Of the 151 members of the House of the 123rd Maine Legislature, 89 are Democrats, 60 are Republicans, and two are unenrolled.

There are 45 women in the House; 33 are Democrats and 12 are Republicans.

Rep. Walter A. Wheeler, Sr., of Kittery, 81, has the distinction of being the senior member of the House, while Rep. Bryan T. Kaenrath of South Portland, 23, is the youngest.

Rep. Herbert E. Clark of Millinocket is the member with the longest service in the House, having been first elected in 1980 and re-elected in 2004. Today he begins his tenth term. Rep. H. Sawin Millett, Jr., of Waterford is the Representative who served in the earliest Legislature, having been elected to the 104th Legislature in 1968.

Five members have prior service in the State Senate. Rep. John L. Tuttle, Jr., of Sanford served in the Senate from York County in the 112th and 113th Legislatures. Rep. Anne M. Rand of Portland served in the Senate from Cumberland County in the 117th through 120th Legislatures. Rep. Sean Faircloth of Bangor served in the Senate from Penobscot County in the 117th Legislature. Rep. Peggy A. Pendleton of Scarborough served in the Senate from Cumberland County in the 118th through 121st Legislatures. Rep. Sharon Anglin Treat of Farmingdale served in the Senate from Kennebec County in the 118th through 121st Legislatures.

Of the 53 new members of the House, seven have prior service in the House. Rep. Charles R. Priest of Brunswick was a member of the House in the 112th through 114th Legislatures. Rep. Rand was a member of the House in the 113th through 116th Legislatures. Rep. Anne M. Haskell of Portland was a member of the House in the 114th through 116th Legislatures. Rep. Pendleton was a member of the House in the 114th through 116th Legislatures. Rep. Treat was a member of the House in the 115th through 117th Legislatures. Rep. Wendy Pieh of Bremen was a member of the House in the 118th and 119th Legislatures. Rep. John F. McDonough of Scarborough was a member of the House in the 119th and 120th Legislatures.

Exactly 105 members have had previous experience in the House. Rep. Clark begins his tenth term. Rep. Tuttle begins his ninth term. Representatives Herbert Adams of Portland and Henry L. Joy of Crystal begin their seventh terms. Rep. Charles D. Fisher of Brewer begins his sixth term. Representatives Millett and Rand begin their fifth term. Twenty-two members begin their fourth term today; 16 of them are beginning their fourth consecutive term and by the provisions of Maine’s term limit laws will be prohibited from running for the House in 2008. Thirty-five members begin their third term, 41 members begin their second term, and there are 46 members beginning their first term in the House, 28 Democrats and 18 Republicans. The combined experience of returning members of the House is 438 years. The average age of the members of the House is 54.4 (54.6 for men and 54.1 for women).

By way of occupation, the 123rd House of Representatives is composed of 24 educators (12 active and 12 retired) while another six are in education administration (four active and two retired). There are 11 attorneys in the House, three farmers, and eight people who work in the health care profession. Five legislators are involved in the pulp and paper industry while another two are involved in forestry. Nineteen members are businesspeople and five members are self-employed. Overall there are 33 retirees in the House, many of those members having come from the ranks of business and local, state and federal government.

Four legislators formerly served as legislative staff: Rep. Stan Gerzofsky of Brunswick served on the Senate Chamber staff; Rep. Michael E. Dunn of Bangor served on the House Chamber staff and also as a Senate Legislative Aide; Rep. Priest served as Assistant Director of Legislative Research; and Rep. Marilyn E. Canavan of Waterville served as Journal Indexer for the Senate and Library Associate in the Law Library, as well as Director of the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices.

Of the 151 members of the House, 83 were born in Maine, 27 of them in the communities they currently represent. Seventeen members were born in Massachusetts, 11 members were born in New York, two members were born in Canada, one was born in Ireland, and the rest were born in 17 other states and the District of Columbia. All have been elected to serve two-year terms.

-Prepared by the Office of the Clerk of the House