Today, the 4th edition of the lifetime vote ratings of all members of Congress. Today, it's the conservative end of the House of Representatives. Again, my methodology: to get an idea of the ideological balance of Congress, I take the yearly vote ratings from two organzations: one liberal (Americans for Democratic Action, or the ADA) and one conservative (the American Conservative Union, or the ACU). I use these two for the sake of historical comparison: the ADA has taken vote ratings since the late 40s, and the ACU since 1971. That way, I can compare the ideology of today's members of Congress against those from past decades, all evaluated using the same rating methodology. It's also a good way to compare how a current member of Congress voted 2-3 decades ago vs. today.
I average the ratings from the ADA & ACU to come up with what I think is an appropriate average number of where a Senator or Representative is on a scale of 0-100, 0 being most conservative, 100 most liberal. These are lifetime ratings, updated with votes from 2007.
Here's where I got my figures:
ADA
ACU
You may ask why I don't incorporate other ratings, especially the well-known National Journal ratings. For one, it takes A LOT of time to do these averages; I'd include more ratings if I got paid to do it! Second, the National Journal ratings go back to the 1990s, so they're not as historically viable as the ADA & ACU (and, they seem to go behind a subscription firewall after awhile, so for non-subscription folks like me, they're somewhat inaccessible). Third, they seem to spread every members ratings evenly on a scale of 1-100; whereas the ADA & ACU determine simply how liberal or conservative a member is...thus, producing a more accurate view of where on the ideological scale a member of Congress is.
I'm splitting the House into 3 diaries. I published the liberal and moderate sections of the House the previous 2 days.
Also, this is not an absolute view of Congressional ideology: we are at the whims of what the ADA & ACU consider to be important votes.
Some points:
- Some Republicans on the conservative end had some remarkably moderate voting records, now with the Democrats in control of the House. Look at the following:
Member...Lifetime Rating...2007 Rating:
Emerson--14.3--45
Fossella--14--35
W. Jones--19.7--39.5
Bill Young--11.1--29
Heather Wilson--20--37.5
Mario Diaz-Balart--15.1--32.5
Porter--16.9--33
Renzi--16.1--31.5
Pryce--17.8--32.5
Don Young--18--32.5
Simpson--10--24
Candice Miller--15.3--29
Peter King--19.3--31
Brown-Waite--13--24
Like I mentioned in yesterday's diary about the moderate region of the House, some of this may be caused by bills that Democratic leadership brought up in 2007 that were never considered in previous years; some of it also may be Republicans trying to protect their electoral chances.
- Notice all the freshmen with a score of 0. That likely won't last beyond this year. Like the freshmen Democrats with a score of 100, this is the result of only 1 year of ratings. When these Representatives have more years, they'll almost certainly score a bit higher. Again, the odds of consistently scoring a perfect 100 or 0 in both the ADA & ACU year after year are very long.
By the way, here are the last two House diaries and the previous day's Senate diary:
House: The Moderates
House: The Liberals
Senate ratings
Here they are, members with a score 20 and under:
Heather Wilson (R-NM)--20
Walter Jones (R-NC)--19.7
Brian Bilbray (R-CA)--19.4
Peter King (R-NY)--19.3
Don Young (R-AK)--18
Deborah Pryce (R-OH)--17.8
Timothy Murphy (R-PA)--17.4
Jon Porter (R-NV)--16.9
Rick Renzi (R-AZ)--16.1
Greg Walden (R-OR)--15.9
Frank Wolf (R-VA)--15.9
Randy Kuhl (R-NY)--15.5
*Ralph Hall (D/R-TX)--15.4
Candice Miller (R-MI)--15.3
Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)--15.1
Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)--14.3
John Duncan (R-TN)--14.2
Vito Fossella (R-NY)--14
Thad McCotter (R-MI)--14
***Paul Gillmor (R-OH)--13.8
David Hobson (R-OH)--13.5
Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)--13
Michael Turner (R-OH)--12.5
James Sensenbrenner (R-WI)--12.4
Michael Rogers (R-AL)--12.3
