by Karl Kurtz
Twenty-nine of the 38 Michigan senators will be new members in the 2011 session, although 14 of them have previous experience in the House. That turnover rate of 76 percent in the Senate is the highest that we know of in any legislative chamber since the first half of the 20th century. The task of steering that chamber will fall to the newly elected Republican majority leader, Sen. Randy Richardville, who was first elected to the Senate in November 2006.
Many states use the term "dean" to refer to the senior member of a legislative chamber. Usually it refers to someone who has had decades of service. However, a story on the new Democratic minority leader in the Michigan Senate, Gretchen Whitmer, notes that in addition to being the first woman leader in the Senate, she is the dean of that body because she was first elected in March 2006, outranking her Republic counterpart, Sen. Richardville, by a few months.
Despite the fact that Ohio House members are limited to four two-year terms, the chamber's Republican caucus has been able to nominate a 35-year veteran of the House to serve as speaker. Rep. William Batchelder served in the Ohio House, 1969-98, leaving the House as speaker pro tem due to term limits. Because Ohio's term limits are not lifetime limits, he returned to the House after the 2006 election and will become speaker in 2011.
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