Rating Group: Taxpayers for Common Sense

1998 Positions

State Office Name Party Rating
AK U.S. House-At-Large Don Young R 15%
AL U.S. Senate-Sr Richard Shelby R 20%
AL U.S. Senate-Jr Jeff Sessions III R 36%
AL U.S. House-4 Robert Aderholt R 21%
AL U.S. House-6 Spencer Bachus R 26%
AZ U.S. Senate-Sr John McCain III R 48%
AZ U.S. House-5 Matthew Salmon R 56%
AZ U.S. House-7 Ed Pastor D 41%
CA U.S. Senate-Sr Dianne Feinstein D 48%
CA U.S. Senate-Jr Barbara Boxer D 36%
CA U.S. House-11 George Miller D 62%
CA U.S. House-12 Nancy Pelosi D 47%
CA U.S. House-13 Barbara Lee D 69%
CA U.S. House-18 Anna Eshoo D 56%
CA U.S. House-19 Zoe Lofgren D 71%
CA U.S. House-20 Sam Farr D 50%
CA U.S. House-24 Lois Capps D 44%
CA U.S. House-25 Buck McKeon R 12%
CA U.S. House-30 Brad Sherman D 56%
CA U.S. House-33 Henry Waxman D 68%
CA U.S. House-34 Xavier Becerra D 44%
CA U.S. House-39 Ed Royce R 50%
CA U.S. House-40 Lucille Roybal-Allard D 47%
CA U.S. House-42 Ken Calvert R 15%
CA U.S. House-43 Maxine Waters D 56%
CA U.S. House-46 Loretta Sanchez D 53%
CA U.S. House-48 Dana Rohrabacher R 71%
CA Mayor-At-Large Bob Filner D 56%
CO U.S. House-1 Diana DeGette D 62%
CO State Board of Education-4 Robert Schaffer R 44%
CT U.S. House-3 Rosa DeLauro D 50%
FL U.S. House-5 Corrine Brown D 44%
FL U.S. House-7 John Mica R 26%
FL U.S. House-13 Bill Young R 24%
FL U.S. House-20 Alcee Hastings, Sr. D 62%
FL U.S. House-27 Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R 26%
FL Justice of the Supreme Court Charles Canady Other 26%
GA U.S. Senate-Sr Saxby Chambliss R 15%
GA U.S. House-1 Jack Kingston R 41%
GA U.S. House-2 Sanford Bishop, Jr. D 32%
GA U.S. House-5 John Lewis D 56%
GA Governor Nathan Deal R 41%
HI Governor Neil Abercrombie D 44%
IA U.S. Senate-Sr Chuck Grassley R 40%
IA U.S. Senate-Jr Tom Harkin D 52%
IA U.S. House-3 Tom Latham R 18%
ID U.S. Senate-Sr Mike Crapo R 24%
IL U.S. Senate-Sr Dick Durbin D 36%
IL U.S. House-1 Bobby Rush D 59%
IL U.S. House-4 Luis Gutierrez D 62%
IL U.S. House-7 Danny Davis D 59%
IL U.S. House-15 John Shimkus R 18%
IN U.S. Senate-Sr Daniel Coats R 44%
IN U.S. House-1 Pete Visclosky D 50%
KS U.S. Senate-Sr Pat Roberts R 24%
KS U.S. Senate-Jr Jerry Moran R 21%
KS Governor Sam Brownback R 32%
KY U.S. Senate-Sr Mitch McConnell R 24%
KY U.S. House-1 Ed Whitfield R 29%
KY U.S. House-5 Hal Rogers R 18%
LA U.S. Senate-Sr Mary Landrieu D 36%
MA U.S. House-1 Richard Neal D 56%
MA U.S. House-2 Jim McGovern D 53%
MA U.S. House-5 Ed Markey D 47%
MA U.S. House-6 John Tierney D 62%
MD U.S. Senate-Sr Barbara Mikulski D 32%
MD U.S. Senate-Jr Ben Cardin D 62%
MD U.S. House-5 Steny Hoyer D 53%
MD U.S. House-7 Elijah Cummings D 47%
ME U.S. Senate-Sr Susan Collins R 32%
MI U.S. Senate-Sr Carl Levin D 48%
MI U.S. Senate-Jr Debbie Stabenow D 47%
MI U.S. House-4 Dave Camp R 26%
MI U.S. House-6 Fred Upton R 50%
MI U.S. House-9 Sandy Levin D 53%
MI U.S. House-12 John Dingell D 26%
MI U.S. House-13 John Conyers, Jr. D 53%
MN U.S. House-7 Collin Peterson DFL 48%
MO U.S. Senate-Jr Roy Blunt R 18%
MS U.S. Senate-Sr Thad Cochran R 24%
MS U.S. Senate-Jr Roger Wicker R 15%