**Rodney Alexander (R-LA)--12.1
Robert Inglis (R-SC)--12.1
Harold Rogers (R-KY)--11.9
*Virgil Goode (D/I/R-VA)--11.8
Connie Mack, IV (R-FL)--11.8
Jerry Lewis (R-CA)--11.8
Bill Young (R-FL)--11.1
Jerry Weller (R-IL)--10.8
John Shimkus (R-IL)--10.8
Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)--10.2
***Jo Ann Davis (R-VA)--10.2
Michael Simpson (R-ID)--10
Jerry Moran (R-KS)--10
Kenny Hulshof (R-MO)--10
Tom Latham (R-IA)--9.9
Howard Coble (R-NC)--9.6
Dean Heller (R-NV)--9.5
Dave Camp (R-MI)--9.4
Robin Hayes (R-NC)--9.1
Tom Reynolds (R-NY)--9.1
**Virgil Goode (R-VA)--9
Zach Wamp (R-TN)--8.9
Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)--8.9
Robert Aderholt (R-AL)--8.8
Elton Gallegly (R-CA)--8.8
Kay Granger (R-TX)--8.7
Darrell Issa (R-CA)--8.6
**Ralph Hall (R-TX)--8.6
Ed Whitfield (R-KY)--8.5
Joe Knollenberg (R-MI)--8.2
Dennis Rehberg (R-MT)--8.1
Mark Souder (R-IN)--8
*Nathan Deal (D/R-GA)--7.9
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)--7.9
Jean Schmidt (R-OH)--7.9
Geoff Davis (R-KY)--7.8
Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD)--7.7
Jeff Flake (R-AZ)--7.6
Thelma Drake (R-VA)--7.5
Michael McCaul (R-TX)--7.5
Patrick Tiberi (R-OH)--7.5
Paul Ryan (R-WI)--7.4
Jim McCrery (R-LA)--7.3
Charles Boustany (R-LA)--7.3
Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)--7.3
Sam Graves (R-MO)--7.2
Ted Poe (R-TX)--7.2
John Peterson (R-PA)--7.1
Peter Roskam (R-IL)--7
Adrian Smith (R-NE)--7
Michael Rogers (R-MI)--6.8
Lee Terry (R-NE)--6.8
Ander Crenshaw (R-FL)--6.7
John Boozman (R-AR)--6.7
David Dreier (R-CA)--6.6
Duncan Hunter (R-CA)--6.5
John Shadegg (R-AZ)--6.5
Steve Buyer (R-IN)--6.4
Cliff Stearns (R-FL)--6.4
Howard McKeon (R-CA)--6.4
Jo Bonner (R-AL)--6.2
Ken Calvert (R-CA)--6.2
Lamar Smith (R-TX)--6.1
Randy Forbes (R-VA)--6
Dan Lungren (R-CA)--5.9
Devin Nunes (R-CA)--5.9
Spencer Bachus (R-AL)--5.8
Michael Burgess (R-TX)--5.8
Jeff Miller (R-FL)--5.7
**Nathan Deal (R-GA)--5.7
Mike Conaway (R-TX)--5.7
Adam Putnam (R-FL)--5.6
Rob Bishop (R-UT)--5.6
Joe Barton (R-TX)--5.6
Bill Shuster (R-PA)--5.6
Joe Wilson (R-SC)--5.6
Ric Keller (R-FL)--5.4
Chip Pickering (R-MS)--5.4
Ron Lewis (R-KY)--5.3
Tom Tancredo (R-CO)--5.2
Kenny Marchant (R-TX)--5
John Campbell (R-CA)--5
Roy Blunt (R-MO)--5
John Mica (R-FL)--5
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)--4.9
Henry Brown (R-SC)--4.9
***Roger Wicker (R-MS)--4.8
Steve Chabot (R-OH)--4.8
Dan Burton (R-IN)--4.7
Tom Cole (R-OK)--4.7
Richard Baker (R-LA)--4.6
John Doolittle (R-CA)--4.5
Scott Garrett (R-NJ)--4.5
Dave Weldon (R-FL)--4.3
Steve Pearce (R-NM)--4.3
Donald Manzullo (R-IL)--4.2
Sue Myrick (R-NC)--4.2
Steve King (R-IA)--4.2
***Dennis Hastert (R-IL)--4.2
Todd Tiahrt (R-KS)--4.2
John Boehner (R-OH)--4.1
Terry Everett (R-AL)--4.8
Ed Royce (R-CA)--4.1
Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)--4.1
Kevin Brady (R-TX)--4
Frank Lucas (R-OK)--4
Tom Price (R-GA)--3.9
Jack Kingston (R-GA)--3.9
Phil Gingrey (R-GA)--3.9
Mac Thornberry (R-TX)--3.9
Chris Cannon (R-UT)--3.8
Louie Gohmert (R-TX)--3.8
Patrick McHenry (R-NC)--3.8
John Kline (R-MN)--3.8
Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA)--3.7
John Carter (R-TX)--3.7
John Culberson (R-TX)--3.7
George Radanovich (R-CA)--3.7
Doc Hastings (R-WA)--3.6
Wally Herger (R-CA)--3.4
Trent Franks (R-AZ)--3.3
Tom Feeney (R-FL)--3.2
John Linder (R-GA)--3.1
John Sullivan (R-OK)--3
Gresham Barrett (R-SC)--2.8
Mike Pence (R-IN)--2.8
Barbara Cubin (R-WY)--2.7
Joseph Pitts (R-PA)--2.7
Gary Miller (R-CA)--2.6
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)--2.5
Mary Fallin (R-OK)--2.5
David Davis (R-TN)--2.5
Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)--2.4
Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)--2.3
Virginia Foxx (R-NC)--2.3
Eric Cantor (R-VA)--2.3
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)--2.2
Pete Sessions (R-TX)--2.1
Sam Johnson (R-TX)--2
Todd Akin (R-MO)--2
Doug Lamborn (R-CO)--0
Paul Broun (R-GA)--0
Bill Sali (R-ID)--0
Tim Walberg (R-MI)--0
Michele Bachmann (R-MN)--0
Jim Jordan (R-OH)--0
*: Lifetime scores including their years as a Democrat
**: Lifetime scores including only their years as a Republican
***: Members of the House who died/left office in 2007