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Diversity in Congress: Democrats have women and minorities, Republicans have white men over 55?
Shortly after Donald Trump was elected president and again after his inauguration, it was reported that the 115th Congress, which was seated in January 2017, is the most racially diverse in history.
So we wondered if U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan was correct when he painted a different picture in Metro Weekly, a Washington, D.C. publication that serves the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning) community.
Asked in the April 7, 2017 article whether "underrepresented groups, either minorities or women or LGBTQ people," will get more politically active, Pocan said he hoped so.
The Wisconsin Democrat also recited a quote he attributed to the late Ann Richards, a Democrat who was the governor of Texas before George W. Bush: "If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re likely on the menu." And then he said:
When you look at the floor of Congress, it’s especially telling. On the Democratic side of the room, you’ve got men and women of all different races. On the other side, you’ve got a bunch of white men in dark suits, all over 55 or so. It’s such a contrast. That’s not representative of the country. We really need to get people making sure that everyone has a voice.
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What we found is Pocan is largely on target, in that Democrats are more diverse, although there are more than older white men among Republicans.
Gender diversity
We’ll tackle Pocan’s claim in three parts. We base our analysis primarily on a March 2017 report on the current makeup of the House and Senate by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, which provides policy and legal analysis for Congress. Taking into account vacancies and independents, it lists 289 Republicans and 239 Democrats among the 535 voting members of the two chambers.
The first part of Pocan’s claim is about women. The report shows that Democrats, even though they are outnumbered by Republicans, have three times more women in the two chambers.
Democratic women
Republican women
78
26
Racial diversity
The contrast is even greater for racial diversity. Democrats have nearly six times more minority members than the Republicans.
Minority*
Democrats
Republicans
African-American
48
3
Hispanic/Latino
30
13
Asian/Indian/Pacific Islander
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16
0
Total
94
16
The 94 Democrats who are minorities comprise 39 percent of all Democrats in Congress. That’s as representative as the 38 percent of the U.S. population that is nonwhite Hispanic and other racial minorities. The 16 minority Republicans represent only 5.5 percent of all GOP members.
White men over 55
The Congressional Research Service report does not provide a breakdown to check the third part of Pocan’s claim -- that Republicans in Congress are dominated by white men over age 55.
But LegiStorm, a company that researches Congress, provides a close approximation. Its data shows that two-thirds of the Republican members of Congress (compared to about 40 percent of Democrats) are white males age 50 and over.
Two parting notes from analyses done by the nonprofit Pew Research Center, which show women and minorities making gains in Congress as a whole:
-
Gender: The share of women in Congress has reached an all-time high: Women now hold 104 seats, or 19 percent.
-
Race: Congress remains disproportionately white when compared with the U.S. population, but is becoming more representative: Minorities account for 20 of 59 (34 percent) of the new members elected in November 2016.
Our rating
Pocan said: In Congress, "on the Democratic side of the room, you’ve got men and women of all different races; on the other side, you’ve got a bunch of white men in dark suits, all over 55 or so."
Democrats have several times more women and several times more minorities than Republicans do in the House and Senate combined. And older white males are much more predominant among Republicans. At the same time, fully one-third of GOP members are not while males over 50.
For a statement that is accurate but needs additional information, our rating is Mostly True.
Read About Our Process
Our Sources
Metro Weekly, "Congressional Wisdom: An interview with Wisconsin Representative Mark Pocan," April 7, 2017
Email, Mark Pocan communications director David Kolovson, April 20, 2017
The Hill, "115th Congress will be most racially diverse in history," Nov. 17, 2016
Pew Research Center, "115th Congress sets new high for racial, ethnic diversity," Jan. 24, 2017
Pew Research Center, "The changing face of Congress in 5 charts," Feb. 2, 2017
DiversityInc, "The 115th Congress Not a Model for Diversity," Jan. 4, 2017
Congressional Research Service, "Membership of the 115th Congress: A Profile," March 13, 2017
U.S. News & World Report, "The 115th Congress by Party, Race, Gender and Religion," Jan. 5, 2017," Jan. 5, 2017
LegiStorm, "The 115th Congress by the numbers," accessed April 25, 2017
Roll Call, "Party Diversity Gap to Remain in 115th," Nov. 17, 2016
U.S. Census, "QuickFacts," accessed April 27, 2017
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