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New Americans in State Legislatures Table of Contents STATE OF REPRE SENTA 20 TION20 NEW AMERICANS IN STATE LEGISLATURES TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 Key Findings 5 Recommendations 6 INTRODUCTION 7 NATIONAL PORTRAIT OF NEW AMERICAN STATE LEGISLATORS 8 STATE-LEVEL ANALYSIS OF NEW AMERICAN LEGISLATORS 8 Absence of Representation 9 Parity of Representation: New American Voters and Citizen Voting Age Population 12 A CLOSER LOOK AT THREE STATES: ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA AND NEW YORK 14 WHO ARE THE NEW AMERICAN LEGISLATORS? 15 Racial and Ethnic Breakdown > Asian Pacific Islander Americans > Black New Americans > Latinx > Middle East/North African New Americans 18 New American Women 18 Partisanship and New Americans 19 MOVING FORWARD 21 APPENDIX 24 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 25 REFERENCES New American Leaders | State of Representation 2020 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The importance of who holds the power in state capitals has never been more pronounced than in 2020, in the midst of the current COVID-19 pandemic and the calls for urgent action to address police brutality. The recent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Tony McDade, Nina Pop and Breonna Taylor have sparked national mobilization to hold police accountable and address the disproportionate number of deaths of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement. Civil uprisings have spread across cities, and calls for systemic change have become a national rallying cry. This popular call for change and recognition that Black lives matter are occurring at the same time that immigrants and people of color, who are frontline workers in the healthcare industry and food supply chain, have been disproportionately affected by job loss, illness and death. COVID-19 has deepened the existing economic and healthcare divide and further emphasized that political choices at the state level play a pivotal role in protecting residents. State-level policymakers play a vital role in addressing criminal justice reform, creating police reform legislation and controlling budgets that influence the way cities and county-level law enforcement are funded. More broadly, they help ensure that the voices of all constituents are heard, and the needs of all communities are met equitably. State of Representation 2020 presents new findings on the current composition of state legislatures in the United States. The data identifies which states have the largest disparities in representation as well as specific groups of New Americans who are particularly underrepresented in state legislatures. This is the first survey, to our knowledge, that sought to identify Black state legislators with immigrant origins from the Caribbean, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and non-white New American state legislators from the Middle East and North Africa. New American Leaders | State of Representation 2020 3 KEY FINDINGS 46/50 3.5% 25.7% New American legislators Of the 7,383 legislative seats First- and second-generation are underrepresented in in U.S. state legislatures, New Americans make up 25.7 percent 46 of the 50 states. Americans hold only 258, or 3.5 of the American population.1 percent of seats. We measured legislative parity by > 13.7 percent of the American comparing the state’s naturalized > 1.5 percent of state population (44.8 million individuals) citizen voting age population to legislators in the U.S. are are first-generation Americans. the percentage of New American first-generation Americans. legislators in office. By focusing only > 12 percent of the American on first-generation immigrants, the > 2 percent of state legislators population (40 million individuals) number of New American voters in in the U.S. are second- are second-generation Americans. the state is underestimated, offering generation Americans. a conservative measure as a baseline. The most concerning states are Connecticut and New Jersey. > Naturalized citizens make up 0 9.2% 17.8 percent of New Jersey’s The following nine states­­—Arkansas, First-generation immigrants who voting age population, but only Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, are naturalized citizens comprise 3 percent of the state legislature Montana, North Dakota, South 9.2 percent of the national citizen are New Americans. Carolina and South Dakota—have voting age population, meaning no New American state legislators. Americans age 18 and over.2 > 10 percent of Connecticut’s voting age population are naturalized citizens, but only 1 percent of their state legislature is composed of New Americans. 1 Pew Research Center, 2019. 2 This statistic is drawn from the U.S. Census IPUMS data; further information can be found within the appendix. Citizen voting age population (CVAP) refers to individuals within the American population who are eligible to vote. The CVAP is utilized as a metric to assess whether there is equality of representation for minorities, particularly when it comes to legislative redistricting. New American Leaders | State of Representation 2020 4 KEY FINDINGS 36% 0.5% New Americans who are Asian Black New Americans are Pacific Islanders (API) have a underrepresented and account for 0.5 notable gender imbalance. percent of all U.S. state legislators. > Of the 84 API New Americans > Of the 258 New Americans, in state office, only 30, or 36 39, or 15.11%, are Black. percent, of API New American The overwhelming majority of New legislators are women. > Black Americans from the American legislators are affiliated Caribbean make up 25 of the 258 with the Democratic party. New American state legislators. One is an Independent, 27 are Republican > New Americans from Sub- and 230 state legislators are Democrats. Saharan Africa are drastically 6.2% underrepresented. Only eight New Individuals who have origins in the Americans from Sub-Saharan Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Africa are state legislators. are not accounted for in national state legislature analyses. This report offers one of the first inclusions of MENA populations in studies on state legislators. > Of the 258 New Americans, 16 state legislators (6.2 percent) are MENA. RECOMMENDATIONS Findings from this report indicate that funders and democracy building groups must continue to invest in states that vote Democratic in federal elections but poorly reflect the diversity of their states’ residents in state legislatures (e.g., Massachusetts). In addition, targeted investment is needed to address the gender gap in representation among API legislators and the inadequate representation of Black and MENA immigrants nationally. New American Leaders | State of Representation 2020 5 INTRODUCTION One of the healthiest tests of the democratic process is whether the voices and involvement of all Americans are equitably represented in the legislative process. Despite historic gains in the 2018 elections, in which prominent women of color were elected to Congress, our country’s leaders are overwhelmingly white and male. This persists across all levels of office in the United States and calls for attention and investment by those committed to building an inclusive democracy in which every American is represented. The position of state legislator is rarely legislatures. Identifying which states are Middle East and North Africa (MENA). associated with glamour and fame. moving toward equitable representation, Among Black immigrants, we include Voters might be more familiar with their and which states are falling behind, is New Americans who identify racially as governor or Congress member, but fundamental to providing solutions to Black, including individuals from the they often do not recognize the names closing this gap. This report presents the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin or faces of their state representatives. findings of new data that New American America and Europe. In fact, these decision-makers play Leaders collected, identifying which of critical roles in setting policy that the 7,383 state legislators in the U.S. are In evaluating representation of New affects voters’ everyday lives, perhaps first- or second-generation immigrants.3 Americans, we look not just at the more so than Congress. By allocating overall population of first- and second- resources, holding localities accountable In this report, we refer to first-generation generation immigrants, but also at the and setting legal norms, state decision- New Americans as those who were naturalized citizen voting age population. makers are vital in building safe and born outside of the United States, and The report aims to identify trends in inclusive communities. second-generation as those born to representation generally, and among immigrant parents in the U.S. We also specific subgroups of New Americans by First- and second-generation immigrants explore the representation of rapidly gender, race and ethnicity. We conclude who are American citizens make up growing and emerging immigrant groups with recommendations for investment an important part of the American not previously documented in surveys in closing the representation gap to population and voting bloc. This report is of representation, specifically Black ensure a more representative and a portrait of their representation in state immigrants and those who are from the reflective democracy. 3 Full methodology can be found in the appendix. New American Leaders | State of Representation 2020 6 NATIONAL PORTRAIT OF NEW AMERICAN STATE LEGISLATORS There are 7,383 state legislators across the United States. This number includes legislators in both the lower and upper houses of each state legislature. As Table 1 highlights, the overwhelming majority of legislators
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