only six states. Republicans have added more than 570 seats to their overall total during the decade of the '90s.

Another interesting aspect of the current party control is that three chambers are tied--the Arizona Senate, Maine Senate and Washington House.

PARTISAN CONTROL OF STATE LEGISLATURES SENATE HOUSE STATE DEM REP OTHER DEM REP OTHER Alabama 24 11 0 68 37 0 Alaska 6 14 0 13 27 0 Arizona 15 15 0 24 36 0 Arkansas 27 8 0 70 30 0 California 25 14 1v 50 30 0 Colorado 18 17 0 27 38 0 Connecticut 21 15 0 99 51 1v Delaware 13 8 0 15 26 0 Florida 15 25 0 43 77 0 Georgia 32 24 0 104 74 2i Hawaii 22 3 0 32 19 0 Idaho 3 32 0 9 61 0 Illinois 27 32 0 62 56 0 Indiana 18 32 0 53 47 0 Iowa 20 30 0 44 56 0...