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Special Interest Groups

Interest Group Ratings

Rating Group: Children's Defense Fund

1996 Positions

State Office District Name Party Rating
AK U.S. House At-Large Don Young Republican 7%
AL U.S. Senate Sr Richard Shelby Republican 20%
AL U.S. House 6 Spencer Bachus Republican 7%
AZ U.S. Senate Sr John McCain III Republican 13%
AZ U.S. Senate Jr Jon Kyl Republican 13%
AZ U.S. House 4 Edward Pastor Democratic 100%
CA U.S. Senate Sr Dianne Feinstein Democratic 100%
CA U.S. Senate Jr Barbara Boxer Democratic 100%
CA U.S. House 2 Wally Herger, Jr. Republican 0%
CA U.S. House 6 Lynn Woolsey Democratic 100%
CA U.S. House 7 George Miller Democratic 79%
CA U.S. House 8 Nancy Pelosi Democratic 100%
CA U.S. House 13 Pete Stark Democratic 86%
CA U.S. House 14 Anna Eshoo Democratic 86%
CA U.S. House 16 Zoe Lofgren Democratic 93%
CA U.S. House 17 Sam Farr Democratic 93%
CA U.S. House 24 Elton Gallegly Republican 0%
CA U.S. House 25 Buck McKeon Republican 0%
CA U.S. House 26 David Dreier Republican 0%
CA U.S. House 28 Howard Berman Democratic 86%
CA U.S. House 30 Henry Waxman Democratic 93%
CA U.S. House 31 Xavier Becerra Democratic 93%
CA U.S. House 34 Lucille Roybal-Allard Democratic 100%
CA U.S. House 35 Maxine Waters Democratic 86%
CA U.S. House 40 Ed Royce Republican 0%
CA U.S. House 41 Jerry Lewis Republican 14%
CA U.S. House 44 Ken Calvert Republican 0%
CA U.S. House 46 Dana Rohrabacher Republican 0%
CA U.S. House 50 Brian Bilbray Republican 29%
CA U.S. House 51 Bob Filner Democratic 100%
CT U.S. Senate Sr Joe Lieberman Independent Democrat 80%
CT U.S. House 3 Rosa DeLauro Democratic 93%
FL U.S. House 3 Corrine Brown Democratic 93%
FL U.S. House 6 Cliff Stearns Republican 0%
FL U.S. House 7 John Mica Republican 0%
FL U.S. House 10 Bill Young Republican 14%
FL U.S. House 18 Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Republican 36%
FL U.S. House 23 Alcee Hastings, Sr. Democratic 86%
FL Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Charles Canady 14%
GA U.S. Senate Sr Saxby Chambliss Republican 0%
GA U.S. House 1 Jack Kingston Republican 0%
GA U.S. House 2 Sanford Bishop, Jr. Democratic 71%
GA U.S. House 5 John Lewis Democratic 100%
GA Governor Nathan Deal Republican 7%
HI U.S. Senate Sr Daniel Inouye Democratic 87%
HI U.S. Senate Jr Daniel Akaka, Sr. Democratic 100%
HI Governor Neil Abercrombie Democratic 93%
IA U.S. Senate Sr Chuck Grassley Republican 20%
IA U.S. Senate Jr Tom Harkin Democratic 80%
IA U.S. House 4 Tom Latham Republican 0%
ID U.S. Senate Sr Mike Crapo Republican 0%
IL U.S. Senate Sr Dick Durbin Democratic 79%
IL U.S. House 1 Bobby Rush Democratic 93%
IL U.S. House 2 Jesse Jackson, Jr. Democratic 100%
IL U.S. House 4 Luis Gutierrez Democratic 100%
IL U.S. House 12 Jerry Costello Democratic 71%
IL U.S. House 16 Don Manzullo Republican 0%
IN U.S. Senate Sr Dick Lugar Republican 20%
IN U.S. Senate Jr Daniel Coats Republican 13%
IN U.S. House 1 Pete Visclosky Democratic 79%
IN U.S. House 5 Dan Burton Republican 0%
KS U.S. Senate Sr Pat Roberts Republican 14%
KS Governor Sam Brownback Republican 0%
KY U.S. Senate Sr Mitch McConnell Republican 20%
KY U.S. House 1 Ed Whitfield Republican 7%
