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Special Interest Groups

Rating Group: United States Public Interest Research Group

1997-1998 Positions

State Office District Name Party Rating
AK U.S. House At-Large Don Young Republican 5%
AL U.S. Senate Sr Richard Shelby Republican 15%
AL U.S. Senate Jr Jeff Sessions III Republican 8%
AL U.S. House 4 Robert Aderholt Republican 5%
AL U.S. House 6 Spencer Bachus Republican 21%
AZ U.S. Senate Sr John McCain III Republican 31%
AZ U.S. House 5 Matthew Salmon Republican 32%
AZ U.S. House 7 Ed Pastor Democratic 79%
CA U.S. Senate Sr Dianne Feinstein Democratic 92%
CA U.S. Senate Jr Barbara Boxer Democratic 92%
CA U.S. House 11 George Miller Democratic 100%
CA U.S. House 12 Nancy Pelosi Democratic 95%
CA U.S. House 13 Barbara Lee Democratic 100%
CA U.S. House 18 Anna Eshoo Democratic 100%
CA U.S. House 19 Zoe Lofgren Democratic 95%
CA U.S. House 20 Sam Farr Democratic 95%
CA U.S. House 24 Lois Capps Democratic 91%
CA U.S. House 25 Buck McKeon Republican 21%
CA U.S. House 30 Brad Sherman Democratic 95%
CA U.S. House 33 Henry Waxman Democratic 100%
CA U.S. House 34 Xavier Becerra Democratic 74%
CA U.S. House 39 Ed Royce Republican 26%
CA U.S. House 40 Lucille Roybal-Allard Democratic 100%
CA U.S. House 42 Ken Calvert Republican 11%
CA U.S. House 43 Maxine Waters Democratic 89%
CA U.S. House 46 Loretta Sanchez Democratic 74%
CA U.S. House 48 Dana Rohrabacher Republican 26%
CA Mayor At-Large Bob Filner Democratic 95%
CO U.S. House 1 Diana DeGette Democratic 100%
CO State Board of Education 4 Robert Schaffer Republican 0%
CT U.S. House 3 Rosa DeLauro Democratic 100%
FL U.S. House 5 Corrine Brown Democratic 84%
FL U.S. House 7 John Mica Republican 11%
FL U.S. House 13 Bill Young Republican 16%
FL U.S. House 20 Alcee Hastings, Sr. Democratic 84%
FL U.S. House 27 Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Republican 37%
FL Justice of the Supreme Court Charles Canady 21%
GA U.S. Senate Sr Saxby Chambliss Republican 5%
GA U.S. House 1 Jack Kingston Republican 26%
GA U.S. House 2 Sanford Bishop, Jr. Democratic 21%
GA U.S. House 5 John Lewis Democratic 89%
GA Governor Nathan Deal Republican 21%
HI Governor Neil Abercrombie Democratic 79%
IA U.S. Senate Sr Chuck Grassley Republican 23%
IA U.S. Senate Jr Tom Harkin Democratic 77%
IA U.S. House 3 Tom Latham Republican 16%
ID U.S. Senate Sr Mike Crapo Republican 11%
IL U.S. Senate Sr Dick Durbin Democratic 92%
IL U.S. House 1 Bobby Rush Democratic 84%
IL U.S. House 4 Luis Gutierrez Democratic 89%
IL U.S. House 7 Danny Davis Democratic 95%
IL U.S. House 15 John Shimkus Republican 11%
IN U.S. House 1 Pete Visclosky Democratic 68%
KS U.S. Senate Sr Pat Roberts Republican 15%
KS U.S. Senate Jr Jerry Moran Republican 16%
KS Governor Sam Brownback Republican 15%
