Posted on 02/23/2012 9:57:00 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Oklahoma's Tom Coburn is the most conservative member of the Senate, while New Yorker Kirsten Gillibrand and Oregon's Jeff Merkley share the title of top liberals, according to National Journal's 2011 Congressional Vote Ratings.
Coburn jumped eight spots to snag the most conservative label this year, and it's Gillibrand's second consecutive appearance in the list of top ten most liberal members.
For the past three decades, National Journal has rated members of Congress based on selected roll-call votes from the previous year to create an ideological scale for Congress. This year, National Journal examined all 949 roll call votes in the House and each of the 235 cast by the Senate, pulling out those that demonstrate clear ideological gaps.
Many votes don't make the cut -- those that involve noncontroversial issues or that fall along regional lines, for instance. This year, 105 House votes and 97 Senate roll calls made the cut in our as economic, foreign or social policy categories.
After the jump, take a look at the full list of the ten most conservative and ten most liberal members of the Senate. And stay tuned to NationalJournal.com as we roll out the annual ratings.
Most Conservative Senators:
1. Sen. Ton Coburn (R-Okla.)
2. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
3. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)
4. Sen. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.)
5. Sen. John Barasso (R-Wyo.)
6. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.)
7. (tie) Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.)
7. (tie) Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho)
9. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)
10. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.)
Most Liberal Senators
1. (tie) Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
1. (tie) Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)
3. (tie) Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii)
3. (tie) Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), 5. (tie) Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
5. (tie) Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)
5. (tie) Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
5. (tie) Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.)
5. (tie) Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.)
10. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md)
CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE MOST CONSERVATIVE SENATORS (PLUS EXPLANATIONS AS TO WHY THEY WERE CHOSEN):
http://nationaljournal.com/pictures-video/most-conservative-senators-pictures-20120222]
CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE MOST LIBERAL SENATORS:
Gillibrand most liberal? That is really interesting. When she was a congresswoman, she was considered a “Blue Dog” because she represented a relatively conservative district. Then she got appointed to the Senate which meant she needed the rest of ultra liberal NY. Isn’t it amazing how people can change their values in the pursuit of votes?
Amazing.
What? No Patty Murray-O’Hair, Barbara (Shadow)Boxer, Frank (Frito) Leahy, Bernie (Orbital) Sanders, or Barbara (Munchkin) Mikulski, in the top 10 libs? Wow. Those others had to really dig deep to beat them out.
Also interesting — Gillibrand ran as a new-dem sort of conservative. Stealth! She makes the bottom of the barrel in no time.
Oops! Didn’t mean Frank Leahy. He was a good guy. I meant Patrick (Frito) Leahy...
RE: Barbara (Munchkin) Mikulski
She’s on the list. Look again.
You’re right. Thx
Boxer is there tied for third. I was shocked myself not to see her when I looked the first time.
Must have had a really bad migraine as Boxhead is on the list at #5
Burr-Coburn: The Best Medicare Reform Proposal Yet
SEE HERE:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/2012/02/16/burr-coburn-the-best-medicare-reform-proposal-yet/
You’re both correct. My bad. I never thought to look for Boxer to the right of Dick (Wind) Turbin
What, Dianne Fienstein (Leftist, California) didn’t make the lib top ten list?
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