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Special Interest Groups

Interest Group Ratings

Rating Group: Public Citizen's Congress Watch

1997-1998 Positions

State Office District Name Party Rating
AK U.S. House At-Large Don Young Republican 21%
AL U.S. Senate Sr Richard Shelby Republican 42%
AL U.S. Senate Jr Jeff Sessions III Republican 8%
AL U.S. House 4 Robert Aderholt Republican 26%
AL U.S. House 6 Spencer Bachus Republican 47%
AZ U.S. Senate Sr John McCain III Republican 27%
AZ U.S. Senate Jr Jon Kyl Republican 17%
AZ U.S. House 4 Edward Pastor Democratic 42%
CA U.S. Senate Sr Dianne Feinstein Democratic 83%
CA U.S. Senate Jr Barbara Boxer Democratic 100%
CA U.S. House 2 Wally Herger, Jr. Republican 5%
CA U.S. House 6 Lynn Woolsey Democratic 95%
CA U.S. House 7 George Miller Democratic 79%
CA U.S. House 8 Nancy Pelosi Democratic 68%
CA U.S. House 9 Barbara Lee Democratic 100%
CA U.S. House 13 Pete Stark Democratic 79%
CA U.S. House 14 Anna Eshoo Democratic 63%
CA U.S. House 16 Zoe Lofgren Democratic 47%
CA U.S. House 17 Sam Farr Democratic 79%
CA U.S. House 23 Lois Capps Democratic 89%
CA U.S. House 24 Elton Gallegly Republican 26%
CA U.S. House 25 Buck McKeon Republican 21%
CA U.S. House 26 David Dreier Republican 0%
CA U.S. House 27 Brad Sherman Democratic 84%
CA U.S. House 28 Howard Berman Democratic 53%
CA U.S. House 30 Henry Waxman Democratic 89%
CA U.S. House 31 Xavier Becerra Democratic 74%
CA U.S. House 34 Lucille Roybal-Allard Democratic 84%
CA U.S. House 35 Maxine Waters Democratic 68%
CA U.S. House 40 Ed Royce Republican 53%
CA U.S. House 41 Jerry Lewis Republican 5%
CA U.S. House 44 Ken Calvert Republican 0%
CA U.S. House 45 Mary Bono Mack Republican 0%
CA U.S. House 46 Dana Rohrabacher Republican 63%
CA U.S. House 47 Loretta Sanchez Democratic 58%
CA U.S. House 50 Brian Bilbray Republican 47%
CA U.S. House 51 Bob Filner Democratic 79%
CO U.S. House 1 Diana DeGette Democratic 79%
CO State Board of Education 4 Robert Schaffer Republican 32%
CT U.S. Senate Sr Joe Lieberman Independent Democrat 75%
CT U.S. House 3 Rosa DeLauro Democratic 89%
FL U.S. House 3 Corrine Brown Democratic 53%
FL U.S. House 6 Cliff Stearns Republican 53%
FL U.S. House 7 John Mica Republican 26%
FL U.S. House 10 Bill Young Republican 16%
FL U.S. House 18 Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Republican 42%
FL U.S. House 23 Alcee Hastings, Sr. Democratic 63%
FL Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Charles Canady 37%
GA U.S. Senate Sr Saxby Chambliss Republican 21%
GA U.S. House 1 Jack Kingston Republican 47%
GA U.S. House 2 Sanford Bishop, Jr. Democratic 53%
GA U.S. House 5 John Lewis Democratic 89%
GA Governor Nathan Deal Republican 53%
HI U.S. Senate Sr Daniel Inouye Democratic 50%
HI U.S. Senate Jr Daniel Akaka, Sr. Democratic 83%
HI Governor Neil Abercrombie Democratic 63%
IA U.S. Senate Sr Chuck Grassley Republican 33%
IA U.S. Senate Jr Tom Harkin Democratic 83%
IA U.S. House 3 Leonard Boswell Democratic 53%
IA U.S. House 4 Tom Latham Republican 11%
