In the next few days, I’ll be adding printable versions, an analysis of the Freshman Class, and a look at ideological breakdown in more detail. For now, though, here’s the basic scorecard, and hopefully we can get additional up by this weekend.

UPDATE: All Done

The House Scorecard (Printable PDF)

The Senate Scorecard (Printable PDF)

Welcome Freshmen

Idaho Ideological Map

Special thanks to members of the legislature with 100% voting records this session:

Senators Dean Mortimer and Monty Pearce, and Representatives Bob Nonini, Dick Harwood, Marv Hagedorn, Pete Nielsen, Tom Loertscher, Janice McGeachin, and Erik Simpson.

Also also thank you to members with nearly perfect voting records above 90%:  Senators  Russ Fulcher, Shirley McKague, Melinda Smyser, and Steven Bair, and Representatives Marge Chadderdon, Phil Hart, Paul Shepherd, Judy Boyle, Robert Schaefer, Gary Collins, Brent Crane, Steve Kren, Mike Moyle, Joe Palmer, Rick Jarvis, Clint Bayer, Steve Hartgen, Jim Marriott, Jeff Thompson, Russ Matthews, Mack Shirley, and Jo Ann Wood.

These members and their votes for conservative principles made this last session such a great success.

It’ll be quite noticeable that by looking at the percentages that many legislators received in 2007 v. their 2008 scores, that there have been some fairly dramatic shifts. This is not necessarily due to any sort of ideological shift, but rather to the type of issues to come before the legislature. While there were fewer obvious issues, there were several clear cu Conservatives issues that came before the legislature with a reasonable amount of opposition from liberal sources. The “problem” is that due to the basic, and I would say common sensical nature of most of the issues scored this past session, there were quite a bit fewer “yea” votes than in the 2008 session and with only five votes being scored in this session (as opposed to seven in the Senate and nine in the House), there are quite a few more high scores, and a surprising number of 100%.

The 2008 scorecard is best viewed as a continuation of the 2007 Scorecard. Together, they help to paint a more accurate picture of the legislature. The more votes we have, the better the sample and the least likely a score is simply to be the results of issues that are peculiar to one specific year. Think of 2007 as a mid-term exam, 2008’s session as the final, and the combined score as the actual grade.

Of course, there are limitations to any scorecard, and even with the combined totals from both sessions, we have about half the total roll call votes that the American Conservative Union uses for their scorecards, and I know that some may disagree with some of the issues I chose. However, I feel the final product does give us an idea of where legislators stand, which prior to this past legislature, we didn’t have a way to track. It is my hope that we’ll continue to find ways to improve and refine this process. The Scorecard Information follows below:

Senate Scorecard
Senate Scorecard Printable Version

House Scorecard
House Scorecard Printable Version

2007-2008 Scorecard Summary: Most Conservative and Most Liberal by chamber and by party.

2007 House Scorecard
2007 Senate Scorecard

Senator Russ Fulcher (R-21)
Senator Monty Pearce (R-9)
Representative Bob Nonini (R-5)
Representative Paul Shepherd (R-8)
Representative Diana Thomas* (R-9)
Representative Curtis Bower* (R-10)
Representative Marv Hagedorn (R-21)
Representative John Vanderwoude (R-21)
Representative Jim Marriott (R-28)

0% Conservative Rating
Senator Mike Burkett (D-19)
Representative Shirley Ringo (D-6)
Representative Nicole LeFavour (D-19)

The Most Conservative Idaho House Members:
Representative Bob Nonini (R-5)-100%
Representative Paul Shepherd (R-8)-100%
Representative Diana Thomas* (R-9)-100%
Representative Curtis Bower* (R-10)-100%
Representative Marv Hagedorn (R-20)-100%
Representative John Vanderwoude (R-21)-100%
Representative Jim Marriott (R-28)-100%
Representative Frank Henderson (R-5)-93%
Representative Ken Roberts (R-8)-93%
Representative Darrel Bolz (R-10)-93%
Representative Lawrence Denny (R-9)-93%
Representative Clifford Bayer (R-21)-93%
Representative Bart Stevenson (R-26)-93%
Representative Ken Andrus (R-29)-93%
Representative Thomas Loertscher (R-31)-93%
Representative Russ Matthews (R-33)-93%
Representative Jo Ann Wood (R-35)-93%
Representative Lenore Barrett (R-35)-93%
Representative Robert Schaefer (R-12)-92%
Representative Mike Moyle (R-14)-92%
Representative Dennis Lake (R-28)-92%

