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Special Interest Groups

Interest Group Ratings

Rating Group: American Civil Liberties Union

1997-1998 Positions

State Office District Name Party Rating
AK U.S. House At-Large Don Young Republican 20%
AL U.S. Senate Sr Richard Shelby Republican 17%
AL U.S. Senate Jr Jeff Sessions III Republican 17%
AL U.S. House 4 Robert Aderholt Republican 6%
AL U.S. House 6 Spencer Bachus Republican 0%
AZ U.S. Senate Sr John McCain III Republican 17%
AZ U.S. Senate Jr Jon Kyl Republican 17%
AZ U.S. House 4 Edward Pastor Democratic 88%
CA U.S. Senate Sr Dianne Feinstein Democratic 83%
CA U.S. Senate Jr Barbara Boxer Democratic 83%
CA U.S. House 2 Wally Herger, Jr. Republican 6%
CA U.S. House 6 Lynn Woolsey Democratic 93%
CA U.S. House 7 George Miller Democratic 93%
CA U.S. House 8 Nancy Pelosi Democratic 94%
CA U.S. House 9 Barbara Lee Democratic 92%
CA U.S. House 13 Pete Stark Democratic 93%
CA U.S. House 14 Anna Eshoo Democratic 80%
CA U.S. House 16 Zoe Lofgren Democratic 88%
CA U.S. House 17 Sam Farr Democratic 80%
CA U.S. House 23 Lois Capps Democratic 83%
CA U.S. House 24 Elton Gallegly Republican 13%
CA U.S. House 25 Buck McKeon Republican 6%
CA U.S. House 26 David Dreier Republican 13%
CA U.S. House 27 Brad Sherman Democratic 75%
CA U.S. House 28 Howard Berman Democratic 88%
CA U.S. House 30 Henry Waxman Democratic 88%
CA U.S. House 31 Xavier Becerra Democratic 88%
CA U.S. House 34 Lucille Roybal-Allard Democratic 86%
CA U.S. House 35 Maxine Waters Democratic 93%
CA U.S. House 40 Ed Royce Republican 6%
CA U.S. House 41 Jerry Lewis Republican 31%
CA U.S. House 44 Ken Calvert Republican 13%
CA U.S. House 45 Mary Bono Mack Republican 25%
CA U.S. House 46 Dana Rohrabacher Republican 13%
CA U.S. House 47 Loretta Sanchez Democratic 69%
CA U.S. House 50 Brian Bilbray Republican 20%
CA U.S. House 51 Bob Filner Democratic 86%
CO U.S. House 1 Diana DeGette Democratic 94%
CO State Board of Education 4 Robert Schaffer Republican 19%
CT U.S. Senate Sr Joe Lieberman Independent Democrat 67%
CT U.S. House 3 Rosa DeLauro Democratic 81%
FL U.S. House 3 Corrine Brown Democratic 87%
FL U.S. House 6 Cliff Stearns Republican 6%
FL U.S. House 7 John Mica Republican 6%
FL U.S. House 10 Bill Young Republican 8%
FL U.S. House 18 Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Republican 27%
FL U.S. House 23 Alcee Hastings, Sr. Democratic 93%
FL Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Charles Canady 6%
GA U.S. Senate Sr Saxby Chambliss Republican 6%
GA U.S. House 1 Jack Kingston Republican 6%
GA U.S. House 2 Sanford Bishop, Jr. Democratic 44%
GA U.S. House 5 John Lewis Democratic 93%
