The 111th United States Congress, in session from 2009 to 2010, consisted of 541 elected officials from 50 states, five territories, and the District of Columbia. It is the federal legislature of the United States of America, continuing an unbroken chain dating back to the 1st Congress in 1789.
The Senate has 100 members; the House of Representatives has 435 members and six non-voting delegates.
Demographics
In the Senate, there were 17 women: Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Kay Hagan (D-NC), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
There were 13 Jewish Americans, 2 Cuban Americans (Bob Menendez, D-NJ and Ted Cruz, R-TX), 1 Native Hawaiian (Daniel Akaka, D-HI) and 1 African American, Roland Burris (D-IL). The average age of senators in 2007 was 62 years. The oldest senator was Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), born January 23, 1924. The youngest senator was Carte Goodwin (D-WV), born February 27, 1974. The median age of all Americans was 38 years.
Religious demographics
The top five religious affiliations in the 111th Congress were Roman Catholic (30.1%), Baptist (12.4%), Methodist (10.7%), Jewish (8.4%), and Presbyterian (8.1%). Protestant denominations have held a large majority throughout congressional history, reflecting American's traditional demographics. In the 111th Congress, 54.7% of seats were held by members of Protestant denominations.
45 Jews served in the 111th Congress. Eleven representatives and six senators were Mormons. Senator Olympia Snowe, as well as Representatives John Sarbanes, Zack Space, Gus Bilirakis, Dina Titus, Niki Tsongas and Melissa Bean are Eastern Orthodox Christians.
In 2007, Keith Ellison of Minnesota became the first practicing Muslim to become a member of the United States Congress. He was joined by André Carson of Indiana following a special election on March 11, 2008. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Hank Johnson of Georgia became the first 2 Buddhists to be elected to the United States Congress on November 7, 2006. Johnson is a member of the Soka Gakkai movement and Hirono is a member of the Jodo Shinshu sect, although she is non-practicing. Both are Japanese Buddhist oriented.
Senator Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Representatives Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) and Pete Stark (D-CA) were the only Unitarian Universalists that served in the 111th Congress. In a response to a survey from the Secular Coalition for America, Rep. Pete Stark became the only open atheist in the history of Congress. 1 member of the 111th Congress was a Quaker, Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ).
Nine members of the 111th Congress were categorized Not Given / Unspecified / Unavailable / Don't Know.
Hawaii was the only state that held a majority non-Christian House delegation; both representatives Mazie Hirono and Colleen Hanabusa are Buddhists.
Sexual orientation
There were six openly lesbian, gay, or bisexual members in the history of Congress. Gerry Studds (elected in 1972) became the first openly gay man to serve in congress when he publicly announced his sexuality in 1982. Barney Frank (serving since 1981) first spoke publicly about his sexual orientation in 1987. Steve Gunderson, elected in 1980 and outed in 1994, and Jim Kolbe, elected in 1984 and outed in 1996, are 2 other previous members of Congress who were openly gay. Current Senator Tammy Baldwin is the first and so far the only open lesbian to win election to Congress. In 1998, she became the first ever openly gay person to win election to Congress as a non-incumbent. She went on to become the first openly gay person to win election to the U.S. Senate in 2012. Former California representative Michael Huffington is bisexual, but did not come out until after his term had ended. Jared Polis (who was elected in 2008 and assumed office on January 6, 2009) is the first openly gay man to have been elected to the House as a freshman. Republican representative Mark Foley's homosexuality was well known in his district, though he did not serve openly in Congress and did not come out publicly until after his term ended.