A Compilation of Various Ratings of the Voting Records of the Utah Legislature. A listing of other ratings may be found under links at the bottom of the blog.

Friday, April 13, 2012

The Conservative - Liberal Index
"by their Fruits shall ye know them"


The Compiled 2012 Voting Ratings for the Utah Legislature continue to indicate there is still a philosophical difference between Republicans and Democrats.

For simplicity, Conservatives may be defined as favoring LIMITED Government and PROTECTION of INDIVIDUAL rights and Liberals (or Progressives as they now redefine themselves) as in favor of ACTIVIST Government and PROVISION of GROUP rights. The Conservative - Liberal Index (CLI) is a compiled aggregate of various ratings to determine who is "truly" Conservative or "really" Liberal.

The Most Conservative Award for 2012 House goes to Rep.  Chris Herrod at 89.4 with Honorable Mention to Representatives Curt Oda, Ken Sumsion, Craig Frank, Mike Morley, Keith Grover, Ryan Wilcox, Dan McCay, Steve Sandstrom and Brad Daw

Conservative Leader positions in the Senate were changed from previous years with Sen.Mark Madsen (87.7) achieving top billing over perennial Margaret Dayton; new Sen Casey Anderson debuted in the number three spot, as Sen. Howard Stephenson fell to number 7 from his usual top three position.

The Most Liberal Awards goes to  Rep.Jennifer Seelig, (27.1),  and Senator Luz Robles , (33.1) edged out Sen Romero. He could use this in the campaign literature as he runs for Mayor.

The Conservatives (above CLI 70)  count  decreased by 6 to 34, but the  Liberals (below 30) were cut in half to 7 with 34 Mugwumps, firmly balanced on the fence in the middle in the House or maybe on the railing on the balcony.  The Senate scored a higher overall CLI than the House and showed  15 Conservatives, 0 Liberals and 14 Mugwumps. (Very strange, is it that there are fewer and fewer D's - but this is being posted on Friday the 13th)

While the Party philosophical difference is still evident, two Representives, Kraig Powell (R) and Neil Hendrickson (D), distinguished (?) themselves with an identity crisis by scoring in the realm of the other party.

Education ratings  again showed the polar opposites in the ratings, with Parents for Choice being a virtual mirror of Utah Education Association, with Democrats supporting UEA at 84% and the GOP opting for PCE with 82 in the House  and the Senate D's going 81 for UEA and R's at 91 to PCE.

The Sutherland Institute is a new entrant into the rating field and indicates the greatest differences between the parties 95% from the GOP and 38 for the Democrats in the Senate and 89 to 31 in the House.

The Deseret News apparently has given up on their "effective legislator" rating based on passing the highest percentage of bills, and the SL Tribune has not yet posted any ratings.    The Sierra Club and NFIB are late with their ratings or have given up.

Original sources of Rating groups used in the index:
  • GrsRts (GR) = GrassRoots claims: "Grass Roots is committed to the Principles of Limited Government, the State and U.S. Constitutions, Representative Government, Participatory Democracy, a Free Market Economy, Separation of Powers, and Family."
  • UEA = Utah Education Association declares their "mission is to advance the cause of public education by promoting quality teaching and learning and advocating effectively for the rights and interests of its members."
  • UTA = Utah Taxpayers Association deals mainly with tax issues and "is a non-profit, non-partisan association working for greater efficiency and effectiveness in government."
  • UFIRE =Utahns for Immigration Reform and Enforcement Illegal immigration issues
  • PCE = Parents for Choice in Education "dedicated to ensuring every child has equal access to a quality education by empowering parents, increasing choice, and promoting innovative solutions to Utah’s educational challenges." 
  • SuthInst= Sutherland Institute  "Our desire for freedom extends to generations to come and requires Sutherland constantly to educate Utah's elected officials, community leaders, and electorate in the principles of freedom."
  • SIERRA = Sierra Club "activists dedicated to preserving and enjoying the land and quality of life in Utah and the West."
For more voting analyses see Vote Smart and Utah Data Points 

Each group has different criteria for their ratings, based on votes that the group consider favor or oppose "their" particular issues. It is strongly recommended to refer to the individual websites for bills considered and rating considerations which were used.   (The quotes above from the websites, may have changed as some organization often redefine themselves based on their perception of current public 'need.')

Our apologies for any inadvertent errors that may have occurred in copying numbers,
 there were a lot of them (numbers, not errors).