GA Governor Nathan Deal Republican 0%
HI U.S. Senate Sr Daniel Inouye Democratic 83%
HI U.S. Senate Jr Daniel Akaka, Sr. Democratic 80%
HI Governor Neil Abercrombie Democratic 81%
IA U.S. Senate Sr Chuck Grassley Republican 17%
IA U.S. Senate Jr Tom Harkin Democratic 100%
IA U.S. House 3 Leonard Boswell Democratic 56%
IA U.S. House 4 Tom Latham Republican 6%
ID U.S. Senate Sr Mike Crapo Republican 13%
IL U.S. Senate Sr Dick Durbin Democratic 83%
IL U.S. House 1 Bobby Rush Democratic 87%
IL U.S. House 2 Jesse Jackson, Jr. Democratic 94%
IL U.S. House 4 Luis Gutierrez Democratic 87%
IL U.S. House 7 Danny Davis Democratic 81%
IL U.S. House 12 Jerry Costello Democratic 33%
IL U.S. House 16 Don Manzullo Republican 6%
IL U.S. House 19 John Shimkus Republican 6%
IN U.S. Senate Sr Dick Lugar Republican 33%
IN U.S. Senate Jr Daniel Coats Republican 20%
IN U.S. House 1 Pete Visclosky Democratic 69%
IN U.S. House 5 Dan Burton Republican 7%
KS U.S. Senate Sr Pat Roberts Republican 17%
KS U.S. Senate Jr Jerry Moran Republican 19%
KS Governor Sam Brownback Republican 17%
KY U.S. Senate Sr Mitch McConnell Republican 17%
KY U.S. House 1 Ed Whitfield Republican 13%
KY U.S. House 5 Hal Rogers Republican 6%
LA U.S. Senate Sr Mary Landrieu Democratic 50%
MA U.S. Senate Sr John Kerry Democratic 83%
MA U.S. House 1 John Olver Democratic 94%
MA U.S. House 2 Richard Neal Democratic 69%
MA U.S. House 3 Jim McGovern Democratic 81%
MA U.S. House 4 Barney Frank Democratic 94%
MA U.S. House 6 John Tierney Democratic 94%
MA U.S. House 7 Ed Markey Democratic 87%
MD U.S. Senate Sr Barbara Mikulski Democratic 83%
MD U.S. Senate Jr Ben Cardin Democratic 81%
MD U.S. House 5 Steny Hoyer Democratic 81%
MD U.S. House 6 Roscoe Bartlett Republican 6%
MD U.S. House 7 Elijah Cummings Democratic 88%
ME U.S. Senate Sr Olympia Snowe Republican 67%
ME U.S. Senate Jr Susan Collins Republican 67%
MI U.S. Senate Sr Carl Levin Democratic 83%
MI U.S. Senate Jr Debbie Stabenow Democratic 69%
MI U.S. House 4 Dave Camp Republican 13%
MI U.S. House 5 Dale Kildee Democratic 50%
MI U.S. House 6 Fred Upton Republican 19%
MI U.S. House 12 Sandy Levin Democratic 88%
MI U.S. House 14 John Conyers, Jr. Democratic 100%
MI U.S. House 15 John Dingell Democratic 80%
MN U.S. House 7 Collin Peterson Democratic/Farmer/Labor 25%
MO U.S. Senate Jr Roy Blunt Republican 6%
MO U.S. House 8 Jo Ann Emerson Republican 6%
MS U.S. Senate Sr Thad Cochran Republican 33%
MS U.S. Senate Jr Roger Wicker Republican 6%
MS U.S. House 2 Bennie Thompson Democratic 79%
MT U.S. Senate Sr Max Baucus Democratic 80%
NA Vice President Joe Biden, Jr. Democratic 67%
NA U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood Republican 13%