ID U.S. Senate Sr Mike Crapo Republican 26%
IL U.S. Senate Sr Dick Durbin Democratic 100%
IL U.S. House 1 Bobby Rush Democratic 58%
IL U.S. House 2 Jesse Jackson, Jr. Democratic 84%
IL U.S. House 4 Luis Gutierrez Democratic 68%
IL U.S. House 7 Danny Davis Democratic 68%
IL U.S. House 12 Jerry Costello Democratic 58%
IL U.S. House 16 Don Manzullo Republican 21%
IL U.S. House 19 John Shimkus Republican 5%
IN U.S. Senate Sr Dick Lugar Republican 33%
IN U.S. House 1 Pete Visclosky Democratic 68%
IN U.S. House 5 Dan Burton Republican 26%
KS U.S. Senate Sr Pat Roberts Republican 17%
KS U.S. Senate Jr Jerry Moran Republican 16%
KS Governor Sam Brownback Republican 25%
KY U.S. Senate Sr Mitch McConnell Republican 8%
KY U.S. House 1 Ed Whitfield Republican 32%
KY U.S. House 5 Hal Rogers Republican 26%
LA U.S. Senate Sr Mary Landrieu Democratic 50%
MA U.S. Senate Sr John Kerry Democratic 92%
MA U.S. House 1 John Olver Democratic 84%
MA U.S. House 2 Richard Neal Democratic 74%
MA U.S. House 3 Jim McGovern Democratic 89%
MA U.S. House 4 Barney Frank Democratic 84%
MA U.S. House 6 John Tierney Democratic 100%
MA U.S. House 7 Ed Markey Democratic 89%
MD U.S. Senate Sr Barbara Mikulski Democratic 75%
MD U.S. Senate Jr Ben Cardin Democratic 58%
MD U.S. House 5 Steny Hoyer Democratic 37%
MD U.S. House 6 Roscoe Bartlett Republican 37%
MD U.S. House 7 Elijah Cummings Democratic 63%
ME U.S. Senate Sr Olympia Snowe Republican 58%
ME U.S. Senate Jr Susan Collins Republican 58%
MI U.S. Senate Sr Carl Levin Democratic 75%
MI U.S. Senate Jr Debbie Stabenow Democratic 74%
MI U.S. House 4 Dave Camp Republican 11%
MI U.S. House 5 Dale Kildee Democratic 74%
MI U.S. House 6 Fred Upton Republican 32%
MI U.S. House 12 Sandy Levin Democratic 63%
MI U.S. House 14 John Conyers, Jr. Democratic 84%
MI U.S. House 15 John Dingell Democratic 42%
MN U.S. House 7 Collin Peterson Democratic/Farmer/Labor 53%
MO U.S. Senate Jr Roy Blunt Republican 26%
MO U.S. House 8 Jo Ann Emerson Republican 26%
MS U.S. Senate Sr Thad Cochran Republican 8%
MS U.S. Senate Jr Roger Wicker Republican 5%
MS U.S. House 2 Bennie Thompson Democratic 53%
MT U.S. Senate Sr Max Baucus Democratic 75%
NA Vice President Joe Biden, Jr. Democratic 58%
NA U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood Republican 11%
NC U.S. Senate Sr Richard Burr Republican 21%
NC U.S. House 3 Walter Jones, Jr. Republican 37%
NC U.S. House 4 David Price Democratic 42%
NC U.S. House 6 Howard Coble Republican 47%
NC U.S. House 7 Mike McIntyre Democratic 68%
NC U.S. House 9 Sue Myrick Republican 26%
NC U.S. House 12 Mel Watt Democratic 42%
ND U.S. Senate Sr Kent Conrad Democratic-NPL 83%
NH U.S. House 2 Charlie Bass Republican 53%
NJ U.S. Senate Sr Frank Lautenberg Democratic 92%
NJ U.S. Senate Jr Bob Menendez Democratic 74%
NJ U.S. House 1 Rob Andrews Democratic 89%
NJ U.S. House 2 Frank LoBiondo Republican 79%
NJ U.S. House 4 Chris Smith Republican 63%
NJ U.S. House 6 Frank Pallone, Jr. Democratic 100%
NJ U.S. House 8 Bill Pascrell, Jr. Democratic 84%
