Today is the final part, Part 4 of my averages of lifetime voting records. Today, it's the conservatives of the House of Representatives. Once again, what I've done is taken the lifetime ratings from Americans for Democratic Action and the American Conservative Union, and averaged the two. Why these two organizations? They've been analyzing congressional votes for a long time (since 1948 for the ADA, 1971 for the ACU), so there's comparative perspective amongst their rankings throughout history. Also, they're broadly conservative or liberal, as opposed to one-issue groups. Since they're perfect opposities, averaging their numbers can give a good idea of where a congressman stands ideologically. If you'd like to see the raw data from where I made my averages, and how they come up with their ratings, here are their websites:
ADA: http://adaction.org/...
ACU: http://acuratings.org/
Yesterday I posted numbers from the House moderates, the day before that, House liberals, and the day before, the Senate. In case you missed them, here they are:
House Moderates: http://www.dailykos.com/...
House Liberals: http://www.dailykos.com/...
Senate: http://www.dailykos.com/...
A couple points. First, don't puch much stock into John Campbell getting a 0. He only had a handful of votes after winning the special election to fill Christopher Cox's seat, and it just so happened to average out to 0. Like with the 3 Democratic freshmen who scored 100s, it's not a reliable number, being based on 1 year (or in this case, a partial first year). Give it a year or two, and you'll see Campbell's rating go up. After all, it is next to impossible for any Congressman to score a perfect 100 or 0 over a lifetime average.
Second, in the case of GOP Congressmen who used to be Democrats (Virgil Goode, Ralph Hall & Nathan Deal), I only counted their years as Republicans, to give a a better idea of where they stand as members of the GOP. If you counted their years as Democrats, their lifetime ratings go up by a few points, and isn't a real accurate standing of their current status.
Also, just for the fun of it, I decided to see what my lifetime ranking would be, based on how I'd probably vote on the bills watched by the ADA & ACU. I came up with a 96, which would make me a pretty solid liberal in the House. Good to know I'm as liberal as I thought I was.
So, here we go, the numbers:
-----------------------------
Ray LaHood (R-IL)--19.6
Mary Bono (R-CA)--19.1
John Sweeney (R-NY)--19
Peter King (R-NY)--18.7
Michael Ferguson (R-NJ)--18
Todd Platts (R-PA)--17.5
Don Young (R-AK)--17.3
Walter Jones (R-NC)--16.7
Heather Wilson (R-NM)--16.5
Deborah Pryce (R-OH)--16
Frank Wolf (R-VA)--15.1
William Thomas (R-CA)--14.61
John Duncan (R-TN)--14.3
Paul Gillmor (R-OH)--14.2
Greg Walden (R-OR)--13.7
David Hobson (R-OH)--13.1
Tom Osborne (R-NE)--13
Robert Inglis (R-SC)--12.9
Bob Ney (R-OH)--12.9
Jim Nussle (R-IA)--12.9
James Sensenbrenner (R-WI)--12.8
John Hostettler (R-IN)--12.7
Jon Porter (R-NV)--12.2
Clay Shaw (R-FL)--12.9
Henry Hyde (R-IL)--12.3
Harold Rogers (R-KY)--12.2
Timothy Murphy (R-PA)--12.2
Thad McCotter (R-MI)--12.2
Candice Miller (R-MI)--11.7
Michael Bilrakis (R-FL)--11.6
John Kuhl (R-NY)--11.5
Rick Renzi (R-AZ)--11.3
Jerry Lewis (R-CA)--11.2
Vito Fossella (R-NY)--11.1
Bill Young (R-FL)--10.6
John Shimkus (R-IL)--10.6
Jerry Weller (R-IL)--10.4
James Gibbons (R-NV)--10.1
Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)--9.9
Mark Green (R-WI)--9.9
Dave Camp (R-MI)--9.8
Howard Coble (R-NC)--9.7
Michael Rogers (R-AL)--9.7
Charles Boustany (R-LA)--9.5
Jo Ann Davis (R-VA)--9.5
Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)--9.5
Don Sherwood (R-PA)--9.4
Tom Latham (R-IA)--9.3
Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)--9.2
Elton Gallegly (R-CA)--9.1
Michael Turner (R-OH)--9
Kenny Hulshof (R-MO)--8.7
Richard Pombo (R-CA)--8.4
Virgil Goode (R-VA)--8.3
