Who we elect: although not quite as diverse as the American public, state lawmakers are a remarkably varied lot.

• Author: Kurtz, Karl
• Position: DEMOGRAPHICS

Who is the "average" lawmaker in America today? A white, male, Protestant baby boomer, with a graduate degree and a business background--a stereotype of the American "establishment." But the truth is, there's nothing average about the nation's 7,383 legislators; in fact, only 50 actually have all six of those characteristics.

State lawmakers are less diverse than the country in general, but they reflect the wide variety of people they serve more closely than ever before, according to a new joint study by NCSL and the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Karl Kurtz is a white male Protestant from the Silent Generation with an advanced degree. By no means average, he retired last year from NCSL and now is principal of the consulting firm, LegisMatters.

Women, Minorities Underrepresented

There are six times as many women serving in state legislatures today than in 1971. By 2009, their portion had grown from a meager 4 percent to nearly 25 percent, where it is today. But women comprise 51 percent of the country's population. They have a long way to go to reach parity. If they would run at the same level as men, they might get there. When they're on the ballot, they win as often as men.

Likewise, African-Americans, between 1971 and 2009, jumped from 2 percent to 9 percent of all state lawmakers. They currently make up 13 percent of the U.S. population. But since 2009, the advances of women and blacks in legislatures have stalled.

Gains for Hispanic legislators have come primarily in the past six years, but at 5 percent, they are well short of their 17 percent slice of the total population pie. Low voter registration and turnout among Hispanic immigrants and their wider dispersal (compared with blacks) throughout the general population explain why there are fewer Latino-majority legislative districts.

There are slightly more women in house chambers (25 percent) than in senates (22 percent), but the difference is not statistically significant. Between political parties, however, the difference is larger. Women comprise 34 percent of the Democratic lawmakers and 17 percent of the Republicans. In Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Utah, women make up the majority of the Democratic legislators. In Hawaii, women hold half the eight Republican seats in the Hawaii Legislature.

Minorities also are better represented among Democrats (33 percent) than Republicans (5 percent). Minorities (combined) now fill the majority of Democratic seats in the Arizona, California and Nevada legislatures. In nine Southern states, a majority of Democrats are black, while in New Mexico, the majority are Hispanic. In Hawaii, minority lawmakers (mostly of Asian and Pacific Islander descent) constitute majorities among the Democrats and Republicans alike. In all of these states, except California, Hawaii and New...