Rating Group: Friends Committee on National Legislation

1998 Positions

State Office Name Party Rating
AL U.S. Senate-Sr Richard Shelby R 7%
AL U.S. Senate-Jr Jeff Sessions III R 7%
AZ U.S. Senate-Sr John McCain III R 13%
CA U.S. Senate-Sr Dianne Feinstein D 87%
CA U.S. Senate-Jr Barbara Boxer D 80%
IA U.S. Senate-Sr Chuck Grassley R 13%
IA U.S. Senate-Jr Tom Harkin D 100%
IL U.S. Senate-Sr Dick Durbin D 80%
KS U.S. Senate-Sr Pat Roberts R 13%
KS Governor Sam Brownback R 7%
KY U.S. Senate-Sr Mitch McConnell R 0%
LA U.S. Senate-Sr Mary Landrieu D 73%
MD U.S. Senate-Sr Barbara Mikulski D 79%
ME U.S. Senate-Sr Susan Collins R 33%
MI U.S. Senate-Sr Carl Levin D 73%
MS U.S. Senate-Sr Thad Cochran R 13%
MT U.S. Senate-Sr Max Baucus D 86%
NA Vice President Joe Biden, Jr. D 80%
NA U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel R 13%
NA U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry D 80%
NJ U.S. Senate-Sr Frank Lautenberg D 73%
NV U.S. Senate-Sr Harry Reid D 87%
OH Attorney General Michael DeWine R 7%
OK U.S. Senate-Sr Jim Inhofe R 13%
OR U.S. Senate-Sr Ron Wyden D 100%
RI U.S. Senate-Sr Jack Reed D 87%
SD U.S. Senate-Sr Timothy Johnson D 80%
UT U.S. Senate-Sr Orrin Hatch R 13%
VT U.S. Senate-Sr Patrick Leahy D 93%
WA U.S. Senate-Sr Patty Murray D 87%
WV U.S. Senate-Sr Jay Rockefeller IV D 86%
WY U.S. Senate-Sr Mike Enzi R 13%
Edmond Spencer Abraham Other 7%
Daniel Akaka, Sr. Other 71%
Wayne Allard Other 13%
John Ashcroft Other 13%
Bob Bennett Other 20%
Jeff Bingaman Other 83%
Kit Bond Other 13%
John Breaux Other 67%
Richard Bryan Other 80%
Conrad Burns Other 13%
Robert Byrd Other 87%
Ben Campbell Other 27%
John Chafee Other 40%
Joseph Maxwell Cleland Other 80%
Kent Conrad Other 93%
Paul Coverdell Other 0%
Larry Craig Other 20%
Thomas Daschle Other 80%
Chris Dodd Other 80%
Pete Domenici, Jr. Other 8%
Byron Dorgan Other 93%
Russ Feingold Other 87%
William Frist Other 0%
Slade Gorton Other 13%
Daniel Graham Other 67%
William Phillip Gramm Other 0%
Rodney Grams Other 7%
Judd Gregg Other 7%
Jesse Helms Other 8%
Ernest Hollings Other 60%
Y. Tim Hutchinson Other 15%
Kay Hutchison Other 21%
Daniel Inouye Other 62%
James Merrill Jeffords Other 67%
Edward Kennedy, Sr. Other 80%
Bob Kerrey Other 80%
Herb Kohl Other 80%
Jon Kyl Other 0%
Joe Lieberman Other 60%
Trent Lott, Sr. Other 0%
Dick Lugar Other 7%
Connie Mack Other 0%
Patrick Moynihan Other 93%
Frank Murkowski Other 0%
Don Nickles Other 13%
Charles Robb Other 80%
William Roth, Jr. Other 21%
Rick Santorum Other 7%
Paul Sarbanes Other 80%
Gordon Smith Other 7%
Bob Smith Other 13%
Olympia Snowe Other 40%
Arlen Specter Other 71%
Ted Stevens Other 27%
Craig Thomas Other 13%
Fred Thompson Other 7%
Strom Thurmond Other 7%
Robert Torricelli Other 80%
John Warner Other 33%
Paul Wellstone Other 100%

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.