According to CityLab only 20% of Arizona residents were born in the state. Nationally, the average number of people who live in the state where they were born is 40%. What do newcomers need to know about our state government that is different from their home state?
For starters, Arizona’s State House of Representatives is much smaller than most states. Only California, New York, Texas and Florida have more residents per representative than Arizona. Each of our 60 Legislators represents an average of 119,000 residents. In LD3, our two Republican Representatives are the voice for 225,000 residents – 112,500 each. The national average is roughly 60,000 each.
The consequence of having a populous Legislature is that the electorate consists of a more diverse array of voters to appeal to, which makes it more expensive to campaign for election. LD3 has the additional burden of being physically large.
In the other extreme is New Hampshire with 204 Legislative Districts and 400 representatives, one for every 3,400 people. Arizona high schools are bigger.
And then there’s Nebraska which doesn’t even have a House of Representatives.
Here is how your former state compares:
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