KY U.S. House 5 Hal Rogers Republican 7%
MA U.S. Senate Sr John Kerry Democratic 87%
MA U.S. House 1 John Olver Democratic 100%
MA U.S. House 2 Richard Neal Democratic 71%
MA U.S. House 4 Barney Frank Democratic 100%
MA U.S. House 7 Ed Markey Democratic 100%
MD U.S. Senate Sr Barbara Mikulski Democratic 93%
MD U.S. Senate Jr Ben Cardin Democratic 71%
MD U.S. House 5 Steny Hoyer Democratic 79%
MD U.S. House 6 Roscoe Bartlett Republican 0%
MD U.S. House 7 Elijah Cummings Democratic 100%
ME U.S. Senate Sr Olympia Snowe Republican 47%
MI U.S. Senate Sr Carl Levin Democratic 87%
MI U.S. House 4 Dave Camp Republican 7%
MI U.S. House 5 Dale Kildee Democratic 93%
MI U.S. House 6 Fred Upton Republican 14%
MI U.S. House 12 Sandy Levin Democratic 86%
MI U.S. House 14 John Conyers, Jr. Democratic 100%
MI U.S. House 15 John Dingell Democratic 86%
MN U.S. House 7 Collin Peterson Democratic/Farmer/Labor 50%
MS U.S. Senate Sr Thad Cochran Republican 20%
MS U.S. Senate Jr Roger Wicker Republican 0%
MS U.S. House 2 Bennie Thompson Democratic 93%
MT U.S. Senate Sr Max Baucus Democratic 80%
NA Vice President Joe Biden, Jr. Democratic 73%
NA U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood Republican 14%
NC U.S. Senate Sr Richard Burr Republican 0%
NC U.S. House 3 Walter Jones, Jr. Republican 0%
NC U.S. House 6 Howard Coble Republican 0%
NC U.S. House 9 Sue Myrick Republican 0%
NC U.S. House 12 Mel Watt Democratic 100%
ND U.S. Senate Sr Kent Conrad Democratic-NPL 87%
NH U.S. House 2 Charlie Bass Republican 0%
NJ U.S. Senate Sr Frank Lautenberg Democratic 100%
NJ U.S. Senate Jr Bob Menendez Democratic 93%
NJ U.S. House 1 Rob Andrews Democratic 79%
NJ U.S. House 2 Frank LoBiondo Republican 21%
NJ U.S. House 4 Chris Smith Republican 21%
NJ U.S. House 6 Frank Pallone, Jr. Democratic 86%
NJ U.S. House 11 Rodney Frelinghuysen Republican 21%
NM U.S. Senate Sr Jeff Bingaman Democratic 93%
NV U.S. Senate Sr Harry Reid Democratic 87%
NY U.S. Senate Sr Chuck Schumer Democratic 79%
NY U.S. House 3 Pete King Republican 14%
NY U.S. House 5 Gary Ackerman Democratic 86%
NY U.S. House 8 Jerry Nadler Democratic 86%
NY U.S. House 10 Ed Towns Democratic 93%
NY U.S. House 12 Nydia Velázquez Democratic 93%
NY U.S. House 14 Carolyn Maloney Democratic 93%
NY U.S. House 15 Charlie Rangel Democratic 100%
NY U.S. House 16 José Serrano Democratic 100%
NY U.S. House 17 Eliot Engel Democratic 100%
NY U.S. House 18 Nita Lowey Democratic 86%
NY U.S. House 22 Maurice Hinchey Democratic 93%
NY U.S. House 28 Louise Slaughter Democratic 93%
OH U.S. Senate Sr Sherrod Brown Democratic 100%
OH U.S. Senate Jr Rob Portman Republican 0%
OH U.S. House 1 Steve Chabot Republican 0%
OH U.S. House 8 John Boehner Republican 0%
OH U.S. House 9 Marcy Kaptur Democratic 79%
OH U.S. House 14 Steve LaTourette Republican 14%
OH Governor John Kasich Republican 7%
OH State Senate 28 Thomas Sawyer Democratic 79%
OH Attorney General Michael DeWine Republican 20%
OK U.S. Senate Sr Jim Inhofe Republican 13%
OK U.S. Senate Jr Thomas Coburn Republican 7%
OK U.S. House 3 Frank Lucas Republican 0%
OR U.S. Senate Sr Ron Wyden Democratic 87%
OR U.S. House 3 Earl Blumenauer Democratic 86%
