The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the
Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from th ...
, the
bicameral state legislature of the
Commonwealth of
. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state. All but one of the districts are named for the counties in which they are located (the "Cape and Islands" district covers
Dukes
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
,
Nantucket, and parts of
Barnstable counties). Senators serve two-year terms, without
term limits. The Senate convenes in the
Massachusetts State House, in Boston.
The current session is the
192nd General Court, which convened January 6, 2021. It consists of 37
Democrats and 3
Republicans. The
President of the Senate is
Karen E. Spilka of
Ashland. The Senate
Minority Leader, from the Republican Party, is
Bruce Tarr
Bruce E. Tarr (born January 2, 1964) is an American politician who serves as a Republican member and Minority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate Since 1995 he has represented the 1st Essex and Middlesex District. He is a member of the United Sta ...
of
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
. The last state general election was on November 3, 2020.
Qualifications
The following are the qualifications to be elected to the Massachusetts Senate:
* Be 18 years of age
* Be a registered voter in Massachusetts
* Be an inhabitant of Massachusetts for five years
* Be a resident of the district when elected
* Receive a least 300 signatures on nomination papers
Recent party control
Democrats hold a
supermajority in the Senate.
Current leadership
Committees
The current
standing committees of the Massachusetts Senate are as follows:
Current districts and members
Past composition of the Senate
See also
*
2021–2022 Massachusetts legislature
*
Massachusetts Senate Delegations
*
List of former districts of the Massachusetts Senate
The following is a list of former districts of the Massachusetts Senate in the United States. The legislative districts were created to apportion elected representation in the Massachusetts Senate based on voter population. In recent decades, redis ...
*
Massachusetts House of Representatives
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...
*
Massachusetts Senate elections, 2004,
Massachusetts Senate elections, 2006,
Massachusetts Senate elections, 2008,
Massachusetts Senate elections, 2010
In the elections to the Massachusetts State Senate in 2010, the Democratic Party (United States), Democrats continued their dominance, winning 36 seats against 4 seats for the Republican Party (United States), Republicans.
Election results
See ...
References
Further reading
*
2007*
External links
''official government website''
as of 2011
*
*
with names of senators
State Senate of Massachusettsat
Project Vote Smart
Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...
*
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