MS U.S. House-2 Bennie Thompson D 44%
MT U.S. Senate-Sr Max Baucus D 32%
NA Vice President Joe Biden, Jr. D 36%
NA U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel R 28%
NA U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry D 48%
NC U.S. Senate-Sr Richard Burr R 26%
NC U.S. House-3 Walter Jones, Jr. R 47%
NC U.S. House-4 David Price D 50%
NC U.S. House-6 Howard Coble R 35%
NC U.S. House-7 Mike McIntyre D 41%
NC U.S. House-12 Mel Watt D 44%
NJ U.S. Senate-Sr Frank Lautenberg D 44%
NJ U.S. Senate-Jr Bob Menendez D 50%
NJ U.S. House-1 Rob Andrews D 71%
NJ U.S. House-2 Frank LoBiondo R 50%
NJ U.S. House-4 Chris Smith R 44%
NJ U.S. House-6 Frank Pallone, Jr. D 53%
NJ U.S. House-9 Bill Pascrell, Jr. D 56%
NJ U.S. House-11 Rodney Frelinghuysen R 35%
NV U.S. Senate-Sr Harry Reid D 48%
NY U.S. Senate-Sr Chuck Schumer D 56%
NY U.S. House-2 Pete King R 21%
NY U.S. House-4 Carolyn McCarthy D 47%
NY U.S. House-5 Gregory Meeks D 48%
NY U.S. House-7 Nydia Velázquez D 56%
NY U.S. House-10 Jerry Nadler D 62%
NY U.S. House-12 Carolyn Maloney D 59%
NY U.S. House-13 Charlie Rangel D 44%
NY U.S. House-15 José Serrano D 41%
NY U.S. House-16 Eliot Engel D 50%
NY U.S. House-17 Nita Lowey D 56%
NY U.S. House-25 Louise Slaughter D 41%
OH U.S. Senate-Sr Sherrod Brown D 82%
OH U.S. Senate-Jr Rob Portman R 56%
OH U.S. House-1 Steve Chabot R 76%
OH U.S. House-8 John Boehner R 21%
OH U.S. House-9 Marcy Kaptur D 50%
OH Governor John Kasich R 47%
OH State Senate-28 Thomas Sawyer D 56%
OH Attorney General Michael DeWine R 24%
OK U.S. Senate-Sr Jim Inhofe R 40%
OK U.S. Senate-Jr Thomas Coburn R 47%
OK U.S. House-3 Frank Lucas R 18%
OR U.S. Senate-Sr Ron Wyden D 60%
OR U.S. House-3 Earl Blumenauer D 62%
OR U.S. House-4 Peter DeFazio D 68%
PA U.S. House-1 Bob Brady D 50%
PA U.S. House-2 Chaka Fattah, Sr. D 50%
PA U.S. House-14 Mike Doyle, Jr. D 44%
PA U.S. House-16 Joe Pitts R 18%
RI U.S. Senate-Sr Jack Reed D 48%
SC U.S. Senate-Sr Lindsey Graham R 38%
SC U.S. House-1 Mark Sanford, Jr. R 76%
SC U.S. House-6 Jim Clyburn D 44%
SD U.S. Senate-Sr Timothy Johnson D 52%
SD U.S. Senate-Jr John Thune R 12%
TN U.S. House-2 John Duncan, Jr. R 56%
TX U.S. House-3 Sam Johnson R 26%
TX U.S. House-4 Ralph Hall R 35%
TX U.S. House-6 Joe Barton R 32%
TX U.S. House-8 Kevin Brady R 18%
TX U.S. House-12 Kay Granger R 12%
TX U.S. House-13 Mac Thornberry R 32%
TX U.S. House-15 Rubén Hinojosa, Sr. D 38%
TX U.S. House-18 Sheila Jackson Lee D 41%
TX U.S. House-21 Lamar Smith R 12%
TX U.S. House-29 Gene Green D 29%
TX U.S. House-30 Eddie Johnson D 35%
TX U.S. House-32 Pete Sessions R 32%
TX U.S. House-35 Lloyd Doggett D 74%
UT U.S. Senate-Sr Orrin Hatch R 28%
VA U.S. House-3 Bobby Scott D 41%
VA U.S. House-6 Bob Goodlatte R 32%
VA U.S. House-8 Jim Moran, Jr. D 56%
VA U.S. House-10 Frank Wolf R 50%
VT U.S. Senate-Sr Patrick Leahy D 52%
VT U.S. Senate-Jr Bernie Sanders I 62%
WA U.S. Senate-Sr Patty Murray D 44%
WA U.S. House-4 Doc Hastings R 24%
WA U.S. House-7 Jim McDermott D 56%
WA U.S. House-9 Adam Smith D 65%
WI U.S. House-3 Ron Kind D 85%