OR U.S. House 4 Peter DeFazio Democratic 93%
PA U.S. House 2 Chaka Fattah, Sr. Democratic 100%
PA U.S. House 14 Mike Doyle, Jr. Democratic 71%
PA U.S. House 17 Thomas Holden Democratic 64%
RI U.S. Senate Sr Jack Reed Democratic 86%
SC U.S. Senate Sr Lindsey Graham Republican 0%
SC U.S. House 6 Jim Clyburn Democratic 93%
SD U.S. Senate Sr Timothy Johnson Democratic 57%
TN U.S. House 2 John Duncan, Jr. Republican 29%
TX U.S. Senate Sr Kay Hutchison Republican 20%
TX U.S. House 3 Sam Johnson Republican 0%
TX U.S. House 4 Ralph Hall Republican 14%
TX U.S. House 6 Joe Barton Republican 7%
TX U.S. House 13 Mac Thornberry Republican 0%
TX U.S. House 18 Sheila Jackson Lee Democratic 93%
TX U.S. House 21 Lamar Smith Republican 0%
TX U.S. House 25 Lloyd Doggett Democratic 79%
TX U.S. House 29 Gene Green Democratic 79%
TX U.S. House 30 Eddie Johnson Democratic 93%
UT U.S. Senate Sr Orrin Hatch Republican 20%
VA U.S. House 3 Bobby Scott Democratic 100%
VA U.S. House 6 Bob Goodlatte Republican 0%
VA U.S. House 8 Jim Moran, Jr. Democratic 79%
VA U.S. House 10 Frank Wolf Republican 0%
VT U.S. Senate Sr Patrick Leahy Democratic 100%
VT U.S. Senate Jr Bernie Sanders Independent 100%
WA U.S. Senate Sr Patty Murray Democratic 100%
WA U.S. House 4 Richard Hastings Republican 0%
WA U.S. House 6 Norm Dicks Democratic 79%
WA U.S. House 7 Jim McDermott Democratic 100%
WI U.S. Senate Sr Herb Kohl Democratic 73%
WI U.S. House 5 Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr. Republican 0%
WI U.S. House 6 Tom Petri Republican 0%
WI Mayor At-Large Tom Barrett Democratic 100%
WV U.S. Senate Sr Jay Rockefeller IV Democratic 80%
WV U.S. House 3 Nick Rahall II Democratic 86%
Edmond Spencer Abraham 20%
Wayne Allard 0%
William Archer 0%
Richard Armey 0%
John Ashcroft 13%
Henry Scott Baesler 71%
Richard Hugh Baker 0%
William Baker 9%
John Baldacci 71%
Cass Ballenger 0%
James Barcia 71%
Robert Barr, Jr. 0%
William Barrett 0%
Herbert Bateman 7%
Anthony Beilenson 100%
Bob Bennett 20%
Kenneth Bentsen, Jr. 79%
Douglas Bereuter 14%
Tom Bevill 91%
Michael Bilirakis 7%
Thomas Bliley, Jr. 0%
Peter Blute 36%
Sherwood Boehlert 43%
Kit Bond 13%
Henry Bonilla 0%
David Edward Bonior 100%
Sonny Bono 7%
Robert Borski, Jr. 86%
Rick Boucher 79%
Bill Bradley 94%
Carol Moseley Braun 93%
John Breaux 67%
Bill Brewster 36%
Glen Browder 82%
George Brown, Jr. 93%
Hank Brown 6%
Richard Bryan 80%
Ed Bryant 0%
John Bryant 73%
Dale Bumpers 93%
Jim Bunn 36%
Jim Bunning 0%
Conrad Burns 20%
Steve Buyer 7%
Robert Byrd 73%
Herbert Callahan 0%
Ben Campbell 40%
Thomas Campbell 29%
Mike Castle 29%
John Chafee 33%
Jim Chapman 73%
Helen Chenoweth 0%
Jon Lynn Christensen 0%
Dick Chrysler 0%
William Clay, Sr. 86%
Eva Clayton 100%
Robert Clement 64%
William Clinger 18%
William Cohen 33%
Ronald Coleman 100%
Barbara-Rose Collins 100%
Cardiss Collins 82%
Mac Collins 0%
Larry Combest 0%
Gary Condit 43%
Wes Cooley 9%
Paul Coverdell 20%
Christopher Cox 0%
William Coyne 100%
Larry Craig 13%
Robert Cramer 57%
Philip Crane 0%
Frank Arnold Cremeans 9%
Barbara Cubin 0%
Randall Cunningham 0%
Alfonse D'Amato 27%
Patsy Ann Danner 64%
Thomas Daschle 93%
Thomas Davis III 14%
E. Kika de la Garza 91%
Thomas DeLay 0%
Ronald Dellums 100%