NC U.S. Senate Sr Richard Burr Republican 13%
NC U.S. House 3 Walter Jones, Jr. Republican 6%
NC U.S. House 4 David Price Democratic 75%
NC U.S. House 6 Howard Coble Republican 6%
NC U.S. House 7 Mike McIntyre Democratic 25%
NC U.S. House 9 Sue Myrick Republican 13%
NC U.S. House 12 Mel Watt Democratic 94%
ND U.S. Senate Sr Kent Conrad Democratic-NPL 50%
NH U.S. House 2 Charlie Bass Republican 25%
NJ U.S. Senate Sr Frank Lautenberg Democratic 83%
NJ U.S. Senate Jr Bob Menendez Democratic 81%
NJ U.S. House 1 Rob Andrews Democratic 75%
NJ U.S. House 2 Frank LoBiondo Republican 13%
NJ U.S. House 4 Chris Smith Republican 6%
NJ U.S. House 6 Frank Pallone, Jr. Democratic 81%
NJ U.S. House 8 Bill Pascrell, Jr. Democratic 56%
NJ U.S. House 9 Steve Rothman Democratic 75%
NJ U.S. House 11 Rodney Frelinghuysen Republican 38%
NM U.S. Senate Sr Jeff Bingaman Democratic 83%
NV U.S. Senate Sr Harry Reid Democratic 67%
NY U.S. Senate Sr Chuck Schumer Democratic 93%
NY U.S. House 3 Pete King Republican 13%
NY U.S. House 4 Carolyn McCarthy Democratic 75%
NY U.S. House 5 Gary Ackerman Democratic 88%
NY U.S. House 6 Gregory Meeks Democratic 92%
NY U.S. House 8 Jerry Nadler Democratic 87%
NY U.S. House 10 Ed Towns Democratic 86%
NY U.S. House 12 Nydia Velázquez Democratic 94%
NY U.S. House 14 Carolyn Maloney Democratic 81%
NY U.S. House 15 Charlie Rangel Democratic 94%
NY U.S. House 16 José Serrano Democratic 93%
NY U.S. House 17 Eliot Engel Democratic 81%
NY U.S. House 18 Nita Lowey Democratic 81%
NY U.S. House 22 Maurice Hinchey Democratic 87%
NY U.S. House 28 Louise Slaughter Democratic 88%
OH U.S. Senate Sr Sherrod Brown Democratic 75%
OH U.S. Senate Jr Rob Portman Republican 6%
OH U.S. House 1 Steve Chabot Republican 13%
OH U.S. House 8 John Boehner Republican 7%
OH U.S. House 9 Marcy Kaptur Democratic 63%
OH U.S. House 10 Dennis Kucinich Democratic 56%
OH U.S. House 14 Steve LaTourette Republican 27%
OH Governor John Kasich Republican 6%
OH State Senate 28 Thomas Sawyer Democratic 88%
OH Attorney General Michael DeWine Republican 17%
OK U.S. Senate Sr Jim Inhofe Republican 17%
OK U.S. Senate Jr Thomas Coburn Republican 6%
OK U.S. House 3 Frank Lucas Republican 6%
OR U.S. Senate Sr Ron Wyden Democratic 83%
OR U.S. House 3 Earl Blumenauer Democratic 94%
OR U.S. House 4 Peter DeFazio Democratic 88%
PA U.S. House 1 Bob Brady Democratic 89%
PA U.S. House 2 Chaka Fattah, Sr. Democratic 93%
PA U.S. House 14 Mike Doyle, Jr. Democratic 53%
PA U.S. House 16 Joe Pitts Republican 6%
PA U.S. House 17 Thomas Holden Democratic 31%
RI U.S. Senate Sr Jack Reed Democratic 83%
SC U.S. Senate Sr Lindsey Graham Republican 0%