WI U.S. House-5 Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr. R 74%
WI U.S. House-6 Tom Petri R 62%
WI Mayor-At-Large Tom Barrett D 88%
WV U.S. Senate-Sr Jay Rockefeller IV D 40%
WV U.S. House-3 Nick Rahall II D 38%
WY U.S. Senate-Sr Mike Enzi R 44%
Edmond Spencer Abraham Other 48%
Gary Ackerman Other 47%
Daniel Akaka, Sr. Other 16%
Wayne Allard Other 40%
Thomas Allen Other 56%
Bill Archer Other 35%
Richard Armey Other 24%
John Ashcroft Other 60%
Henry Scott Baesler Other 41%
Richard Hugh Baker Other 15%
John Baldacci Other 50%
Cass Ballenger Other 35%
James Barcia Other 35%
Robert Barr, Jr. Other 47%
Bill Barrett Other 24%
Roscoe Bartlett Other 38%
Charlie Bass Other 41%
Herbert Bateman Other 12%
Bob Bennett Other 24%
Kenneth Bentsen, Jr. Other 53%
Douglas Bereuter Other 12%
Howard Berman Other 44%
Marion Berry Other 44%
Brian Bilbray Other 53%
Michael Bilirakis Other 35%
Jeff Bingaman Other 40%
Rod Blagojevich Other 56%
Thomas Bliley, Jr. Other 15%
Sherwood Boehlert Other 38%
Kit Bond Other 28%
Henry Bonilla Other 24%
David Edward Bonior Other 53%
Mary Bono Mack Other 21%
Robert Borski, Jr. Other 50%
Leonard Boswell Other 29%
Rick Boucher Other 38%
Allen Boyd, Jr. Other 41%
John Breaux Other 28%
George Brown, Jr. Other 44%
Richard Bryan Other 48%
Ed Bryant Other 18%
Dale Bumpers Other 64%
Jim Bunning Other 18%
Conrad Burns Other 24%
Dan Burton Other 18%
Steve Buyer Other 18%
Robert Byrd Other 52%
Herbert Callahan Other 12%
Ben Campbell Other 24%
Thomas Campbell Other 74%
Chris Cannon Other 21%
Julia Carson Other 59%
Mike Castle Other 65%
John Chafee Other 32%
Helen Chenoweth-Hage Other 29%
Jon Lynn Christensen Other 44%
William Clay, Sr. Other 44%
Eva Clayton Other 50%
Joseph Maxwell Cleland Other 36%
Robert Clement Other 32%
Michael Collins Other 32%
Larry Combest Other 15%
Gary Condit Other 44%
Kent Conrad Other 40%
Merrill Cook Other 24%
John Cooksey Other 15%
Jerry Costello Other 62%
Paul Coverdell Other 24%
Christopher Cox Other 56%
William Coyne Other 56%
Larry Craig Other 32%
Robert Cramer Other 29%
Philip Crane Other 44%
Barbara Cubin Other 29%
Randall Cunningham Other 21%
Alfonse D'Amato Other 16%
Patsy Ann Danner Other 41%
Thomas Daschle Other 32%
James Davis Other 59%
Thomas Davis III Other 24%
Bill Delahunt Other 56%
Thomas DeLay Other 15%
Peter Deutsch Other 62%
Lincoln Diaz-Balart Other 21%
Jay Dickey Other 21%
Norm Dicks Other 44%
Julian Dixon Other 38%
Chris Dodd Other 40%
Pete Domenici, Jr. Other 20%
Calvin Dooley Other 47%
John Doolittle Other 18%
Byron Dorgan Other 40%
David Dreier Other 18%
Jennifer Dunn Other 21%
Chet Edwards Other 47%
Vern Ehlers Other 41%
Bob Ehrlich, Jr. Other 32%
Jo Ann Emerson Other 24%
Philip English Other 38%
John Ensign Other 53%
Bob Etheridge Other 44%
Lane Evans Other 56%
Terry Everett Other 21%
Thomas Ewing Other 18%
Duncan McLauchlin Faircloth Other 36%
Harris Fawell Other 32%
Victor Fazio Other 41%
Russ Feingold Other 84%
Mark Foley Other 29%
Michael Patrick Forbes Other 41%
Harold Ford, Jr. Other 35%
Wendell Ford Other 20%
Vito Fossella, Jr. Other 35%
Tillie Fowler Other 21%
Jon David Fox Other 41%