KY U.S. Senate Sr Mitch McConnell Republican 8%
KY U.S. House 1 Ed Whitfield Republican 16%
KY U.S. House 5 Hal Rogers Republican 16%
LA U.S. Senate Sr Mary Landrieu Democratic 69%
MA U.S. House 1 Richard Neal Democratic 95%
MA U.S. House 2 Jim McGovern Democratic 100%
MA U.S. House 5 Ed Markey Democratic 89%
MA U.S. House 6 John Tierney Democratic 100%
MD U.S. Senate Sr Barbara Mikulski Democratic 92%
MD U.S. Senate Jr Ben Cardin Democratic 84%
MD U.S. House 5 Steny Hoyer Democratic 74%
MD U.S. House 7 Elijah Cummings Democratic 89%
ME U.S. Senate Sr Susan Collins Republican 54%
MI U.S. Senate Sr Carl Levin Democratic 77%
MI U.S. Senate Jr Debbie Stabenow Democratic 89%
MI U.S. House 4 Dave Camp Republican 21%
MI U.S. House 6 Fred Upton Republican 53%
MI U.S. House 9 Sandy Levin Democratic 89%
MI U.S. House 12 John Dingell Democratic 63%
MI U.S. House 13 John Conyers, Jr. Democratic 84%
MN U.S. House 7 Collin Peterson Democratic/Farmer/Labor 21%
MO U.S. Senate Jr Roy Blunt Republican 11%
MS U.S. Senate Sr Thad Cochran Republican 23%
MS U.S. Senate Jr Roger Wicker Republican 5%
MS U.S. House 2 Bennie Thompson Democratic 68%
MT U.S. Senate Sr Max Baucus Democratic 77%
NA Vice President Joe Biden, Jr. Democratic 77%
NA U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel Republican 15%
NA U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Democratic 92%
NC U.S. Senate Sr Richard Burr Republican 16%
NC U.S. House 3 Walter Jones, Jr. Republican 11%
NC U.S. House 4 David Price Democratic 74%
NC U.S. House 6 Howard Coble Republican 21%
NC U.S. House 7 Mike McIntyre Democratic 42%
NC U.S. House 12 Mel Watt Democratic 79%
NJ U.S. Senate Sr Frank Lautenberg Democratic 100%
NJ U.S. Senate Jr Bob Menendez Democratic 95%
NJ U.S. House 1 Rob Andrews Democratic 89%
NJ U.S. House 2 Frank LoBiondo Republican 74%
NJ U.S. House 4 Chris Smith Republican 89%
NJ U.S. House 6 Frank Pallone, Jr. Democratic 100%
NJ U.S. House 9 Bill Pascrell, Jr. Democratic 84%
NJ U.S. House 11 Rodney Frelinghuysen Republican 74%
NV U.S. Senate Sr Harry Reid Democratic 77%
NY U.S. Senate Sr Chuck Schumer Democratic 89%
NY U.S. House 2 Pete King Republican 21%
NY U.S. House 4 Carolyn McCarthy Democratic 84%
NY U.S. House 5 Gregory Meeks Democratic 82%
NY U.S. House 7 Nydia Velázquez Democratic 84%
NY U.S. House 10 Jerry Nadler Democratic 100%
NY U.S. House 12 Carolyn Maloney Democratic 89%
NY U.S. House 13 Charlie Rangel Democratic 79%
NY U.S. House 15 José Serrano Democratic 84%
NY U.S. House 16 Eliot Engel Democratic 89%
NY U.S. House 17 Nita Lowey Democratic 100%
NY U.S. House 25 Louise Slaughter Democratic 89%
OH U.S. Senate Sr Sherrod Brown Democratic 89%
OH U.S. Senate Jr Rob Portman Republican 37%
OH U.S. House 1 Steve Chabot Republican 37%
OH U.S. House 8 John Boehner Republican 5%
