Average Montana lawmaker

Today I came across this breakdown of the average Montana legislator.

Montana's average state legislator is a 54-year-old married man with two kids. He's likely retired or self-employed, and he attended college but not the military, according to information collected from lawmakers.

In contrast, the average Montanan is much younger, has fewer kids, never went to college and is a woman, according to Census data.

Some Democratic/Republican stereotypes are fulfilled, such as...

• Of the 28 legislators who are military veterans, only eight are Democrats.
• About a third of Democrats are single, compared with only about 7 percent of Republicans.
• The GOP averages about three kids per legislator, while the Democrats average only about 1.8.
• Women account for about 37 percent of Democratic legislators, while only 12 percent of Republicans are female.
• about half of House Democrats have been teachers or worked for the state.

Something the article doesn't mention is that the legislature is almost evenly divided (I believe the House is 50/49 Republican and the Senate is 26/24 Democrat), while the Montana population is more Republican than Democrat. Another instance where the legislature doesn't match the average Montanan.

For more details, click here.