Barney Frank Other 59%
Robert Franks Other 48%
William Frist Other 24%
Jonas Frost III Other 26%
Elizabeth Furse Other 44%
Elton Gallegly Other 15%
John Ganske Other 38%
Sam Gejdenson Other 47%
George Gekas Other 24%
Richard Andrew Gephardt Other 50%
Jim Gibbons Other 32%
Wayne Gilchrest Other 21%
Paul Gillmor Other 24%
Benjamin Gilman Other 24%
John Glenn Other 32%
Henry Gonzalez Other 12%
Virgil Goode, Jr. Other 35%
William Goodling Other 32%
Bart Gordon Other 44%
Slade Gorton Other 24%
Porter Goss Other 47%
Daniel Graham Other 44%
William Phillip Gramm Other 40%
Rodney Grams Other 48%
James Greenwood Other 38%
Judd Gregg Other 44%
Gilbert Gutknecht Other 26%
Tony Hall Other 50%
Lee Hamilton Other 44%
James Hansen Other 18%
Jane Harman Other 35%
J. Dennis Hastert Other 15%
J.D. Hayworth, Jr. Other 41%
Joel Hefley Other 39%
W.G. Hefner Other 32%
Jesse Helms Other 20%
Wally Herger, Jr. Other 26%
Rick Hill Other 32%
Van Hilleary Other 32%
Earl Hilliard, Jr. Other 50%
Maurice Hinchey Other 53%
David Lee Hobson Other 44%
Pete Hoekstra Other 50%
Thomas Holden Other 47%
Ernest Hollings Other 32%
Darlene Hooley Other 44%
Stephen Horn Other 35%
John Nathan Hostettler Other 29%
Amory Houghton, Jr. Other 21%
Kenny Hulshof Other 32%
Duncan Hunter Other 24%
Asa Hutchinson Other 35%
Y. Tim Hutchinson Other 52%
Kay Hutchison Other 36%
Henry Hyde Other 26%
Bob Inglis, Sr. Other 65%
Daniel Inouye Other 24%
Ernest Istook, Jr. Other 24%
Jesse Jackson, Jr. Other 59%
William Jefferson Other 38%
James Merrill Jeffords Other 44%
William Lewis Jenkins Other 12%
Christopher John Other 26%
Jay Johnson Other 56%
Nancy Johnson Other 41%
Paul Kanjorski Other 59%
Sue Kelly Other 38%
Dirk Kempthorne Other 40%
Edward Kennedy, Sr. Other 44%
Joseph Kennedy II Other 44%
Patrick Kennedy Other 65%
Barbara Bailey Kennelly Other 41%
Bob Kerrey Other 40%
Dale Kildee Other 53%
Carolyn Kilpatrick Other 47%
Jay Kim Other 15%
Gerald Kleczka Other 68%
Ronald Klink Other 53%
Scott Klug Other 47%
Joseph Knollenberg Other 15%
Herb Kohl Other 68%
James Kolbe Other 35%
Dennis Kucinich Other 59%
Jon Kyl Other 52%
John LaFalce Other 56%
Ray LaHood Other 29%
Nicholas Lampson Other 41%
Tom Lantos Other 50%
Stephen Largent Other 50%
Steve LaTourette Other 35%
Rick Lazio Other 29%
James Leach Other 35%
Jerry Lewis Other 12%
Ron Lewis Other 18%
Joe Lieberman Other 36%
John Linder Other 18%
William Lipinski Other 53%
Robert Livingston Other 18%
Trent Lott, Sr. Other 20%
Dick Lugar Other 32%
William Luther Other 74%
Connie Mack Other 24%
James Maloney Other 50%
Thomas Manton Other 41%
Don Manzullo Other 35%
Matthew Martinez Other 38%
Frank Mascara Other 44%
Robert Matsui Other 41%
Karen McCarthy Other 68%
Bill McCollum Other 38%
James McCrery III Other 10%
Joseph McDade Other 18%
Paul McHale Other 47%
John McHugh Other 24%
Scott McInnis Other 29%
David McIntosh Other 32%
Cynthia Ann McKinney Other 65%
Michael McNulty Other 44%
Martin Meehan Other 65%
Carrie Meek Other 41%
Jack Metcalf Other 32%
Juanita Millender-McDonald Other 41%
Dan Miller Other 53%
David Minge Other 74%
Patsy Takemoto Mink Other 50%