SC U.S. House 6 Jim Clyburn Democratic 81%
SD U.S. Senate Sr Timothy Johnson Democratic 67%
SD U.S. Senate Jr John Thune Republican 6%
TN U.S. House 2 John Duncan, Jr. Republican 0%
TX U.S. Senate Sr Kay Hutchison Republican 20%
TX U.S. House 4 Ralph Hall Republican 7%
TX U.S. House 6 Joe Barton Republican 6%
TX U.S. House 8 Kevin Brady Republican 6%
TX U.S. House 12 Kay Granger Republican 19%
TX U.S. House 13 Mac Thornberry Republican 6%
TX U.S. House 14 Ron Paul Republican 40%
TX U.S. House 15 Rubén Hinojosa-Flores, Sr. Democratic 63%
TX U.S. House 16 Silvestre Reyes Democratic 47%
TX U.S. House 18 Sheila Jackson Lee Democratic 88%
TX U.S. House 21 Lamar Smith Republican 7%
TX U.S. House 25 Lloyd Doggett Democratic 88%
TX U.S. House 29 Gene Green Democratic 60%
TX U.S. House 30 Eddie Johnson Democratic 88%
TX U.S. House 32 Pete Sessions Republican 6%
UT U.S. Senate Sr Orrin Hatch Republican 17%
VA U.S. House 3 Bobby Scott Democratic 100%
VA U.S. House 6 Bob Goodlatte Republican 6%
VA U.S. House 8 Jim Moran, Jr. Democratic 50%
VA U.S. House 10 Frank Wolf Republican 13%
VT U.S. Senate Sr Patrick Leahy Democratic 60%
VT U.S. Senate Jr Bernie Sanders Independent 94%
WA U.S. Senate Sr Patty Murray Democratic 83%
WA U.S. House 4 Richard Hastings Republican 7%
WA U.S. House 6 Norm Dicks Democratic 87%
WA U.S. House 7 Jim McDermott Democratic 94%
WA U.S. House 9 Adam Smith Democratic 75%
WI U.S. Senate Sr Herb Kohl Democratic 83%
WI U.S. House 3 Ron Kind Democratic 75%
WI U.S. House 5 Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr. Republican 6%
WI U.S. House 6 Tom Petri Republican 13%
WI Mayor At-Large Tom Barrett Democratic 81%
WV U.S. Senate Sr Jay Rockefeller IV Democratic 80%
WV U.S. House 3 Nick Rahall II Democratic 60%
WY U.S. Senate Sr Mike Enzi Republican 17%
Edmond Spencer Abraham 17%
Wayne Allard 17%
Thomas Allen 81%
William Archer 7%
Richard Armey 6%
John Ashcroft 17%
Henry Scott Baesler 20%
Richard Hugh Baker 6%
John Baldacci 81%
Cass Ballenger 6%
James Barcia 31%
Robert Barr, Jr. 7%
William Barrett 6%
Herbert Bateman 15%
Bob Bennett 40%
Kenneth Bentsen, Jr. 75%
Douglas Bereuter 6%
Marion Berry 38%
Michael Bilirakis 6%
Rod Blagojevich 69%
Thomas Bliley, Jr. 13%
Sherwood Boehlert 69%
Kit Bond 33%
Henry Bonilla 25%
David Edward Bonior 81%
Robert Borski, Jr. 63%
Rick Boucher 75%
Allen Boyd, Jr. 44%
Carol Moseley Braun 83%
John Breaux 50%
George Brown, Jr. 87%
Richard Bryan 83%
Ed Bryant 6%
Dale Bumpers 83%
Jim Bunning 7%
Conrad Burns 33%
Steve Buyer 14%
Robert Byrd 33%
Herbert Callahan 7%
Ben Campbell 33%
Thomas Campbell 56%
Chris Cannon 13%
Julia Carson 86%
Mike Castle 44%
John Chafee 83%
Helen Chenoweth 6%
