John S. Adams of the Great Falls Tribune wrote a story looking at the demographics of the new state Legislature, based on a new survey. The results of the analysis? Little has changed in the demographic makeup of Montana’s governing body. This shouldn’t necessarily come as a total shock. In a mostly racially homogenous state with an American Indian population of about 7-8 percent, the Legislature has 9 Indians, all Democrats, accounting for about 6 percent of lawmakers. That’s roughly in line with the population, though it indicates an increasing trend from the sole Indian lawmaker who served in 1989. The 2007 session had 10 Indian lawmakers, but Rep. Doug Cordier, D-Columbia Falls, opted not to run this time around.
Women make up 38 seats of the Legislature, eight Republicans and 30 Democrats – the same number as last year.