John Moakley Other 44%
Alan Mollohan Other 26%
Constance Morella Other 68%
Carol Moseley Braun Other 44%
Patrick Moynihan Other 52%
Frank Murkowski Other 28%
Jack Murtha Other 29%
Sue Myrick Other 47%
George Nethercutt, Jr. Other 38%
Mark Neumann Other 71%
Robert William Ney Other 26%
Don Nickles Other 48%
Anne Northup Other 26%
Charles Norwood, Jr. Other 21%
James Nussle Other 21%
Jim Oberstar Other 41%
Dave Obey Other 68%
John Olver Other 56%
Solomon Ortiz, Sr. Other 26%
Major Owens Other 59%
Michael Oxley Other 12%
Ronald Packard Other 12%
Michael Pappas Other 44%
Mike Parker Other 21%
Ron Paul Other 68%
William Paxon Other 18%
Donald Payne Other 53%
Edward Pease Other 29%
John Peterson Other 26%
Charles Pickering, Jr. Other 18%
Owen Pickett Other 24%
Richard Pombo Other 21%
Earl Pomeroy Other 38%
John Edward Porter Other 62%
Glenn Poshard Other 44%
Deborah Pryce Other 18%
Jack Quinn Other 35%
George Radanovich Other 29%
James Ramstad Other 56%
Bill Redmond Other 9%
Ralph Regula Other 21%
Silvestre Reyes Other 24%
Frank Duncan Riggs Other 26%
Bob Riley Other 15%
Lynn Nancy Rivers Other 74%
Charles Robb Other 64%
Ciro Rodriguez Other 38%
Timothy Roemer Other 47%
James Rogan Other 41%
William Roth, Jr. Other 32%
Steve Rothman Other 53%
Marge Roukema Other 41%
Jim Ryun Other 21%
Martin Olav Sabo Other 48%
Max Sandlin, Jr. Other 21%
Rick Santorum Other 40%
Paul Sarbanes Other 32%
Jim Saxton Other 32%
Joe Scarborough Other 62%
Daniel Schaefer Other 18%
John Shadegg Other 44%
E. Clay Shaw, Jr. Other 26%
Christopher Shays Other 82%
E.G. Shuster Other 21%
Norman Sisisky Other 27%
David Skaggs Other 65%
Joseph Skeen Other 9%
Ike Skelton Other 29%
Gordon Smith Other 32%
Linda Smith Other 35%
Nick Smith Other 35%
Robert Smith Other 15%
Bob Smith Other 56%
Vincent Snowbarger Other 21%
Olympia Snowe Other 36%
Vic Snyder Other 47%
Gerald B.H. Solomon Other 15%
Mark Souder Other 42%
Arlen Specter Other 36%
Floyd Spence Other 18%
John Spratt, Jr. Other 47%
Pete Stark Other 71%
Cliff Stearns Other 35%
Charles Stenholm Other 38%
Ted Stevens Other 28%
Louis Stokes Other 47%
Ted Strickland Other 59%
Bob Stump Other 35%
Bart Stupak Other 50%
John Sununu Other 38%
James Talent Other 21%
John Tanner Other 35%
Ellen Tauscher Other 38%
William Tauzin Other 9%
Charles Taylor Other 18%
Gene Taylor Other 47%
Craig Thomas Other 32%
William Thomas Other 15%
Fred Thompson Other 44%
Karen Thurman Other 44%
Strom Thurmond Other 28%
Todd Tiahrt Other 24%
Esteban Edward Torres Other 38%
Robert Torricelli Other 44%
Ed Towns Other 44%
James Traficant, Jr. Other 29%
James Turner Other 24%
Bruce Vento Other 68%
James Walsh Other 21%
Zach Wamp Other 50%
John Warner Other 44%
Wesley Watkins Other 18%
Julius Caesar Watts, Jr. Other 18%
David Weldon Other 24%
W. Curtis Weldon Other 41%
Gerald Weller Other 26%
Paul Wellstone Other 64%
Robert Wexler Other 65%
Bob Weygand Other 53%
Rick White Other 38%
Heather Wilson Other 19%
Bob Wise, Jr. Other 24%
Lynn Woolsey Other 56%
Albert Wynn Other 44%
Sidney Yates Other 59%

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.