Rating Group: Taxpayers for Common Sense

1997 Positions

State Office Name Party Rating
AK U.S. House-At-Large Don Young R 6%
AL U.S. Senate-Sr Richard Shelby R 31%
AL U.S. Senate-Jr Jeff Sessions III R 34%
AL U.S. House-4 Robert Aderholt R 17%
AL U.S. House-6 Spencer Bachus R 31%
AZ U.S. Senate-Sr John McCain III R 50%
AZ U.S. House-5 Matthew Salmon R 44%
AZ U.S. House-7 Ed Pastor D 36%
CA U.S. Senate-Sr Dianne Feinstein D 50%
CA U.S. Senate-Jr Barbara Boxer D 53%
CA U.S. House-11 George Miller D 56%
CA U.S. House-12 Nancy Pelosi D 56%
CA U.S. House-18 Anna Eshoo D 72%
CA U.S. House-19 Zoe Lofgren D 53%
CA U.S. House-20 Sam Farr D 53%
CA U.S. House-25 Buck McKeon R 19%
CA U.S. House-30 Brad Sherman D 44%
CA U.S. House-33 Henry Waxman D 75%
CA U.S. House-34 Xavier Becerra D 53%
CA U.S. House-39 Ed Royce R 69%
CA U.S. House-40 Lucille Roybal-Allard D 53%
CA U.S. House-42 Ken Calvert R 8%
CA U.S. House-43 Maxine Waters D 47%
CA U.S. House-46 Loretta Sanchez D 42%
CA U.S. House-48 Dana Rohrabacher R 75%
CA Mayor-At-Large Bob Filner D 53%
CO U.S. House-1 Diana DeGette D 64%
CO State Board of Education-4 Robert Schaffer R 33%
CT U.S. House-3 Rosa DeLauro D 58%
FL U.S. House-5 Corrine Brown D 28%
FL U.S. House-7 John Mica R 17%
FL U.S. House-13 Bill Young R 14%
FL U.S. House-20 Alcee Hastings, Sr. D 42%
FL U.S. House-27 Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R 39%
FL Justice of the Supreme Court Charles Canady Other 25%
GA U.S. Senate-Sr Saxby Chambliss R 25%
GA U.S. House-1 Jack Kingston R 47%
GA U.S. House-2 Sanford Bishop, Jr. D 8%
GA U.S. House-5 John Lewis D 64%
GA Governor Nathan Deal R 36%
HI Governor Neil Abercrombie D 44%
IA U.S. Senate-Sr Chuck Grassley R 41%
IA U.S. Senate-Jr Tom Harkin D 63%
IA U.S. House-3 Tom Latham R 33%
ID U.S. Senate-Sr Mike Crapo R 25%
IL U.S. Senate-Sr Dick Durbin D 56%
IL U.S. House-1 Bobby Rush D 53%
IL U.S. House-4 Luis Gutierrez D 61%
IL U.S. House-7 Danny Davis D 50%
IL U.S. House-15 John Shimkus R 22%
IN U.S. Senate-Sr Daniel Coats R 50%
IN U.S. House-1 Pete Visclosky D 44%
KS U.S. Senate-Sr Pat Roberts R 28%
KS U.S. Senate-Jr Jerry Moran R 25%
KS Governor Sam Brownback R 44%
KY U.S. Senate-Sr Mitch McConnell R 28%
KY U.S. House-1 Ed Whitfield R 31%
KY U.S. House-5 Hal Rogers R 6%
LA U.S. Senate-Sr Mary Landrieu D 38%
MA U.S. House-1 Richard Neal D 69%
MA U.S. House-2 Jim McGovern D 67%
MA U.S. House-5 Ed Markey D 78%
MA U.S. House-6 John Tierney D 78%
MD U.S. Senate-Sr Barbara Mikulski D 31%
MD U.S. Senate-Jr Ben Cardin D 50%
MD U.S. House-5 Steny Hoyer D 19%
MD U.S. House-7 Elijah Cummings D 53%
ME U.S. Senate-Sr Susan Collins R 47%
MI U.S. Senate-Sr Carl Levin D 38%
MI U.S. Senate-Jr Debbie Stabenow D 61%
MI U.S. House-4 Dave Camp R 42%
MI U.S. House-6 Fred Upton R 69%
MI U.S. House-9 Sandy Levin D 61%
MI U.S. House-12 John Dingell D 36%
MI U.S. House-13 John Conyers, Jr. D 64%
MN U.S. House-7 Collin Peterson DFL 58%
MO U.S. Senate-Jr Roy Blunt R 28%
MS U.S. Senate-Sr Thad Cochran R 19%
MS U.S. Senate-Jr Roger Wicker R 11%