NJ U.S. House 9 Steve Rothman Democratic 84%
NJ U.S. House 11 Rodney Frelinghuysen Republican 32%
NM U.S. Senate Sr Jeff Bingaman Democratic 92%
NV U.S. Senate Sr Harry Reid Democratic 83%
NY U.S. Senate Sr Chuck Schumer Democratic 74%
NY U.S. House 3 Pete King Republican 26%
NY U.S. House 4 Carolyn McCarthy Democratic 84%
NY U.S. House 5 Gary Ackerman Democratic 58%
NY U.S. House 6 Gregory Meeks Democratic 80%
NY U.S. House 8 Jerry Nadler Democratic 89%
NY U.S. House 10 Ed Towns Democratic 42%
NY U.S. House 12 Nydia Velázquez Democratic 95%
NY U.S. House 14 Carolyn Maloney Democratic 58%
NY U.S. House 15 Charlie Rangel Democratic 47%
NY U.S. House 16 José Serrano Democratic 74%
NY U.S. House 17 Eliot Engel Democratic 74%
NY U.S. House 18 Nita Lowey Democratic 74%
NY U.S. House 22 Maurice Hinchey Democratic 89%
NY U.S. House 28 Louise Slaughter Democratic 53%
OH U.S. Senate Sr Sherrod Brown Democratic 84%
OH U.S. Senate Jr Rob Portman Republican 26%
OH U.S. House 1 Steve Chabot Republican 47%
OH U.S. House 8 John Boehner Republican 5%
OH U.S. House 9 Marcy Kaptur Democratic 63%
OH U.S. House 10 Dennis Kucinich Democratic 84%
OH U.S. House 14 Steve LaTourette Republican 26%
OH Governor John Kasich Republican 53%
OH State Senate 28 Thomas Sawyer Democratic 32%
OH Attorney General Michael DeWine Republican 42%
OK U.S. Senate Sr Jim Inhofe Republican 17%
OK U.S. Senate Jr Thomas Coburn Republican 26%
OK U.S. House 3 Frank Lucas Republican 21%
OR U.S. Senate Sr Ron Wyden Democratic 83%
OR U.S. House 3 Earl Blumenauer Democratic 56%
OR U.S. House 4 Peter DeFazio Democratic 95%
PA U.S. House 1 Bob Brady Democratic 75%
PA U.S. House 2 Chaka Fattah, Sr. Democratic 47%
PA U.S. House 14 Mike Doyle, Jr. Democratic 58%
PA U.S. House 16 Joe Pitts Republican 32%
PA U.S. House 17 Thomas Holden Democratic 53%
RI U.S. Senate Sr Jack Reed Democratic 100%
SC U.S. Senate Sr Lindsey Graham Republican 37%
SC U.S. House 6 Jim Clyburn Democratic 58%
SD U.S. Senate Sr Timothy Johnson Democratic 83%
SD U.S. Senate Jr John Thune Republican 32%
TN U.S. House 2 John Duncan, Jr. Republican 68%
TX U.S. Senate Sr Kay Hutchison Republican 42%
TX U.S. House 3 Sam Johnson Republican 0%
TX U.S. House 4 Ralph Hall Republican 21%
TX U.S. House 6 Joe Barton Republican 11%
TX U.S. House 8 Kevin Brady Republican 0%
TX U.S. House 12 Kay Granger Republican 5%
TX U.S. House 13 Mac Thornberry Republican 11%
TX U.S. House 14 Ron Paul Republican 74%
TX U.S. House 15 Rubén Hinojosa-Flores, Sr. Democratic 32%
TX U.S. House 16 Silvestre Reyes Democratic 42%
TX U.S. House 18 Sheila Jackson Lee Democratic 37%
TX U.S. House 21 Lamar Smith Republican 11%
TX U.S. House 25 Lloyd Doggett Democratic 79%
TX U.S. House 29 Gene Green Democratic 42%
TX U.S. House 30 Eddie Johnson Democratic 26%
TX U.S. House 32 Pete Sessions Republican 5%
UT U.S. Senate Sr Orrin Hatch Republican 17%
VA U.S. House 3 Bobby Scott Democratic 32%
VA U.S. House 6 Bob Goodlatte Republican 11%
VA U.S. House 8 Jim Moran, Jr. Democratic 53%
VA U.S. House 10 Frank Wolf Republican 37%