OH U.S. House 9 Marcy Kaptur Democratic 74%
OH Governor John Kasich Republican 37%
OH State Senate 28 Thomas Sawyer Democratic 79%
OH Attorney General Michael DeWine Republican 23%
OK U.S. Senate Sr Jim Inhofe Republican 15%
OK U.S. Senate Jr Thomas Coburn Republican 5%
OK U.S. House 3 Frank Lucas Republican 16%
OR U.S. Senate Sr Ron Wyden Democratic 85%
OR U.S. House 3 Earl Blumenauer Democratic 95%
OR U.S. House 4 Peter DeFazio Democratic 95%
PA U.S. House 1 Bob Brady Democratic 50%
PA U.S. House 2 Chaka Fattah, Sr. Democratic 74%
PA U.S. House 14 Mike Doyle, Jr. Democratic 42%
PA U.S. House 16 Joe Pitts Republican 16%
RI U.S. Senate Sr Jack Reed Democratic 92%
SC U.S. Senate Sr Lindsey Graham Republican 16%
SC U.S. House 1 Mark Sanford, Jr. Republican 63%
SC U.S. House 6 Jim Clyburn Democratic 84%
SD U.S. Senate Sr Timothy Johnson Democratic 77%
SD U.S. Senate Jr John Thune Republican 26%
TN U.S. House 2 John Duncan, Jr. Republican 21%
TX U.S. House 3 Sam Johnson Republican 11%
TX U.S. House 4 Ralph Hall Republican 11%
TX U.S. House 6 Joe Barton Republican 5%
TX U.S. House 8 Kevin Brady Republican 5%
TX U.S. House 12 Kay Granger Republican 16%
TX U.S. House 13 Mac Thornberry Republican 11%
TX U.S. House 15 Rubén Hinojosa, Sr. Democratic 53%
TX U.S. House 18 Sheila Jackson Lee Democratic 68%
TX U.S. House 21 Lamar Smith Republican 11%
TX U.S. House 29 Gene Green Democratic 53%
TX U.S. House 30 Eddie Johnson Democratic 68%
TX U.S. House 32 Pete Sessions Republican 5%
TX U.S. House 35 Lloyd Doggett Democratic 89%
UT U.S. Senate Sr Orrin Hatch Republican 8%
VA U.S. House 3 Bobby Scott Democratic 68%
VA U.S. House 6 Bob Goodlatte Republican 11%
VA U.S. House 8 Jim Moran, Jr. Democratic 95%
VA U.S. House 10 Frank Wolf Republican 32%
VT U.S. Senate Sr Patrick Leahy Democratic 77%
VT U.S. Senate Jr Bernie Sanders Independent 100%
WA U.S. Senate Sr Patty Murray Democratic 92%
WA U.S. House 4 Doc Hastings Republican 16%
WA U.S. House 7 Jim McDermott Democratic 89%
WA U.S. House 9 Adam Smith Democratic 89%
WI U.S. House 3 Ron Kind Democratic 95%
WI U.S. House 5 Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr. Republican 42%
WI U.S. House 6 Tom Petri Republican 47%
WI Mayor At-Large Tom Barrett Democratic 100%
WV U.S. Senate Sr Jay Rockefeller IV Democratic 69%
WV U.S. House 3 Nick Rahall II Democratic 58%
WY U.S. Senate Sr Mike Enzi Republican 15%
Edmond Spencer Abraham 38%
Gary Ackerman 95%
Daniel Akaka, Sr. 77%
Wayne Allard 15%
Thomas Allen 95%
Bill Archer 11%
Richard Armey 16%
John Ashcroft 15%
Richard Hugh Baker 11%
John Baldacci 79%
Cass Ballenger 5%
James Barcia 53%
Robert Barr, Jr. 11%
Bill Barrett 16%
Roscoe Bartlett 16%
Charlie Bass 58%
Herbert Bateman 5%
Bob Bennett 15%
Kenneth Bentsen, Jr. 68%
Douglas Bereuter 21%
Howard Berman 84%