MS U.S. House-2 Bennie Thompson D 25%
MT U.S. Senate-Sr Max Baucus D 31%
NA Vice President Joe Biden, Jr. D 44%
NA U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel R 25%
NA U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry D 53%
NC U.S. Senate-Sr Richard Burr R 25%
NC U.S. House-3 Walter Jones, Jr. R 31%
NC U.S. House-4 David Price D 47%
NC U.S. House-6 Howard Coble R 56%
NC U.S. House-7 Mike McIntyre D 25%
NC U.S. House-12 Mel Watt D 44%
NJ U.S. Senate-Sr Frank Lautenberg D 56%
NJ U.S. Senate-Jr Bob Menendez D 53%
NJ U.S. House-1 Rob Andrews D 64%
NJ U.S. House-2 Frank LoBiondo R 64%
NJ U.S. House-4 Chris Smith R 42%
NJ U.S. House-6 Frank Pallone, Jr. D 67%
NJ U.S. House-9 Bill Pascrell, Jr. D 58%
NJ U.S. House-11 Rodney Frelinghuysen R 44%
NV U.S. Senate-Sr Harry Reid D 41%
NY U.S. Senate-Sr Chuck Schumer D 69%
NY U.S. House-2 Pete King R 14%
NY U.S. House-4 Carolyn McCarthy D 61%
NY U.S. House-7 Nydia Velázquez D 67%
NY U.S. House-10 Jerry Nadler D 72%
NY U.S. House-12 Carolyn Maloney D 64%
NY U.S. House-13 Charlie Rangel D 50%
NY U.S. House-15 José Serrano D 56%
NY U.S. House-16 Eliot Engel D 50%
NY U.S. House-17 Nita Lowey D 69%
NY U.S. House-25 Louise Slaughter D 53%
OH U.S. Senate-Sr Sherrod Brown D 75%
OH U.S. Senate-Jr Rob Portman R 58%
OH U.S. House-1 Steve Chabot R 81%
OH U.S. House-8 John Boehner R 19%
OH U.S. House-9 Marcy Kaptur D 36%
OH Governor John Kasich R 67%
OH State Senate-28 Thomas Sawyer D 42%
OH Attorney General Michael DeWine R 38%
OK U.S. Senate-Sr Jim Inhofe R 34%
OK U.S. Senate-Jr Thomas Coburn R 44%
OK U.S. House-3 Frank Lucas R 14%
OR U.S. Senate-Sr Ron Wyden D 69%
OR U.S. House-3 Earl Blumenauer D 67%
OR U.S. House-4 Peter DeFazio D 75%
PA U.S. House-2 Chaka Fattah, Sr. D 56%
PA U.S. House-14 Mike Doyle, Jr. D 56%
PA U.S. House-16 Joe Pitts R 33%
RI U.S. Senate-Sr Jack Reed D 59%
SC U.S. Senate-Sr Lindsey Graham R 19%
SC U.S. House-1 Mark Sanford, Jr. R 78%
SC U.S. House-6 Jim Clyburn D 33%
SD U.S. Senate-Sr Timothy Johnson D 47%
SD U.S. Senate-Jr John Thune R 31%
TN U.S. House-2 John Duncan, Jr. R 72%
TX U.S. House-3 Sam Johnson R 19%
TX U.S. House-4 Ralph Hall R 31%
TX U.S. House-6 Joe Barton R 25%
TX U.S. House-8 Kevin Brady R 22%
TX U.S. House-12 Kay Granger R 19%
TX U.S. House-13 Mac Thornberry R 19%
TX U.S. House-15 Rubén Hinojosa, Sr. D 17%
TX U.S. House-18 Sheila Jackson Lee D 33%
TX U.S. House-21 Lamar Smith R 25%
TX U.S. House-29 Gene Green D 36%
TX U.S. House-30 Eddie Johnson D 17%
TX U.S. House-32 Pete Sessions R 25%
TX U.S. House-35 Lloyd Doggett D 72%
UT U.S. Senate-Sr Orrin Hatch R 22%
VA U.S. House-3 Bobby Scott D 36%
VA U.S. House-6 Bob Goodlatte R 50%
VA U.S. House-8 Jim Moran, Jr. D 47%
VA U.S. House-10 Frank Wolf R 28%
VT U.S. Senate-Sr Patrick Leahy D 56%
VT U.S. Senate-Jr Bernie Sanders I 72%
WA U.S. Senate-Sr Patty Murray D 41%
WA U.S. House-4 Doc Hastings R 19%
WA U.S. House-7 Jim McDermott D 61%
WA U.S. House-9 Adam Smith D 53%
WI U.S. House-3 Ron Kind D 83%
WI U.S. House-5 Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr. R 83%
