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Tom Petri's Ratings and Endorsements on Issue: Defense

Vote Smart displays all known interest group ratings for each candidate and official, regardless of issue or bias.

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 issue 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.

With rare exceptions, Vote Smart displays interest group ratings as a 0-100 percentage. While many interest groups use percentages as ratings to begin with, please note that Vote Smart has translated some ratings to a percentage from a different rating system for consistency and ease in understanding. Please visit the group's website, email us at ratings@votesmart.org or call our Voter Information Hotline at 1-888-VOTESMART for more specific information.

64%
2011-2012
100%
2009-2010
75%
2007-2008
81%
2005-2006
64%
1998-2002
60%
1997
29%
1996
33%
2011-2012
50%
2009-2010
25%
2007-2008
28%
2007
31%
2005
27%
2003-2004
11%
2001-2002
57%
1999-2000
93%
2001-2010
93%
2001-2010
39%
2012
39%
2012
56%
2011
56%
2011
13%
2010
13%
2010
31%
2009
31%
2009
20%
2008
20%
2008
27%
2007
27%
2007
50%
2006
50%
2006
42%
2005
42%
2005
40%
2004
40%
2004
44%
2003
44%
2003
10%
2002
10%
2002
13%
2001
13%
2001
50%
2000
50%
2000
36%
1999
36%
1999
50%
1998
50%
1998
58%
1997
58%
1997
50%
1996
50%
1996
58%
1995
58%
1995
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