Anne Northup (R-KY)--8.3
Zach Wamp (R-TN)--8.5
Ralph Hall (R-TX)--8.5
Jerry Moran (R-KS)--8.5
Mark Souder (R-IN)--8.4
Thomas Reynolds (R-NY)--8.1
Kay Granger (R-TX)--8.1
Jeff Flake (R-AZ)--8
Rob Portman (R-OH)--8
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)--7.8
Jim McCrery (R-LA)--7.6
Michael Oxley (R-OH)--7.5
Michael Simpson (R-ID)--7.5
Mark Kennedy (R-MN)--7.5
Michael Rogers (R-MI)--7.5
Paul Ryan (R-WI)--7.4
Robert Aderholt (R-AL)--7.3
Joseph Knollenberg (R-MI)--7.2
John Shadegg (R-AZ)--7.1
Charles Taylor (R-NC)--7.1
Katherine Harris (R-FL)--7
Melissa Hart (R-PA)--7
Edward Whitfield (R-KY)--7
Duncan Hunter (R-CA)--6.8
Robin Hayes (R-NC)--6.6
Gil Gutknecht (R-MN)--6.63
Darrell Issa (R-CA)--6.5
C.L. Otter (R-ID)--6.5
Thelma Drake (R-VA)--6.5
Connie Mack, IV (R-FL) --6.5
Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)--6.5
Cliff Stearns (R-FL)--6.5
Lee Terry (R-NE)--6.4
Joel Hefley (R-CO)--6.4
John Peterson (R-PA)--6.4
Devin Nunes (R-CA)--6.2
Nathan Deal (R-GA)--6.1
Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD)--6.1
Howard McKeon (R-CA)--6
Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)--6
Dennis Rehberg (R-MT)--6
Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)--6
Geoff Davis (R-KY)--6
Tom Price (R-GA)--6
Jean Schmidt (R-OH)--6
Steve Buyer (R-IN)--5.8
Spencer Bachus (R-AL)--5.8
Henry Bonilla (R-TX)--5.8
David Dreier (R-CA)--5.7
William Jenkins (R-TN)--5.7
Dan Lungren (R-CA)--5.6
John Boozman (R-AR)--5.5
Patrick Tiberi (R-OH)--5.5
Sam Graves (R-MO)--5.5
Lamar Smith (R-TX)--5.5
Joe Barton (R-TX)--5.3
Ken Calvert (R-CA)--5.2
Bob Beauprez (R-CO)--5.2
John Mica (R-FL)--5.2
Thomas Tancredo (R-CO)--5.1
Duke Cunningham (R-CA)--5
Bill Shuster (R-PA)--5
Bobby Jindal (R-LA)--5
Richard Baker (R-LA)--4.9
Joe Wilson (R-SC)--4.9
Ernest Istook, Jr. (R-OK)--4.8
J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL)--4.8
Ron Lewis (R-KY)--4.7
Dan Burton (R-IN)--4.7
Roy Blunt (R-MO)--4.7
Roger Wicker (R-MS)--4.7
Jeff Miller (R-FL)--4.6
Steve King (R-IA)--4.5
Ander Crenshaw (R-FL)--4.5
Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA)--4.5
Michael McCaul (R-TX)--4.5
Adam Putnam (R-FL)--4.5
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)--4.4
Steve Chabot (R-OH)--4.4
John Carter (R-TX)--4.3
Ed Royce (R-CA)--4.3
Donald Manzullo (R-IL)--4.3
John Doolittle (R-CA)--4.2
Scott Garrett (R-NJ)--4.2
Michael Burgess (R-TX)--4.2
Chris Chocola (R-IN)--4.2
Phil Gingrey (R-GA)--4.2
John Kline (R-MN)--4.2
Sue Myrick (R-NC)--4.1
Charles Norwood (R-GA)--4
Trent Franks (R-AZ)--4
Rob Bishop (R-UT)--4
Michael Sodrel (R-IN)--4
Kenny Marchant (R-TX)--4
Ted Poe (R-TX)--4
Henry Brown (R-SC)--4
Randy Forbes (R-VA)--4
John Boehner (R-OH)--3.9
Dave Weldon (R-FL)--3.9
Chip Pickering (R-MS)--3.9
Terry Everett (R-AL)--3.8
Kevin Brady (R-TX)--3.7
Mac Thornberry (R-TX)--3.6
Frank Lucas (R-OK)--3.6
George Radanovich (R-CA)--3.4
Jack Kingston (R-GA)--3.3
Steve Pearce (R-NM)--3.3
Tom Cole (R-OK)--3.3
John Linder (R-GA)--3.2
Doc Hastings (R-WA)--3.2
Wally Herger (R-CA)--3.1
Chris Cannon (R-UT)--3.1
Christopher Cox (R-CA)--3.1
John Culberson (R-TX)--3
Tom DeLay (R-TX)--3
Todd Tiahrt (R-KS)--2.9
Barbara Cubin (R-WY)--2.9
Jo Bonner (R-AL)--2.8
J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)--2.8
Gary Miller (R-CA)--2.7
Ric Keller (R-FL)--2.5
Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)--2.5
Virginia Foxx (R-NC)--2.5
Patrick McHenry (R-NC)--2.5
Cathy McMorris (R-WA)--2.5
Jim Ryun (R-KS)--2.4
Joseph Pitts (R-PA)--2.4
Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)--2.3
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)--2.3
Gresham Barrett (R-SC)--2.2
Tom Feeney (R-FL)--2.2
John Sullivan (R-OK)--2.1
Eric Cantor (R-VA)--2
Mike Conaway (R-TX)--2
Louie Gohmert (R-TX)--2
Todd Akin (R-MO)--2
Pete Sessions (R-TX)--1.6
Sam Johnson (R-TX)--1.6
Mike Pence (R-IN)--1.5
John Campbell (R-CA)--0* (based on a handful of votes)