What’s the difference in a Congressman, a Representative, and a Senator?
Congressman or Congresswoman and Representative refer to any of the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. These members represent individual districts within their state. Depending on the population, states have anywhere from 1 (Vermont) to 55 (California) congressional districts and “representatives” of those districts. Senator refers to any of the 100 members of the U.S. Senate. There are two Senators for each state, regardless of population, and they represent their entire state. Another difference is that Senators are elected to serve 6 year terms and Representatives, 2 year terms, unless reelected for additional terms. Also see Congressional Tutorial (Quick Refresher) on this web site on the page titled, “How-To” Guides and Samples.