Peter Deutsch 57%
Lincoln Diaz-Balart 29%
Jay Dickey 0%
Julian Dixon 93%
Chris Dodd 87%
Robert Dole 11%
Pete Domenici, Jr. 20%
Calvin Dooley 71%
John Doolittle 0%
Byron Dorgan 87%
Robert Dornan 0%
Jennifer Dunn 0%
Chet Edwards 71%
Vern Ehlers 7%
Bob Ehrlich, Jr. 0%
Bill Emerson 9%
Philip English 21%
John Ensign 14%
Lane Evans 100%
Terry Everett 0%
Thomas Ewing 0%
Jim Exon 83%
Duncan McLauchlin Faircloth 20%
Harris Fawell 7%
Victor Fazio 79%
Russ Feingold 87%
Cleo Fields 82%
Jack Fields, Jr. 0%
Floyd Flake 93%
Michael Patrick Flanagan 27%
Thomas Foglietta 100%
Mark Foley 7%
Michael Patrick Forbes 14%
Harold Ford, Sr. 91%
Wendell Ford 80%
Tillie Fowler 0%
Jon David Fox 36%
Gary Franks 27%
Robert Franks 29%
Daniel Frisa 9%
William Frist 13%
Jonas Frost III 71%
David Funderburk 9%
Elizabeth Furse 79%
John Ganske 21%
Sam Gejdenson 79%
George Gekas 0%
Richard Andrew Gephardt 93%
Pete Geren 27%
Sam Gibbons 91%
Wayne Gilchrest 21%
Paul Gillmor 7%
Benjamin Gilman 57%
Newt Gingrich 0%
John Glenn 100%
Henry Gonzalez 100%
William Goodling 0%
Bart Gordon 50%
Slade Gorton 13%
Porter Goss 0%
Daniel Graham 80%
William Phillip Gramm 13%
Rodney Grams 13%
Enid Greene 9%
James Greenwood 21%
Judd Gregg 13%
Steven Gunderson 18%
Gilbert Gutknecht 0%
Tony Hall 79%
Lee Hamilton 57%
Melton Hancock 0%
James Hansen 0%
Jane Harman 64%
J. Dennis Hastert 0%
Mark Hatfield 44%
James Hayes 45%
J.D. Hayworth, Jr. 0%
Joel Hefley 0%
W.G. Hefner 71%
Fredrick Kenneth Fred' Heineman 18%
Jesse Helms 20%
Van Hilleary 14%
Earl Hilliard, Jr. 93%
David Lee Hobson 7%
Pete Hoekstra 0%
Martin Hoke 0%
Ernest Hollings 80%
Stephen Horn 14%
John Nathan Hostettler 0%
Amory Houghton, Jr. 29%
Duncan Hunter 0%
Y. Tim Hutchinson 0%
Henry Hyde 7%
Bob Inglis, Sr. 0%
Ernest Istook, Jr. 0%
Andrew Jacobs, Jr. 91%
William Jefferson 93%
James Merrill Jeffords 60%
Nancy Johnson 14%
Harry Johnston 91%
J. Bennett Johnston 83%
Paul Kanjorski 64%
Nancy Landon Kassebaum 22%
Sue Kelly 14%
Dirk Kempthorne 13%
Edward Kennedy, Sr. 93%
Joseph Kennedy II 93%
Patrick Kennedy 100%
Barbara Bailey Kennelly 79%
Bob Kerrey 87%
Jay Kim 0%
Gerald Kleczka 79%
Ronald Klink 79%
Scott Klug 14%
Joseph Knollenberg 0%
James Kolbe 7%
John LaFalce 100%
Tom Lantos 100%
Stephen Largent 0%
Greg Laughlin 18%
Rick Lazio 21%
James Leach 43%
Ron Lewis 0%
Jim Ross Lightfoot 9%
Blanche Lincoln 64%
John Linder 0%
William Lipinski 57%
Robert Livingston 0%
James Longley, Jr. 9%
Trent Lott, Sr. 20%
William Luther 86%
Connie Mack 13%
Thomas Manton 79%
Matthew Martinez 86%
Bill Martini 27%
Frank Mascara 57%
Robert Matsui 93%
Karen McCarthy 86%
Bill McCollum 0%
James McCrery III 0%
Joseph McDade 14%
Paul McHale 71%
John McHugh 21%
Scott McInnis 0%
David McIntosh 0%
Cynthia Ann McKinney 100%
Michael McNulty 93%
Martin Meehan 93%
Carrie Meek 93%
Jack Metcalf 7%
Jan Meyers 18%
Juanita Millender-McDonald 100%
Dan Miller 7%
David Minge 79%
Patsy Takemoto Mink 100%
John Moakley 79%
Susan Molinari 21%
Alan Mollohan 79%
G.V. Montgomery 18%
Carlos Moorhead 0%
Constance Morella 43%
Daniel Patrick Moynihan 100%
Frank Murkowski 20%
Jack Murtha 64%
John Myers 0%
George Nethercutt, Jr. 0%
Mark Neumann 7%
Robert William Ney 7%
Don Nickles 13%
Charles Norwood, Jr. 0%