WI U.S. House-6 Tom Petri R 72%
WI Mayor-At-Large Tom Barrett D 86%
WV U.S. Senate-Sr Jay Rockefeller IV D 56%
WV U.S. House-3 Nick Rahall II D 28%
WY U.S. Senate-Sr Mike Enzi R 31%
Edmond Spencer Abraham Other 38%
Gary Ackerman Other 33%
Daniel Akaka, Sr. Other 31%
Wayne Allard Other 38%
Thomas Allen Other 61%
Bill Archer Other 33%
Richard Armey Other 36%
John Ashcroft Other 44%
Henry Scott Baesler Other 19%
Richard Hugh Baker Other 8%
John Baldacci Other 58%
Cass Ballenger Other 28%
James Barcia Other 42%
Robert Barr, Jr. Other 42%
Bill Barrett Other 19%
Roscoe Bartlett Other 28%
Charlie Bass Other 58%
Herbert Bateman Other 6%
Bob Bennett Other 22%
Kenneth Bentsen, Jr. Other 39%
Douglas Bereuter Other 28%
Howard Berman Other 42%
Marion Berry Other 36%
Brian Bilbray Other 39%
Michael Bilirakis Other 31%
Jeff Bingaman Other 34%
Rod Blagojevich Other 67%
Thomas Bliley, Jr. Other 25%
Sherwood Boehlert Other 31%
Kit Bond Other 19%
Henry Bonilla Other 11%
David Edward Bonior Other 53%
Robert Borski, Jr. Other 44%
Leonard Boswell Other 36%
Rick Boucher Other 31%
Allen Boyd, Jr. Other 22%
John Breaux Other 28%
George Brown, Jr. Other 44%
Richard Bryan Other 56%
Ed Bryant Other 28%
Dale Bumpers Other 63%
Jim Bunning Other 11%
Conrad Burns Other 22%
Dan Burton Other 28%
Steve Buyer Other 14%
Robert Byrd Other 44%
Herbert Callahan Other 25%
Ben Campbell Other 25%
Thomas Campbell Other 75%
Chris Cannon Other 39%
Julia Carson Other 64%
Mike Castle Other 61%
John Chafee Other 44%
Helen Chenoweth-Hage Other 25%
Jon Lynn Christensen Other 47%
William Clay, Sr. Other 47%
Eva Clayton Other 44%
Joseph Maxwell Cleland Other 28%
Robert Clement Other 36%
Michael Collins Other 42%
Larry Combest Other 25%
Gary Condit Other 61%
Kent Conrad Other 50%
Merrill Cook Other 33%
John Cooksey Other 17%
Jerry Costello Other 58%
Paul Coverdell Other 22%
Christopher Cox Other 50%
William Coyne Other 61%
Larry Craig Other 34%
Robert Cramer Other 17%
Philip Crane Other 44%
Barbara Cubin Other 17%
Randall Cunningham Other 33%
Alfonse D'Amato Other 22%
Patsy Ann Danner Other 50%
Thomas Daschle Other 28%
James Davis Other 53%
Thomas Davis III Other 25%
Bill Delahunt Other 67%
Thomas DeLay Other 31%
Peter Deutsch Other 44%
Lincoln Diaz-Balart Other 17%
Jay Dickey Other 22%
Norm Dicks Other 25%
Julian Dixon Other 25%
Chris Dodd Other 47%
Pete Domenici, Jr. Other 22%
Calvin Dooley Other 33%
John Doolittle Other 19%
Byron Dorgan Other 38%
David Dreier Other 22%
Jennifer Dunn Other 28%
Chet Edwards Other 19%
Vern Ehlers Other 47%
Bob Ehrlich, Jr. Other 42%
Jo Ann Emerson Other 17%
Philip English Other 31%
John Ensign Other 61%
Bob Etheridge Other 28%
Lane Evans Other 64%
Terry Everett Other 14%
Thomas Ewing Other 17%
Duncan McLauchlin Faircloth Other 34%
Harris Fawell Other 50%
Victor Fazio Other 19%
Russ Feingold Other 81%
Mark Foley Other 53%
Michael Patrick Forbes Other 28%
Harold Ford, Jr. Other 42%
Wendell Ford Other 31%
Tillie Fowler Other 28%
Jon David Fox Other 56%
Barney Frank Other 72%
Robert Franks Other 64%
William Frist Other 34%