Marion Berry 26%
Brian Bilbray 68%
Michael Bilirakis 42%
Jeff Bingaman 85%
Rod Blagojevich 100%
Thomas Bliley, Jr. 5%
Sherwood Boehlert 63%
Kit Bond 15%
Henry Bonilla 11%
David Edward Bonior 84%
Mary Bono Mack 20%
Robert Borski, Jr. 79%
Leonard Boswell 42%
Rick Boucher 53%
Allen Boyd, Jr. 26%
John Breaux 54%
Richard Bryan 92%
Ed Bryant 11%
Jim Bunning 11%
Conrad Burns 15%
Dan Burton 5%
Steve Buyer 5%
Robert Byrd 62%
Herbert Callahan 11%
Ben Campbell 23%
Thomas Campbell 58%
Chris Cannon 16%
Julia Carson 89%
Mike Castle 79%
John Chafee 62%
Helen Chenoweth-Hage 11%
William Clay, Sr. 74%
Eva Clayton 84%
Joseph Maxwell Cleland 77%
Robert Clement 58%
Michael Collins 11%
Larry Combest 11%
Gary Condit 47%
Kent Conrad 62%
Merrill Cook 37%
John Cooksey 16%
Jerry Costello 79%
Paul Coverdell 15%
Christopher Cox 32%
William Coyne 89%
Larry Craig 15%
Robert Cramer 21%
Philip Crane 5%
Barbara Cubin 5%
Randall Cunningham 11%
Patsy Ann Danner 21%
Thomas Daschle 77%
James Davis 74%
Thomas Davis III 47%
Bill Delahunt 95%
Thomas DeLay 11%
Peter Deutsch 74%
Lincoln Diaz-Balart 26%
Jay Dickey 11%
Norm Dicks 74%
Julian Dixon 84%
Chris Dodd 92%
Pete Domenici, Jr. 15%
Calvin Dooley 26%
John Doolittle 5%
Byron Dorgan 62%
David Dreier 11%
Jennifer Dunn 21%
Chet Edwards 37%
Vern Ehlers 68%
Bob Ehrlich, Jr. 16%
Jo Ann Emerson 16%
Philip English 37%
Bob Etheridge 58%
Lane Evans 95%
Terry Everett 5%
Thomas Ewing 37%
Russ Feingold 92%
Mark Foley 42%
Michael Patrick Forbes 74%
Harold Ford, Jr. 58%
Vito Fossella, Jr. 36%
Tillie Fowler 11%
Barney Frank 95%
Robert Franks 84%
William Frist 31%
Jonas Frost III 53%
Elton Gallegly 21%
John Ganske 53%
Sam Gejdenson 89%
George Gekas 21%
Richard Andrew Gephardt 79%
Jim Gibbons 21%
Wayne Gilchrest 63%
Paul Gillmor 32%
Benjamin Gilman 79%
Virgil Goode, Jr. 16%
William Goodling 16%
Bart Gordon 53%
Slade Gorton 8%
Porter Goss 58%
Daniel Graham 77%
William Phillip Gramm 15%
Rodney Grams 15%
James Greenwood 68%
Judd Gregg 46%
Gilbert Gutknecht 32%
Tony Hall 68%
James Hansen 16%
J. Dennis Hastert 16%
J.D. Hayworth, Jr. 26%
Joel Hefley 16%
Jesse Helms 0%
Wally Herger, Jr. 11%
Rick Hill 21%
Van Hilleary 16%
Earl Hilliard, Jr. 53%
Maurice Hinchey 100%
David Lee Hobson 21%
Pete Hoekstra 32%
Thomas Holden 42%
Ernest Hollings 62%
Darlene Hooley 95%
Stephen Horn 79%
John Nathan Hostettler 5%
Amory Houghton, Jr. 32%
Kenny Hulshof 32%
Duncan Hunter 16%
Asa Hutchinson 11%
Y. Tim Hutchinson 23%
Kay Hutchison 0%
Henry Hyde 16%
Daniel Inouye 62%
Ernest Istook, Jr. 5%
Jesse Jackson, Jr. 95%
William Jefferson 58%
James Merrill Jeffords 69%
William Lewis Jenkins 5%
Christopher John 11%
Nancy Johnson 84%
Paul Kanjorski 68%
Sue Kelly 84%
Edward Kennedy, Sr. 92%
Patrick Kennedy 100%
Bob Kerrey 77%
Dale Kildee 79%
Carolyn Kilpatrick 74%
Gerald Kleczka 89%
Ronald Klink 53%