Jon Lynn Christensen 0%
William Clay, Sr. 93%
Eva Clayton 87%
Joseph Maxwell Cleland 83%
Robert Clement 33%
Mac Collins 6%
Larry Combest 6%
Gary Condit 47%
Merrill Cook 6%
John Cooksey 14%
Paul Coverdell 17%
Christopher Cox 13%
William Coyne 88%
Larry Craig 17%
Robert Cramer 29%
Philip Crane 7%
Barbara Cubin 13%
Randall Cunningham 8%
Alfonse D'Amato 67%
Patsy Ann Danner 38%
Thomas Daschle 67%
James Davis 56%
Thomas Davis III 69%
Bill Delahunt 88%
Thomas DeLay 6%
Peter Deutsch 69%
Lincoln Diaz-Balart 27%
Jay Dickey 13%
Julian Dixon 93%
Chris Dodd 83%
Pete Domenici, Jr. 50%
Calvin Dooley 75%
John Doolittle 6%
Byron Dorgan 67%
Jennifer Dunn 13%
Chet Edwards 75%
Vern Ehlers 31%
Bob Ehrlich, Jr. 25%
Philip English 33%
John Ensign 31%
Bob Etheridge 44%
Lane Evans 94%
Terry Everett 7%
Thomas Ewing 7%
Duncan McLauchlin Faircloth 17%
Harris Fawell 33%
Victor Fazio 88%
Russ Feingold 83%
Mark Foley 31%
Michael Patrick Forbes 33%
Harold Ford, Jr. 64%
Wendell Ford 67%
Vito Fossella, Jr. 8%
Tillie Fowler 25%
Jon David Fox 31%
Robert Franks 31%
William Frist 17%
Jonas Frost III 75%
Elizabeth Furse 93%
John Ganske 20%
Sam Gejdenson 81%
George Gekas 13%
Richard Andrew Gephardt 75%
Jim Gibbons 19%
Wayne Gilchrest 44%
Paul Gillmor 0%
Benjamin Gilman 56%
Newt Gingrich 20%
John Glenn 75%
Henry Gonzalez 100%
Virgil Goode, Jr. 13%
William Goodling 7%
Bart Gordon 38%
Slade Gorton 17%
Porter Goss 19%
Daniel Graham 83%
William Phillip Gramm 17%
Rodney Grams 17%
James Greenwood 53%
Judd Gregg 33%
Gilbert Gutknecht 6%
Charles Hagel 33%
Tony Hall 31%
Lee Hamilton 38%
James Hansen 7%
Jane Harman 79%
J. Dennis Hastert 6%
J.D. Hayworth, Jr. 6%
Joel Hefley 6%
W.G. Hefner 67%
Jesse Helms 25%
Rick Hill 7%
Van Hilleary 6%
Earl Hilliard, Jr. 87%
David Lee Hobson 31%
Pete Hoekstra 13%
Ernest Hollings 33%
Darlene Hooley 75%
Stephen Horn 50%
John Nathan Hostettler 19%
Amory Houghton, Jr. 56%
Kenny Hulshof 6%
Duncan Hunter 6%
William Hutchinson 19%
Y. Tim Hutchinson 17%
Henry Hyde 6%
Bob Inglis, Sr. 6%
Ernest Istook, Jr. 0%
William Jefferson 67%
James Merrill Jeffords 50%
William Lewis Jenkins 6%
Christopher John 27%
Jay Johnson 47%
Nancy Johnson 63%
Paul Kanjorski 63%
Sue Kelly 38%
Dirk Kempthorne 50%
Edward Kennedy, Sr. 83%
Joseph Kennedy II 81%
Patrick Kennedy 88%
Barbara Bailey Kennelly 79%
Bob Kerrey 83%
Carolyn Kilpatrick 100%
Jay Kim 13%
Gerald Kleczka 75%
Ronald Klink 63%
Scott Klug 25%
Joseph Knollenberg 13%
James Kolbe 44%
John LaFalce 63%
Nicholas Lampson 63%
Tom Lantos 79%
Stephen Largent 13%
Rick Lazio 25%
James Leach 56%
Ron Lewis 6%
John Linder 6%
William Lipinski 0%
Robert Livingston 6%
Trent Lott, Sr. 17%
William Luther 69%
Connie Mack 33%