2012 Utah House CLI Ratings


Dist County Party
Representative CLI UTA GR 2012 GR Life PCE UEA SuthInst UFIRE
62 Utah R Christopher Herrod 89.4% 92% 91% 82% 100% 39% 100% A
14 Davis R Curtis Oda 89.0% 92% 96% 80% 100% 25% 100% B
56 Utah R Kenneth Sumsion 89.0% 92% 100% 86% 100% 35% 100% B
57 Davis R Craig Frank 87.9% 100% 91% 84% 100% 35% 100% C+
66 Utah R Michael Morley 87.7% 100% 100% 92% 83% 31% 100% C
61 Utah R Keith Grover 86.7% 93% 87% 76% 100% 29% 100% B
7 Weber R Ryan Wilcox 84.6% 92% 81% 78% 100% 44% 100% B+
52 SLCo R Daniel McCay 83.4% 91% 86% 86% 100% 29% 100% D
58 Utah R Stephen Sandstrom 82.3% 92% 86% 78% 78% 50% 92% A
60 Utah R Bradley Daw 82.1% 93% 90% 75% 100% 33% 100% D
6 Weber R Brad Galvez 82.0% 100% 82% 80% 89% 44% 92% C+
67 Ut, Jb,Car, R Patrick Painter 82.0% 83% 86% 69% 100% 29% 100% C-
63 Utah R Dean Sanpei 81.6% 93% 86% 80% 100% 41% 100% D-
73 multi R Michael Noel 80.4% 85% 87% 68% 100% 44% 100% C-
59 Utah R Val Peterson 80.1% 93% 87% 81% 89% 35% 100% D-
19 Davis R Jim Nielson 79.0% 71% 76% 80% 86% 40% 100% B
51 SLCo R Gregory Hughes 78.4% 92% 71% 74% 100% 43% 100% D+
9 Weber R Jeremy Peterson 77.9% 79% 78% 80% 100% 41% 100% D
64 Utah R Becky Lockhart 76.4% 91% 76% 80% 100% 22% 100% F
27 SLCo R John Dougall 76.4% 91% 95% 79% 100% 21% 91% F-
50 SLCo R Merlynn Newbold 76.3% 79% 90% 75% 90% 42% 92% D
47 SLCo R Ken Ivory 76.0% 64% 91% 88% 78% 56% 92% C+
55 SLCo R John Mathis 75.9% 100% 79% 66% 71% 52% 92% C+
65 Utah R Francis Gibson 75.9% 75% 73% 78% 89% 44% 85% C+
75 Washington R Don Ipson 75.1% 77% 68% 70% 89% 50% 92% B
15 Davis R Brad Wilson 73.9% 85% 82% 78% 89% 44% 77% D
4 Cache R David Butterfield 73.4% 69% 82% 74% 89% 33% 83% D
11 Weber R Brad Dee 72.4% 75% 75% 55% 100% 43% 100% D-
8 SLCo R Gage Froerer 72.1% 77% 65% 62% 89% 45% 92% C-
32 SLCo R Fred Cox 71.9% 71% 74% 76% 67% 50% 85% B
68 San, Juab R Bill Wright 71.6% 77% 95% 80% 90% 41% 100% F-
17 Davis R Stewart Barlow 70.6% 64% 61% 61% 78% 45% 100% C+
71 Washington R Bradley Last 70.4% 77% 59% 59% 78% 50% 90% B
43 SLCo R Wayne Harper 70.3% 92% 60% 68% 75% 44% 91% D
48 SLCo R LaVar Christensen 69.6% 71% 74% 69% 80% 64% 92% C-
18 Davis R Roger Barrus 68.3% 77% 78% 62% 75% 56% 92% D
41 SLCo R Todd Kiser 67.4% 71% 64% 65% 89% 47% 85% D-
72 Iron R Evan Vickers 67.1% 86% 61% 60% 75% 69% 92% C-
5 Cache R Curt Webb 67.1% 77% 74% 55% 75% 53% 92% D
2 Box Elder R Lee Perry 66.7% 79% 61% 61% 75% 44% 85% D
74 Washington R V. Lowry Snow 66.6% 64% 64% 64% 78% 56% 77% C+
39 SLCo R James Dunnigan 65.7% 85% 68% 57% 67% 61% 69% C+
12 Weber R Richard Greenwood 64.1% 79% 65% 63% 50% 50% 62% B
10 Weber R Dixon Pitcher 62.1% 64% 61% 64% 75% 56% 77% D
45 SLCo R Steve Eliason 61.9% 71% 45% 58% 78% 67% 73% C+
13 Davis R Paul Ray 59.6% 71% 50% 55% 71% 60% 80% D
34 SLCo R Johnny Anderson 59.4% 77% 80% 72% 63% 60% 64% F
53 * R Mel Brown 59.1% 69% 63% 52% 78% 59% 91% F
1 Box Elder R Rhonda Menlove 59.1% 69% 61% 44% 83% 63% 100% F
49 SLCo R Derek Brown 59.0% 50% 68% 68% 86% 56% 77% F
3 Cache R Jack Draxler 57.6% 69% 59% 50% 86% 63% 82% F
16 Davis R Stephen Handy 57.4% 64% 57% 55% 67% 76% 85% D
38 SLCo R Eric Hutchings 57.3% 64% 57% 57% 57% 67% 83% D
70 multi R Kay McIff 49.7% 58% 52% 43% 67% 75% 83% F
20 SL/Davis R Becky Edwards 49.6% 64% 43% 50% 70% 83% 83% F
21 Tooele R Douglas Sagers 48.4% 69% 52% 53% 43% 67% 69% F
42 SLCo R Jim Bird 47.4% 64% 62% 53% 44% 65% 54% F
54 Was, Duc R Kraig Powell 41.6% 57% 35% 54% 50% 87% 62% F




