The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the Alabama House of Representatives, with 105 members, and the Alabama Senate, with 35 members. Historically, the Alabama Legislature has been dominated by Democrats, due to the party's suppression of black voters after Reconstruction and especially after passage of the disenfranchising constitution at the turn of the 20th century. In practice it excluded most African Americans and tens of thousands of poor whites for decades.