Joseph Knollenberg 11%
Herb Kohl 77%
James Kolbe 21%
Dennis Kucinich 89%
Jon Kyl 8%
John LaFalce 95%
Ray LaHood 21%
Nicholas Lampson 84%
Tom Lantos 95%
Stephen Largent 11%
Steve LaTourette 37%
Rick Lazio 74%
James Leach 84%
Jerry Lewis 16%
Ron Lewis 5%
Joe Lieberman 92%
John Linder 5%
William Lipinski 68%
Trent Lott, Sr. 8%
Dick Lugar 15%
William Luther 89%
Connie Mack 8%
James Maloney 79%
Don Manzullo 26%
Matthew Martinez 58%
Frank Mascara 47%
Robert Matsui 84%
Karen McCarthy 84%
Bill McCollum 11%
James McCrery III 16%
John McHugh 37%
Scott McInnis 16%
David McIntosh 16%
Cynthia Ann McKinney 95%
Michael McNulty 79%
Martin Meehan 95%
Carrie Meek 79%
Jack Metcalf 42%
Juanita Millender-McDonald 84%
Dan Miller 37%
David Minge 74%
Patsy Takemoto Mink 84%
John Moakley 74%
Alan Mollohan 37%
Constance Morella 89%
Patrick Moynihan 69%
Frank Murkowski 8%
Jack Murtha 37%
Sue Myrick 5%
George Nethercutt, Jr. 11%
Robert William Ney 16%
Don Nickles 15%
Anne Northup 11%
Charles Norwood, Jr. 5%
James Nussle 21%
Jim Oberstar 63%
Dave Obey 84%
John Olver 95%
Solomon Ortiz, Sr. 26%
Major Owens 95%
Michael Oxley 5%
Ronald Packard 16%
Ron Paul 37%
Donald Payne 89%
Edward Pease 37%
John Peterson 5%
Charles Pickering, Jr. 11%
Owen Pickett 16%
Richard Pombo 11%
Earl Pomeroy 32%
John Edward Porter 79%
Deborah Pryce 16%
Jack Quinn 63%
George Radanovich 5%
James Ramstad 84%
Ralph Regula 21%
Silvestre Reyes 53%
Bob Riley 5%
Lynn Nancy Rivers 100%
Charles Robb 69%
Ciro Rodriguez 53%
Timothy Roemer 68%
James Rogan 26%
William Roth, Jr. 62%
Steve Rothman 95%
Marge Roukema 84%
Jim Ryun 16%
Martin Olav Sabo 95%
Max Sandlin, Jr. 21%
Rick Santorum 15%
Paul Sarbanes 100%
Jim Saxton 74%
Joe Scarborough 32%
John Shadegg 11%
E. Clay Shaw, Jr. 32%
Christopher Shays 95%
E.G. Shuster 5%
Norman Sisisky 16%
Joseph Skeen 5%
Ike Skelton 26%
Gordon Smith 31%
Nick Smith 37%
Bob Smith 15%
Olympia Snowe 54%
Vic Snyder 79%
Mark Souder 21%
Arlen Specter 46%
Floyd Spence 11%
John Spratt, Jr. 74%
Pete Stark 89%
Cliff Stearns 16%
Charles Stenholm 16%
Ted Stevens 8%
Ted Strickland 58%
Bob Stump 11%
Bart Stupak 63%
John Sununu 37%
James Talent 26%
John Tanner 37%
Ellen Tauscher 95%
William Tauzin 5%
Charles Taylor 16%
Gene Taylor 32%
Craig Thomas 15%
William Thomas 5%
Fred Thompson 31%
Karen Thurman 58%
Strom Thurmond 8%
Todd Tiahrt 16%
Robert Torricelli 85%
Ed Towns 89%
James Traficant, Jr. 11%
James Turner 21%
Bruce Vento 95%
James Walsh 63%
Zach Wamp 26%
John Warner 23%
Wesley Watkins 16%
Julius Caesar Watts, Jr. 11%
David Weldon 16%
W. Curtis Weldon 58%
Gerald Weller 32%
Paul Wellstone 100%
Robert Wexler 95%
Bob Weygand 84%
Heather Wilson 25%
Bob Wise, Jr. 58%
Lynn Woolsey 100%
Albert Wynn 68%

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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