The Most Liberal Idaho House Members:

1) Shirley Ringo (D-6)-0%
1) Nicole LeFavour (D-6)-0%
3) Liz Chavez (D-7)-7%
3) Bill Killen (D-17)-7%
3) Anne Pasley-Stuart-D
3) Elaine Smith (D-30)-7%
7) George Sayler (D-4)-14%
7) Phyllis King (D-18)-14%
9) John Rusche (D-7)-17%
10) Sue Chew (D-17)-21%
10) Wendy Jaquet (D-25)-21%
10) Donna Pence (D-25)-21%

The Most Conservative Idaho Senators:

1) Senator Monty Pearce (R-9)-100%
1) Senator Russ Fulcher (R-21)-100%
3) Senator John Goedde (R-4)-92%
3) Senator Curt McKenzie (R-12)-92%
3) Senator Shirley McKague (R-20)-92%
3) Senator Mel Richardson (R-32)-92%
3) Senator Brent Hill (R-34)-92%
8: 6 tied at 83%

The Most Liberal Idaho Senators:
1) Mike Burkett (D-19)-0%
2) David Langhorst (D-16)-17%
2) Elliot Werk (D-17)-17%
2) Kate Kelly (D-18)-17%
2) Chuck Coiner (R-24)-17%
2) Edgar Malepeai (D-30)-17%
7) Gary Schroeder (R-6)-30%
8: Joe Stegner (R-7)-33%
8: Clint Stennett (D-25)-33%
10) 4 tied at 50%

Most Liberal Idaho House Republicans (under 75%):

1) Tom Trail (R-6)-33%
2) Max Black (R-15)-64%
3) Mark Snodgrass (R-20)-67%

Most Conservative House Democrats (above 30%):

1) Mary Lou Shepherd (D-2)-71%
2) Margest Henbest (D-16)-43%
2) Branden Durst (D-18)-43%

Most Liberal Senate Republicans (under 75%):

1) Charlie Coiner (R-24)-17%
2) Gary Schroeder (R-6)-30%
3) Joe Stegner (R-7)-33%
4) Joyce Broadsword (R-2)-50%
4) John Andreason (R-15)-50%
4) Tim Corder (R-22)-50%
7) Shawn Keough (R-1)-67%
7) Dean Cameron (R-26)-67%
7) Denton Darrington (R-27)-67%
10) Tom Gannon (R-23)-70%

The Most Conservative Idaho Senate Democrats (over 30%):

1) Diane Bilyeau (D-29)-50%
2) Clint Stennett (D-24)-33%

*Only one session.

The Reason for Conservative Frustration

Many Idaho Conservatives feel stymied by a legislature where conservative ideas are very hard to get passed. As I went through the scorecards, one of the most glaring points that stood out is that in a large number of districts, voters are electing Senators who are far less conservative than the House members they send to the Capitol. Dist. Senate House 1 57% 78% 2 43% 78% 3 86% 89% 4 86% 39% 5 57% 95% 6 33% 15% 7 14% 0% 8 71% 95% 9 100% 78% 10 71% 70% 11 71% 78% 12 86% 84% 13 71% 89% 14 71% 84% 15 43% 56% 16 0% 22% 17 14% 6% 18 14% 17% 19 0% 0% 20 86% 75% 21 100% 94% 22 57% 73% 23 67% 84% 24 0% 67% 25 14% 6% 26 71% 78% 27 71% 84% 28 71% 94% 29 43% 55% 30 14% 6% 31 71% 84% 32 86% 88% 33 86% 50% 34 86% 84% 35 86% 94%   Key     10 + % more conservative than the delegation to the other house.   10 + % more liberal than the delegation to the other house.   Ideologically similar to the delegation to the other house. Based on the low number of votes sampled, I considered 10 +% a significant difference. From the chart above, we see that more than twice as many districts elect more liberal Senators than they do Representatives than the other way around. Thus, leading to much of the friction in our legislature today. If voters want to make Idaho more conservative than the Senate is a key area to examine.

