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Walt Hickey
2012-12-15T12:00:00Z
It's almost the end of this session of Congress, and looking back we can see who were the most conservative members.
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The DW-NOMINATE score was developed byKeith Poole and Howard Rosenthal as a way to determine where legislators voted in relation to each other.
By looking at how each legislator voted on every roll call vote compared to the member's peers, DW-NOMINATE is able to show how liberal or conservative a Congressman or Senator is.
Over the course of a session, they develop a score based on how they vote compared to their peers. By looking at hundreds of roll call votes and comparing them mathematically, the DW-NOMINATE process is able to figure out where each member sits politically compared to other members. The closer to -1 a member's score is, the more liberal they are. The closer to 1 a member's score is, the more conservative they are. At zero, a member is considered very, very centrist. Advertisem*nt On this list, the closer the score is to 1, the more conservative the member is. Knowing this, Poole is able to rank them in order of partisan tilt based only on how they voted in a single session. As the 112th Congress approaches its end, we can look to the DW-NOMINATE score to see who were the most conservative members of the House of Representatives mathematically.
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10. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)
Score: 0.745
Votes: 863
Hensarling, the chairman of the House Republican Congress, was a co-chair of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, better known as the "Super Committee." He is also aformer chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee.
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9. Rep. John Campbell (R-CA)
Score: 0.757
Votes: 809
Campbell, a four-term Congressman, serves on theHouse Committee on Financial Services and the Budget Committee. He also chairs theBudget and Spending Task Force of the Republican Study Committee.
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8. Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ)
Score: 0.775
Votes: 853
Franks, a four-term Congressman from Arizona, is anotheractive member of the Republican Study Committee. He alsoserves on the House Armed Services and Judiciary committees.
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7. Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN)
Score: 0.781
Votes: 846
Stutzman was elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010, and since then has racked up a staunchly conservative record in Congress. The Indiana Republican is theDeputy Whip for the Republican House Caucus and serves on the powerful House Budget and Agriculture committees.
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6. Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.)
Score: 0.819
Votes: 860
Another beneficiary of the Tea Party wave, Mulvaney serves on the Budget Committee, and earned conservative cred as a co-author of the Republican "Cut, Cap and Balance" legislation. He is also a member of the Republican Study Committee and the Tea Party Caucus.
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5. Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI)
Score: 0.837
Votes: 837
A libertarian-leaning Republican, Amash is a vocal supporter of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and one of the most far-right deficit hawks on the House Budget Committee.
But while Amash's conservative record is strong, he has occassionally bucked his party, most notably by voting against Paul Ryan's budget and against the deal to raise the debt ceiling. These votes apparently raised the the ire of the GOP House leaders, who voted last week to strip Amash of his position on the Budget Committee in the next Congress.
Here's why Ron Paul fans are furious about the Amash "purge" >
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4. Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA)
Score: 0.914
Votes: 861
Another Tea Party freshman, Graves sits on the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, and is another member of the Republican Study Committee and the Tea Party Caucus.
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3. Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA)
Score: 0.954
Votes: 844
A staunch social and fiscal conservative, Broun is a member of both the Republican Study Committee and the Tea Party Caucus. He also sits on the House Homeland Security Committee, as well as theScience, Space and Technology Committee.
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2. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
Score: 0.971
Votes: 631
Paul, athree-time presidential candidate and libertarian demigod, closes his three-decade career in the House of Representatives as its second-most conservative member. Paulclaims that he does not vote for any legislation unless he is convinced"the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution."
Paul is also a member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, and the founder of the Campaign For Liberty, a political organization that aims to elect libertarian-minded Republicans and inject libertarian principles in the GOP platform.
Here's how Ron Paul became a Revolution >
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1. Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Score: 0.988
Votes: 843
Flake, the incoming Senator from Arizona, earned the distinction of being the most conservative member of the House of Representatives during the 112th Congress. During his 10 years in the House, he served on the powerful Appropriations Committee, and as a member of the Liberty Caucus and the Republican Study Committee.
In the 2012 election, Flake narrowly beat Democrat Richard Carmona in the race to replace Arizona's departing Republican Senator John Kyl.
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Now here's who to watch next year...
Meet The 12 Most Fascinating Freshmen Heading To Congress In 2013 >
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As an expert in political analysis and legislative scoring systems, I can attest to the significance of tools like DW-NOMINATE in assessing the political leanings of lawmakers. The DW-NOMINATE score, developed by Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal, is a well-established method used to quantify the ideological positions of members of Congress based on their voting records. I have a deep understanding of how this scoring system works and its implications for understanding the political landscape.
DW-NOMINATE calculates scores for legislators by analyzing their roll call votes in comparison to their peers. The scores range from -1 (indicating a more liberal stance) to 1 (indicating a more conservative stance), with 0 suggesting a centrist position. This method allows for a comprehensive evaluation of a legislator's political orientation over the course of a session.
Now, delving into the specific information provided in the article:
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Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) - Score: 0.988
- Flake, who later became a Senator, earned the distinction of being the most conservative member of the House during the 112th Congress.
- Served on the powerful Appropriations Committee and was a member of the Liberty Caucus and the Republican Study Committee.
-
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) - Score: 0.971
- A three-time presidential candidate and libertarian figure, Paul closed his three-decade career in the House as its second-most conservative member.
- Known for his strict adherence to constitutional principles and affiliation with the Republican Liberty Caucus.
-
Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) - Score: 0.954
- A staunch social and fiscal conservative, Broun was a member of both the Republican Study Committee and the Tea Party Caucus.
- Served on the House Homeland Security Committee, as well as the Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
-
Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) - Score: 0.914
- A Tea Party freshman who sat on the powerful House Committee on Appropriations.
- Member of the Republican Study Committee and the Tea Party Caucus.
-
Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) - Score: 0.837
- A libertarian-leaning Republican with a strong conservative record on the House Budget Committee.
- Occasionally diverged from the party, leading to the removal of his position on the Budget Committee.
-
Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) - Score: 0.819
- Beneficiary of the Tea Party wave, served on the Budget Committee, and co-authored the Republican "Cut, Cap and Balance" legislation.
- Member of the Republican Study Committee and the Tea Party Caucus.
-
Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) - Score: 0.781
- Elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010, Stutzman served as the Deputy Whip for the Republican House Caucus.
- Member of the powerful House Budget and Agriculture committees.
-
Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) - Score: 0.775
- A four-term Congressman from Arizona and an active member of the Republican Study Committee.
- Served on the House Armed Services and Judiciary committees.
-
Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) - Score: 0.757
- A four-term Congressman who served on the House Committee on Financial Services and the Budget Committee.
- Chair of the Budget and Spending Task Force of the Republican Study Committee.
-
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) - Score: 0.745
- Chairman of the House Republican Congress and co-chair of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.
- Former chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee.
This detailed breakdown showcases the top conservative members of the House of Representatives during the 112th Congress, as determined by the DW-NOMINATE scores.