VT U.S. Senate Sr Patrick Leahy Democratic 75%
VT U.S. Senate Jr Bernie Sanders Independent 100%
WA U.S. Senate Sr Patty Murray Democratic 83%
WA U.S. House 4 Richard Hastings Republican 5%
WA U.S. House 6 Norm Dicks Democratic 16%
WA U.S. House 7 Jim McDermott Democratic 58%
WA U.S. House 9 Adam Smith Democratic 74%
WI U.S. Senate Sr Herb Kohl Democratic 58%
WI U.S. House 3 Ron Kind Democratic 74%
WI U.S. House 5 Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr. Republican 47%
WI U.S. House 6 Tom Petri Republican 42%
WI Mayor At-Large Tom Barrett Democratic 89%
WV U.S. Senate Sr Jay Rockefeller IV Democratic 75%
WV U.S. House 3 Nick Rahall II Democratic 58%
WY U.S. Senate Sr Mike Enzi Republican 8%
Edmond Spencer Abraham 42%
Wayne Allard 8%
Thomas Allen 68%
William Archer 11%
Richard Armey 21%
John Ashcroft 17%
Richard Hugh Baker 0%
John Baldacci 74%
Cass Ballenger 5%
James Barcia 63%
Robert Barr, Jr. 47%
William Barrett 11%
Herbert Bateman 0%
Bob Bennett 33%
Kenneth Bentsen, Jr. 32%
Douglas Bereuter 16%
Marion Berry 42%
Michael Bilirakis 26%
Rod Blagojevich 79%
Thomas Bliley, Jr. 0%
Sherwood Boehlert 37%
Kit Bond 33%
Henry Bonilla 11%
David Edward Bonior 74%
Robert Borski, Jr. 68%
Rick Boucher 53%
Allen Boyd, Jr. 42%
John Breaux 58%
George Brown, Jr. 53%
Richard Bryan 75%
Ed Bryant 16%
Jim Bunning 21%
Conrad Burns 8%
Steve Buyer 16%
Robert Byrd 83%
Herbert Callahan 16%
Ben Campbell 17%
Thomas Campbell 58%
Chris Cannon 21%
Julia Carson 84%
Mike Castle 42%
John Chafee 50%
Helen Chenoweth 32%
William Clay, Sr. 63%
Eva Clayton 58%
Joseph Maxwell Cleland 67%
Robert Clement 32%
Mac Collins 32%
Larry Combest 5%
Gary Condit 74%
Merrill Cook 32%
John Cooksey 16%
Paul Coverdell 25%
Christopher Cox 37%
William Coyne 68%
Larry Craig 17%
Robert Cramer 42%
Philip Crane 16%
Barbara Cubin 5%
Randall Cunningham 21%
Patsy Ann Danner 58%
Thomas Daschle 67%
James Davis 47%
Thomas Davis III 5%
Bill Delahunt 89%
Thomas DeLay 5%
Peter Deutsch 63%
Lincoln Diaz-Balart 32%
Jay Dickey 26%
Julian Dixon 37%
Chris Dodd 67%
Pete Domenici, Jr. 25%
Calvin Dooley 16%
John Doolittle 21%
Byron Dorgan 83%
Jennifer Dunn 11%
Chet Edwards 26%
Vern Ehlers 26%
Bob Ehrlich, Jr. 26%
Philip English 26%
Bob Etheridge 42%
Lane Evans 79%
Terry Everett 21%
Thomas Ewing 0%
Russ Feingold 83%
Mark Foley 42%
Michael Patrick Forbes 53%
Harold Ford, Jr. 32%
Vito Fossella, Jr. 10%
Tillie Fowler 37%
Robert Franks 68%
William Frist 17%
Jonas Frost III 32%
John Ganske 53%
Sam Gejdenson 79%
George Gekas 16%
Richard Andrew Gephardt 68%
Jim Gibbons 58%
Wayne Gilchrest 26%
Paul Gillmor 32%
Benjamin Gilman 37%
Virgil Goode, Jr. 42%
William Goodling 42%
Bart Gordon 47%
Slade Gorton 17%
Porter Goss 26%
Daniel Graham 58%
William Phillip Gramm 33%
Rodney Grams 17%
James Greenwood 32%
Judd Gregg 42%
Gilbert Gutknecht 37%
Charles Hagel 8%
Tony Hall 47%
James Hansen 16%
J. Dennis Hastert 16%
J.D. Hayworth, Jr. 37%
Joel Hefley 53%
Jesse Helms 8%
Rick Hill 16%
Van Hilleary 37%
Earl Hilliard, Jr. 53%
David Lee Hobson 21%
Pete Hoekstra 32%
Ernest Hollings 50%