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Name Dist. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rating Shawn Keough-R 1 + + + - - - + 57% Joyce Broadsword-R 2 + - - - + - + 43% Mike Jorgensen-R 3 + + + - + + + 86% John Goedde-R 4 + + + + - + + 86% Jim Hammond-R 5 + + - - - + + 57% Gary Schroeder-R 6 - A - + - - + 33% Joe Stegner-R 7 - - - + - - - 14% Lee Heinrich-R 8 + + + - - + + 71% Monty Pearce-R 9 + + + + + + + 100% John McGee-R 10 + + + - - + + 71% Brad Little-R 11 + - + + - + + 71% Curt McKenzie-R 12 + + + + - + + 86% Patti Anne Lodge-R 13 + + + - - + + 71% Stan Bastian-R 14 + + + - - + + 71% John Andreason-R 15 + + - - - - + 43% David Langhorst-D 16 - - - - - - - 0% Elliot Werk-D 17 - - - - - - + 14% Kate Kelly-D 18 - - - - - - + 14% Mike Burkett-D 19 - - - - - - - 0% Shirley McKague-R 20 + + + - + + + 86% Russell Fulcher-R 21 + + + + + + + 100% Tim Corder-R 22 + + - + - + - 57% Tom Gannon-R 23 A + - + - + + 67% Charlie Coiner-R 24 - - - - - - - 0% Clint Stennett-D 25 - - - - - - + 14% Dean Cameron-R 26 + + + - - + + 71% Denton Darrington-R 27 + + + - - + + 71% R. Steven Blair-R 28 + + + - - + + 71% Diane Bilyeau-D 29 + - - - - + + 43% Edgar Malepeai-D 30 - + - - - - - 14% Robert Geddes-R 31 + + + - - + + 71% Mel Richardson-R 32 + + + - + + + 86% Bart Davis-R 33 + + + + - + + 86% Brent Hill-R 34 + + + + - + + 86% Jeff Siddoway-R 35 + + + + - + + 86% Legend + Voted for Conservative Position - Voted Against Conservative Position A Absent for Vote Vote Descriptions 1) Woman’s Right to View Act: H. 248 would require a doctor to inform a woman that she has a right to view an ultrasound before performing an abortion on here. Idaho Conservative Position: Yes. Result: Passed 25-9. Sponsor: Rep. Janice McGeachin (R-Idaho Falls) 2) North American Union: HJM 5 was a Joint Legislative Memorial urging Congress to oppose any efforts that would lead to the creation of North American Union. Idaho Conservative Position: Yes. Result: Passed 24-10. Sponsor: Rep. Jo An Wood (R-Rigby) 3) English as Official Language: S 1172 makes English the official language of government and recognizes its important in creating a common culture. Idaho Conservative Position: Yes. Result: Passed 20-15 Sponsor: Senator Mel Richardson (R-Idaho Falls) 4) Film Industry Corporate Welfare: S 1156 would set aside $1 million to provide a 20% rebate to those who make “qualified media productions” in Idaho. Given that this isn’t the role of government (nor an efficient method of economic development), The Idaho Conservative Position is: No. Result: Passed 23-12 Sponsor: Senator Robert Geddes (R-Soda Springs.) 5) Smoking Ban in Bowling Alleys-Vote to Override Governor Otter’s Veto of H. 121, which would ban smoking in all bowling alleys in Idaho. As this violates private property rights, The Idaho Conservative Position is No. Passed 29-6 Sponsor: Rep. Bob Ring (R-Caldwell.) 6) Parental Consent for Abortion: S. 1082 requires parental consent before an abortion is obtained. The Idaho Conservative Position is Yes. Passed 23-12 Sponsor: Senator Russ Fulcher (R-Meridian) 7) Benefits for Illegal Aliens: S. 1157 requires verification of legal status to receive public benefits except in emergencies. The Idaho Conservative Position is Yes. Passed 29-6. Sponsor: Senator John McGee (R-Caldwell.) Download Printer-Friendly (PDF) Version

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