Sam Nunn 72%
James Nussle 0%
Jim Oberstar 86%
Dave Obey 79%
Solomon Ortiz, Sr. 86%
William Orton 91%
Major Owens 100%
Michael Oxley 0%
Ronald Packard 0%
Paul Michael Parker 0%
William Paxon 0%
Donald Payne 100%
Lewis Payne, Jr. 91%
Claiborne Pell 89%
Pete Peterson 91%
Owen Pickett 50%
Richard Pombo 0%
Earl Pomeroy 86%
John Edward Porter 7%
Glenn Poshard 64%
Larry Pressler 11%
Deborah Pryce 7%
David Pryor 94%
James Quillen 0%
Jack Quinn 50%
George Radanovich 0%
James Ramstad 29%
Ralph Regula 7%
Bill Richardson 82%
Frank Duncan Riggs 7%
Lynn Nancy Rivers 86%
Charles Robb 67%
Timothy Roemer 64%
Charles Rose III 82%
Toby Roth 9%
William Roth, Jr. 13%
Marge Roukema 57%
Martin Olav Sabo 100%
Matthew Salmon 0%
Mark Sanford, Jr. 7%
Rick Santorum 20%
Paul Sarbanes 100%
H. James Saxton 14%
Joe Scarborough 0%
Daniel Schaefer 0%
Steven Schiff 21%
Patricia Schroeder 100%
Andrea Seastrand 0%
John Shadegg 0%
E. Clay Shaw, Jr. 7%
Christopher Shays 29%
E.G. Shuster 0%
Paul Simon 89%
Alan Simpson 17%
Norman Sisisky 57%
David Skaggs 86%
Joseph Skeen 0%
Ike Skelton 64%
Linda Smith 7%
Nick Smith 0%
Bob Smith 13%
Gerald B.H. Solomon 7%
Mark Souder 0%
Arlen Specter 53%
Floyd Spence 0%
John Spratt, Jr. 71%
Charles Stenholm 43%
Ted Stevens 20%
Steve Stockman 0%
Louis Stokes 71%
Gerry Studds 100%
Robert Stump 0%
Bart Stupak 71%
James Talent 0%
John Tanner 57%
Randy Tate 0%
William Tauzin 7%
Charles Taylor 0%
Gene Taylor 29%
Frank Tejeda 91%
Craig Thomas 20%
William Thomas 0%
Fred Thompson 13%
Ray Thornton 100%
Karen Thurman 71%
Strom Thurmond 20%
Todd Tiahrt 0%
Peter Torkildsen 45%
Esteban Edward Torres 93%
Robert Torricelli 64%
James Traficant, Jr. 64%
Bruce Vento 93%
Harold Volkmer 82%
Barbara Vucanovich 9%
Robert Walker 0%
James Walsh 29%
Zach Wamp 7%
Michael Ward 100%
John Warner 27%
Julius Caesar Watts, Jr. 0%
David Weldon 0%
W. Curtis Weldon 7%
Gerald Weller 14%
Paul Wellstone 100%
Rick White 7%
Pat Williams 64%
Charles Wilson 91%
Robert Wise, Jr. 71%
Albert Wynn 93%
Sidney Yates 100%
Bill Zeliff 9%
Richard Zimmer 9%

How to Interpret these Evaluations

Keep in mind that ratings done by special interest groups often do not represent a non-partisan stance. In addition, some groups select votes that tend to favor members of one political party over another, rather than choosing votes based solely on issues concerns. Nevertheless, they can be invaluable in showing where an incumbent has stood on a series of votes in the past one or two years, especially when ratings by groups on all sides of an issue are compared. Website links, if available, and descriptions of the organizations offering performance evaluations are accessible by clicking on the name of the group.

Most performance evaluations are displayed in a percentage format. However, some organizations present their ratings in the form of a letter grade or endorsement based on voting records, interviews, survey results and/or sources of campaign funding. For consistency and ease in understanding, Project Vote Smart converts all scores into a percentage when possible. Please visit the group's website or call 1-888-VOTESMART for more specific information.

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