Jonas Frost III Other 11%
Elizabeth Furse Other 56%
Elton Gallegly Other 19%
John Ganske Other 58%
Sam Gejdenson Other 56%
George Gekas Other 25%
Richard Andrew Gephardt Other 39%
Jim Gibbons Other 31%
Wayne Gilchrest Other 22%
Paul Gillmor Other 31%
Benjamin Gilman Other 28%
John Glenn Other 56%
Henry Gonzalez Other 19%
Virgil Goode, Jr. Other 39%
William Goodling Other 42%
Bart Gordon Other 31%
Slade Gorton Other 31%
Porter Goss Other 44%
Daniel Graham Other 44%
William Phillip Gramm Other 44%
Rodney Grams Other 34%
James Greenwood Other 50%
Judd Gregg Other 66%
Gilbert Gutknecht Other 50%
Tony Hall Other 44%
Lee Hamilton Other 42%
James Hansen Other 17%
Jane Harman Other 44%
J. Dennis Hastert Other 25%
J.D. Hayworth, Jr. Other 42%
Joel Hefley Other 42%
W.G. Hefner Other 25%
Jesse Helms Other 31%
Wally Herger, Jr. Other 19%
Rick Hill Other 25%
Van Hilleary Other 31%
Earl Hilliard, Jr. Other 36%
Maurice Hinchey Other 61%
David Lee Hobson Other 31%
Pete Hoekstra Other 75%
Thomas Holden Other 22%
Ernest Hollings Other 47%
Darlene Hooley Other 69%
Stephen Horn Other 44%
John Nathan Hostettler Other 36%
Amory Houghton, Jr. Other 25%
Kenny Hulshof Other 36%
Duncan Hunter Other 22%
Asa Hutchinson Other 36%
Y. Tim Hutchinson Other 44%
Kay Hutchison Other 41%
Henry Hyde Other 17%
Bob Inglis, Sr. Other 53%
Daniel Inouye Other 19%
Ernest Istook, Jr. Other 33%
Jesse Jackson, Jr. Other 61%
William Jefferson Other 17%
James Merrill Jeffords Other 41%
William Lewis Jenkins Other 14%
Christopher John Other 14%
Jay Johnson Other 39%
Nancy Johnson Other 31%
Paul Kanjorski Other 61%
Sue Kelly Other 47%
Dirk Kempthorne Other 31%
Edward Kennedy, Sr. Other 56%
Joseph Kennedy II Other 75%
Patrick Kennedy Other 53%
Barbara Bailey Kennelly Other 50%
Bob Kerrey Other 59%
Dale Kildee Other 47%
Carolyn Kilpatrick Other 47%
Jay Kim Other 17%
Gerald Kleczka Other 67%
Ronald Klink Other 31%
Scott Klug Other 83%
Joseph Knollenberg Other 17%
Herb Kohl Other 78%
James Kolbe Other 31%
Dennis Kucinich Other 64%
Jon Kyl Other 50%
John LaFalce Other 58%
Ray LaHood Other 8%
Nicholas Lampson Other 44%
Tom Lantos Other 53%
Stephen Largent Other 50%
Steve LaTourette Other 19%
Rick Lazio Other 50%
James Leach Other 64%
Jerry Lewis Other 8%
Ron Lewis Other 11%
Joe Lieberman Other 56%
John Linder Other 31%
William Lipinski Other 36%
Robert Livingston Other 14%
Trent Lott, Sr. Other 31%
Dick Lugar Other 38%
William Luther Other 92%
Connie Mack Other 31%
James Maloney Other 56%
Thomas Manton Other 22%
Don Manzullo Other 42%
Matthew Martinez Other 17%
Frank Mascara Other 42%
Robert Matsui Other 39%
Karen McCarthy Other 69%
Bill McCollum Other 28%
James McCrery III Other 11%
Joseph McDade Other 14%
Paul McHale Other 53%
John McHugh Other 28%
Scott McInnis Other 33%
David McIntosh Other 39%
Cynthia Ann McKinney Other 69%
Michael McNulty Other 58%
Martin Meehan Other 89%
Carrie Meek Other 25%
Jack Metcalf Other 28%
Juanita Millender-McDonald Other 36%
Dan Miller Other 64%
David Minge Other 72%
Patsy Takemoto Mink Other 50%
John Moakley Other 56%
