Connecticut State Senate | |
|---|---|
| Connecticut General Assembly | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
Term limits | None |
| History | |
New session started | January 8, 2025 |
| Leadership | |
Majority Leader | |
Minority Leader | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 36 |
 Seat display Map display | |
Political groups | Majority
Minority
|
Length of term | 2 years |
| Authority | Article III, Section 1,Connecticut Constitution |
| Salary | $40,000/year |
| Elections | |
Last election | November 5, 2024 (36 seats) |
Next election | November 3, 2026 (36 seats) |
| Redistricting | Legislative Control |
| Meeting place | |
| State Senate Chamber Connecticut State Capitol Hartford, Connecticut | |
| Website | |
| Connecticut State Senate | |
TheConnecticut State Senate is theupper house of theConnecticut General Assembly, thestate legislature of theU.S. state ofConnecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Senators are elected to two-year terms withoutterm limits. The Connecticut State Senate is one of 14 state legislative upper houses whose members serve two-year terms; four-year terms are more common.
As in otherupper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federalU.S. Senate, the Senate is vested with special functions such as confirming or rejectinggubernatorial appointments to the state's executive departments, the state cabinet, commissions and boards. Unlike a majority of U.S. state legislatures, both theConnecticut House of Representatives and the State Senate vote on the composition of theConnecticut Supreme Court.
The Senate meets within theState Capitol inHartford.
The Senate has its basis in the earliest incarnation of the General Assembly, the "General Corte" established in 1636, whose membership was divided between at least six generally elected magistrates (the predecessor of the Senate) and three-member "committees" representing each of the towns of theConnecticut Colony (the predecessors of the House of Representatives). TheFundamental Orders of Connecticut, adopted in 1639, renamed the committees to "deputies", the Corte to the Court, and established that the magistrates were generally elected for yearlong terms; the magistrate who received the highest number of votes would serve as governor for the year, so long as he had previously served as a magistrate and had not been governor the previous year. Other magistrates were elected deputy governor, secretary, and treasurer. Although the magistrates and deputies sat together, they voted separately, and in 1645, it was decreed that a measure had to have the approval of both groups in order to pass. TheCharter of 1662 replaced the six magistrates with twelve assistants, not including the governor and deputy governor, and renamed the legislature to the General Assembly. In 1698, the General Assembly split into a bicameral body, divided between the Council and the House of Representatives. The Council contained the twelve assistants, the deputy governor, and the governor, who led the body, while the House was led by a Speaker elected from among its members. Because the governor led it and other notables sat in it, the Council took precedence over the House, and when the two chambers were at odds, the House deferred to the Council.[citation needed] The1818 constitution renamed the council to the Senate,[1] removed the governor and deputy governor from its membership, and removed all remaining judicial and executive authority from it, but it remained largely the same in that it still consisted of twelve generally elected members. It was in 1828 that senatorial districts were established and the number of senators revised to between eight and twenty-four; the number was altered to between twenty-four and thirty-six in 1901, with the General Assembly setting it at thirty-six immediately. Senatorial terms were raised to two years in 1875.[2]
In 1814–15, theHartford Convention met in the Connecticut Senate chamber of what is now theOld State House.
TheLieutenant Governor of Connecticut serves as the President of the Senate, but only casts a vote if required to break a tie. In the absence of the lieutenant governor, thePresident Pro Tempore of the Connecticut Senate presides. The President pro tempore is elected by the majority party caucus, followed by confirmation of the entire Senate through a Senate Resolution. The President pro tempore is the chief leadership position in the Senate. The Senatemajority andminority leaders are elected by their respective party caucuses.
The President of the Senate isSusan Bysiewicz of theDemocratic Party. The President pro tempore is DemocratMartin Looney (D-New Haven). TheMajority Leader isBob Duff (D-Norwalk) and theMinority Leader isStephen Harding (R-Brookfield).
| Position | Senator | District | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant Governor | Susan Bysiewicz | — | |
| President Pro Tempore | Martin Looney | 11 | |
| Majority Leader | Bob Duff | 25 | |
| Minority Leader | Stephen Harding | 30 | |
As of January 2025, the makeup of the Connecticut Senate consisted of 25 seats forDemocrats and 10 seats forRepublicans. In the 2024 elections, Democrats picked up District 8, giving them 25 seats to the Republicans' 11 seats.
| ↓ | ||
| 25 | 11 | |
| Democratic | Republican | |
| Affiliation | Party | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Republican | Vacant | ||
| End of Previous Legislature: 2023–2025 | 24 | 12 | 36 | 0 |
| Start of Current Legislature: 2025–2027[a] | 25 | 10 | 35 | 1 |
| February 28, 2025[b] | 11 | 36 | 0 | |
| Latest Voting Share | 69.4% | 30.6% | ||
Current members of the Connecticut Senate, as of February 28, 2025.
Members of theConnecticut State Senate | ||
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
