State Legislative Offices

Qualifications & Responsibilities

Legislators must be registered voters of their district.

Legislature

Legislators propose and enact public policy, set a budget, and provide for the collection of taxes to support state and local government.

State Senator

The Senate has 49 members; one from each legislative district in the state. Senators are elected to four-year terms, and approximately one-half the membership of the Senate is up for election each even-numbered year. The Senate’s only exclusive duty is to confirm appointments made by the governor.

State Representative

The House of Representatives has 98 members; two from each legislative district in the state. Representatives are elected to two-year terms, so the total membership of the House is up for election each even-numbered year.


What is “party preference?”

Each candidate for partisan office may state a political party that they prefer. A candidate’s preference does not imply that the candidate is nominated or endorsed by the party, or that the party approves of or associates with that candidate. Candidates may choose to not state a political party preference. In each race, the two candidates who received the most votes in the August Primary appear on your November General Election ballot.