Very Progressive? Not! In the 2012 federal election Illinois Democrats took 12 of Illinois’ 18 Congressional seats. Unfortunately, the five new Dems in the Illinois Congressional delegation are “ConservaDems, who have little or no interest in a progressive agenda.
According to That’s My Congress, a site that ranks Senators and Congressman on a Liberal-Conservative spectrum according to how they actually vote, only two Illinois Congressional reps can boast of a progressive voting record this year. They are Bobby Rush (01) and Jan Schakowsky (09). Hooray for Jan and Bobby.
The site rates two others, Danny Davis (07) and Luis Gutierrez (04) “moderately liberal”. Mike Quigley (05) is ranked with the “weak liberals”.
The remaining six Illinois Congresspeople, including five new ones, are termed “mushy middle” voters. These are Democrats who vote with conservatives on issues almost as often as they vote with liberal Democrats.
Robin Kelly, Illinois' newest Congress person, was not rated because she took office recently.
See scores and rankings below.
Progressive Ranking: Illinois’ Democratic Congressional Delegation for
the 113th Congress of 2013-2014
The congressional scorecards at That’s My Congress are generated from observations of roll call voting and bill co-sponsorship behavior during the 113th Congress. The scores range from +100, representing a perfectly progressive score, to -100, representing a perfectly conservative score.
Just seven Democrats earned the highest liberal score of 88. Five of them are active PDA supporters including John Conyers, Donna Edwards, Raul Grijalva, Barbara Lee, and James McGovern
Here are the voting scores for the Illinois Delegation.
Strong Liberals (top category). The following Illinois Representatives have earned a Net Congressional Score between 70 and 100:
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL 1) Net Congressional Score: 75
Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL 9) Net Congressional Score: 70
Somewhat Liberal. The following Illinois Representatives have earned a Net Congressional Score between 40 and 69:
Senator Richard Durbin Net Congressional Score: 50
Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL 7) Net Congressional Score: 50
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL 4) Net Congressional Score: 45
Weakly Liberal. The following Representatives have earned a Net Congressional Score between 20 and 39: Just for comparison check out Nancy Pelosi.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA 12) Net Congressional Score: 28
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL 5) Net Congressional Score: 28
The Mushy Middle. The following Representatives have earned a Net Congressional Score between -19 and +19:
Rep. Bradley Schneider (IL 10) New Net Congressional Score: 15
Rep. Daniel Lipinski (IL 3) Net Congressional Score: 3
Rep. Cheri Bustos (IL 17) New Net Congressional Score: 3
Rep. William Enyart (IL 12) New Net Congressional Score: -2
Rep. Tammy Duckworth (IL 8) New Net Congressional Score: -8
Rep. Bill Foster (IL 11) New Net Congressional Score: -8
Robin Kelly (IL-02) wasn't scored because she took office in April 2013.
To see full rankings for the 113th Congress and the criteria used for making the rankings go to: That’s My Congress Website