Alan Mollohan Other 6%
Constance Morella Other 75%
Carol Moseley Braun Other 53%
Patrick Moynihan Other 50%
Frank Murkowski Other 19%
Jack Murtha Other 8%
Sue Myrick Other 28%
George Nethercutt, Jr. Other 25%
Mark Neumann Other 69%
Robert William Ney Other 25%
Don Nickles Other 44%
Anne Northup Other 17%
Charles Norwood, Jr. Other 42%
James Nussle Other 47%
Jim Oberstar Other 39%
Dave Obey Other 69%
John Olver Other 69%
Solomon Ortiz, Sr. Other 11%
Major Owens Other 61%
Michael Oxley Other 17%
Ronald Packard Other 11%
Michael Pappas Other 47%
Mike Parker Other 17%
Ron Paul Other 94%
William Paxon Other 39%
Donald Payne Other 61%
Edward Pease Other 28%
John Peterson Other 14%
Charles Pickering, Jr. Other 19%
Owen Pickett Other 19%
Richard Pombo Other 14%
Earl Pomeroy Other 31%
John Edward Porter Other 64%
Glenn Poshard Other 58%
Deborah Pryce Other 36%
Jack Quinn Other 33%
George Radanovich Other 22%
James Ramstad Other 89%
Bill Redmond Other 15%
Ralph Regula Other 22%
Silvestre Reyes Other 14%
Frank Duncan Riggs Other 33%
Bob Riley Other 14%
Lynn Nancy Rivers Other 78%
Charles Robb Other 59%
Ciro Rodriguez Other 19%
Timothy Roemer Other 64%
James Rogan Other 31%
William Roth, Jr. Other 38%
Steve Rothman Other 53%
Marge Roukema Other 69%
Jim Ryun Other 39%
Martin Olav Sabo Other 53%
Max Sandlin, Jr. Other 14%
Rick Santorum Other 34%
Paul Sarbanes Other 34%
Jim Saxton Other 22%
Joe Scarborough Other 47%
Daniel Schaefer Other 22%
John Shadegg Other 42%
E. Clay Shaw, Jr. Other 36%
Christopher Shays Other 89%
E.G. Shuster Other 28%
Norman Sisisky Other 23%
David Skaggs Other 47%
Joseph Skeen Other 11%
Ike Skelton Other 22%
Gordon Smith Other 38%
Linda Smith Other 41%
Nick Smith Other 53%
Robert Smith Other 11%
Bob Smith Other 41%
Vincent Snowbarger Other 31%
Olympia Snowe Other 38%
Vic Snyder Other 42%
Gerald B.H. Solomon Other 25%
Mark Souder Other 44%
Arlen Specter Other 28%
Floyd Spence Other 11%
John Spratt, Jr. Other 39%
Pete Stark Other 56%
Cliff Stearns Other 39%
Charles Stenholm Other 33%
Ted Stevens Other 22%
Louis Stokes Other 47%
Ted Strickland Other 58%
Bob Stump Other 25%
Bart Stupak Other 50%
John Sununu Other 58%
James Talent Other 42%
John Tanner Other 36%
Ellen Tauscher Other 64%
William Tauzin Other 14%
Charles Taylor Other 25%
Gene Taylor Other 39%
Craig Thomas Other 44%
William Thomas Other 19%
Fred Thompson Other 50%
Karen Thurman Other 22%
Strom Thurmond Other 25%
Todd Tiahrt Other 39%
Esteban Edward Torres Other 36%
Robert Torricelli Other 50%
Ed Towns Other 42%
James Traficant, Jr. Other 25%
James Turner Other 22%
Bruce Vento Other 75%
James Walsh Other 17%
Zach Wamp Other 47%
John Warner Other 34%
Wesley Watkins Other 19%
Julius Caesar Watts, Jr. Other 28%
David Weldon Other 25%
W. Curtis Weldon Other 39%
Gerald Weller Other 14%
Paul Wellstone Other 66%
Robert Wexler Other 44%
Bob Weygand Other 61%
Rick White Other 39%
Bob Wise, Jr. Other 19%
Lynn Woolsey Other 67%
Albert Wynn Other 25%
Sidney Yates Other 44%

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.