Darlene Hooley 63%
Stephen Horn 58%
John Nathan Hostettler 26%
Amory Houghton, Jr. 11%
Kenny Hulshof 32%
Duncan Hunter 37%
William Hutchinson 32%
Y. Tim Hutchinson 25%
Henry Hyde 11%
Ernest Istook, Jr. 21%
William Jefferson 32%
James Merrill Jeffords 33%
William Lewis Jenkins 26%
Christopher John 21%
Nancy Johnson 21%
Paul Kanjorski 47%
Sue Kelly 53%
Edward Kennedy, Sr. 83%
Patrick Kennedy 95%
Bob Kerrey 75%
Carolyn Kilpatrick 63%
Gerald Kleczka 89%
Ronald Klink 53%
Joseph Knollenberg 11%
James Kolbe 5%
John LaFalce 63%
Nicholas Lampson 53%
Tom Lantos 84%
Stephen Largent 16%
Rick Lazio 32%
James Leach 47%
Ron Lewis 11%
John Linder 11%
William Lipinski 79%
Robert Livingston 0%
Trent Lott, Sr. 0%
William Luther 74%
Connie Mack 17%
James Maloney 68%
Matthew Martinez 39%
Frank Mascara 63%
Robert Matsui 32%
Karen McCarthy 53%
Bill McCollum 11%
James McCrery III 5%
John McHugh 47%
Scott McInnis 26%
David McIntosh 37%
Cynthia Ann McKinney 84%
Michael McNulty 63%
Martin Meehan 79%
Carrie Meek 47%
Jack Metcalf 58%
Juanita Millender-McDonald 53%
Dan Miller 37%
David Minge 47%
Patsy Takemoto Mink 68%
John Moakley 63%
Alan Mollohan 37%
Constance Morella 58%
Daniel Patrick Moynihan 67%
Frank Murkowski 17%
Jack Murtha 32%
George Nethercutt, Jr. 11%
Robert William Ney 42%
Don Nickles 8%
Anne Northup 0%
Charles Norwood, Jr. 32%
James Nussle 21%
Jim Oberstar 58%
Dave Obey 84%
Solomon Ortiz, Sr. 32%
Major Owens 84%
Michael Oxley 0%
Ronald Packard 5%
Donald Payne 74%
Edward Pease 16%
John Peterson 5%
Charles Pickering, Jr. 11%
Owen Pickett 21%
Richard Pombo 26%
Earl Pomeroy 37%
John Edward Porter 37%
Deborah Pryce 16%
Jack Quinn 53%
George Radanovich 26%
James Ramstad 53%
Ralph Regula 11%
Bob Riley 21%
Lynn Nancy Rivers 95%
Charles Robb 42%
Ciro Rodriguez 42%
Timothy Roemer 47%
James Rogan 21%
William Roth, Jr. 33%
Marge Roukema 42%
Jim Ryun 21%
Martin Olav Sabo 68%
Matthew Salmon 37%
Max Sandlin, Jr. 26%
Mark Sanford, Jr. 58%
Rick Santorum 25%
Paul Sarbanes 83%
H. James Saxton 37%
Joe Scarborough 58%
John Shadegg 26%
E. Clay Shaw, Jr. 37%
Christopher Shays 68%
E.G. Shuster 21%
Norman Sisisky 42%
Joseph Skeen 0%
Ike Skelton 32%
Gordon Smith 50%
Nick Smith 42%
Bob Smith 17%
Vic Snyder 42%
Mark Souder 53%
Arlen Specter 50%
Floyd Spence 26%
John Spratt, Jr. 58%
Charles Stenholm 21%
Ted Stevens 8%
Ted Strickland 68%
Robert Stump 16%
Bart Stupak 63%
John Sununu 47%
James Talent 42%
John Tanner 37%
Ellen Tauscher 58%
William Tauzin 5%
Charles Taylor 26%
Gene Taylor 63%
Craig Thomas 17%
William Thomas 0%
Fred Thompson 17%
Karen Thurman 42%
Strom Thurmond 0%
Todd Tiahrt 37%
Robert Torricelli 100%
James Traficant, Jr. 42%
James Turner 26%
Bruce Vento 79%
James Walsh 42%
Zach Wamp 53%
John Warner 17%
Wesley Watkins 16%
Julius Caesar Watts, Jr. 11%
David Weldon 21%
W. Curtis Weldon 53%
Gerald Weller 16%
Paul Wellstone 100%
Robert Wexler 74%
Robert Weygand 89%
Heather Wilson 0%
Robert Wise, Jr. 47%
Albert Wynn 42%

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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