James Maloney 63%
Thomas Manton 50%
Matthew Martinez 87%
Frank Mascara 44%
Robert Matsui 81%
Karen McCarthy 81%
Bill McCollum 13%
James McCrery III 21%
Joseph McDade 18%
Paul McHale 63%
John McHugh 13%
Scott McInnis 6%
David McIntosh 7%
Cynthia Ann McKinney 93%
Michael McNulty 58%
Martin Meehan 94%
Carrie Meek 93%
Jack Metcalf 0%
Juanita Millender-McDonald 94%
Dan Miller 40%
David Minge 56%
Patsy Takemoto Mink 87%
John Moakley 55%
Alan Mollohan 53%
Constance Morella 81%
Daniel Patrick Moynihan 33%
Frank Murkowski 33%
Jack Murtha 56%
George Nethercutt, Jr. 13%
Mark Neumann 7%
Robert William Ney 13%
Don Nickles 17%
Anne Northup 13%
Charles Norwood, Jr. 6%
James Nussle 13%
Jim Oberstar 87%
Dave Obey 75%
Solomon Ortiz, Sr. 29%
Major Owens 94%
Michael Oxley 20%
Ronald Packard 7%
Michael Pappas 6%
Paul Michael Parker 0%
William Paxon 7%
Donald Payne 94%
Edward Pease 6%
John Peterson 6%
Charles Pickering, Jr. 7%
Owen Pickett 50%
Richard Pombo 6%
Earl Pomeroy 53%
John Edward Porter 38%
Glenn Poshard 53%
Deborah Pryce 31%
Jack Quinn 6%
George Radanovich 7%
James Ramstad 13%
William Redmond 13%
Ralph Regula 13%
Frank Duncan Riggs 13%
Bob Riley 6%
Lynn Nancy Rivers 88%
Charles Robb 83%
Ciro Rodriguez 73%
Timothy Roemer 31%
James Rogan 6%
William Roth, Jr. 40%
Marge Roukema 19%
Jim Ryun 6%
Martin Olav Sabo 94%
Matthew Salmon 6%
Max Sandlin, Jr. 20%
Mark Sanford, Jr. 19%
Rick Santorum 17%
Paul Sarbanes 83%
H. James Saxton 25%
Joe Scarborough 6%
Daniel Schaefer 7%
John Shadegg 20%
E. Clay Shaw, Jr. 38%
Christopher Shays 63%
E.G. Shuster 7%
Norman Sisisky 56%
David Skaggs 93%
Joseph Skeen 13%
Ike Skelton 25%
Gordon Smith 33%
Linda Smith 6%
Nick Smith 14%
Robert Smith 8%
Bob Smith 17%
Vincent Snowbarger 13%
Vic Snyder 81%
Gerald B.H. Solomon 6%
Mark Souder 13%
Arlen Specter 40%
Floyd Spence 6%
John Spratt, Jr. 44%
Charles Stenholm 19%
Ted Stevens 50%
Louis Stokes 94%
Ted Strickland 60%
Robert Stump 13%
Bart Stupak 63%
John Sununu 6%
James Talent 6%
John Tanner 31%
Ellen Tauscher 81%
William Tauzin 7%
Charles Taylor 6%
Gene Taylor 0%
Craig Thomas 33%
William Thomas 25%
Fred Thompson 0%
Karen Thurman 81%
Strom Thurmond 33%
Todd Tiahrt 6%
Esteban Edward Torres 81%
Robert Torricelli 83%
James Traficant, Jr. 31%
James Turner 19%
Bruce Vento 81%
James Walsh 13%
Zach Wamp 0%
John Warner 33%
Wesley Watkins 13%
Julius Caesar Watts, Jr. 13%
David Weldon 13%
W. Curtis Weldon 0%
Gerald Weller 13%
Paul Wellstone 83%
Robert Wexler 75%
Robert Weygand 75%
Rick White 31%
Heather Wilson 50%
Robert Wise, Jr. 73%
Albert Wynn 75%
Sidney Yates 82%

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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