Average 70.9% 78.7% 73.1% 68.3% 82.4% 49.2% 88.9% D













Dist County Party
Representative CLI UTA GR 2012 GR Life PCE UEA SuthInst UFIRE
33 SLCo Dem Neil Hendrickson 44.0% 54% 38% 38% 57% 82% 58% D-
22 SLCo Dem Susan Duckworth 40.3% 54% 43% 38% 33% 86% 50% D
40 SLCo Dem Lynn Hemingway 36.9% 57% 30% 24% 44% 78% 31% D
30 SLCo Dem Brian Doughty 36.7% 57% 27% 27% 44% 79% 31% D
24 SLCo Dem Rebecca Chavez Houck 36.1% 57% 30% 19% 56% 82% 23% D
29 SLCo Dem Janice Fisher 35.9% 58% 25% 29% 44% 82% 27% D
31 SLCo Dem Larry Wiley 35.4% 54% 30% 25% 63% 69% 25% F
35 SLCo Dem Mark Wheatley 34.4% 62% 27% 21% 67% 76% 20% F
69 Carbon Dem Christine Watkins 33.1% 57% 39% 34% 38% 94% 38% F
28 SLCo Dem Brian King 32.6% 50% 23% 22% 44% 84% 23% D
46 SLCo Dem Marie Poulson 29.9% 57% 18% 33% 40% 92% 33% F
44 SLCo Dem Tim Cosgrove 29.3% 57% 22% 21% 44% 90% 31% F
26 SLCo Dem David Litvak 29.0% 45% 22% 17% 56% 88% 31% F
25 SLCo Dem Joel Briscoe 28.9% 50% 14% 15% 33% 91% 31% D
37 SLCo Dem Carol Spackman Moss 28.3% 57% 22% 16% 40% 88% 31% F
36 SLCo Dem Patrice Arent 28.0% 57% 22% 19% 40% 87% 25% F
23 SLCo Dem Jennifer Seelig 27.1% 54% 29% 23% 29% 88% 23% F




Average 33.3% 55.1% 27.1% 24.8% 45.4% 84.5% 31.2% F

2012 Utah Senate CLI Ratings


Dist County Party
Senator CLI UTA GR 2012 GR Life PCE UEA SuthInst UFIRE
13 UT, Tooele R Mark Madsen 87.7% 90% 85% 79% 100% 25% 100% B+
15 Utah R Margaret Dayton 86.4% 92% 94% 82% 100% 50% 92% A
28 Iron R Casey Anderson 85.3% 92% 94% 94% 100% 33% 100% D
29 Washington R Stephen Urquhart 83.1% 100% 64% 66% 100% 40% 92% A+
12 SL/Tooele R Daniel Thatcher 78.7% 90% 83% 85% 78% 47% 92% C
27 multi R David Hinkins 78.1% 70% 81% 73% 86% 50% 92% A
11 SL/Utah R Howard Stephenson 77.0% 100% 80% 76% 100% 37% 100% F
20 Weber R Scott Jenkins 76.7% 100% 88% 71% 100% 42% 100% F
22 Davis R Stuart Adams 76.1% 91% 78% 63% 100% 54% 100% D+
10 SLCo R Aaron Osmond 75.0% 83% 82% 82% 78% 50% 100% D
23 Davis R Todd Weiler 74.1% 92% 72% 72% 88% 67% 92% C
21 Davis R Jerry Stevenson 73.9% 91% 76% 74% 100% 44% 100% F
18 Weber/Davis R Stuart Reid 71.0% 83% 78% 74% 100% 58% 100% F
16 Utah R Curtis Bramble 70.4% 82% 82% 63% 88% 42% 100% F
14 Utah R John Valentine 70.3% 91% 87% 58% 86% 50% 100% F
9 SLCo R Wayne Niederhauser 69.7% 78% 80% 67% 100% 57% 100% F
6 SLCo R Michael Waddoups 68.9% 100% 89% 63% 86% 67% 91% F
24 multi R Ralph Okerland 68.6% 83% 78% 71% 88% 60% 100% F
19 Mor,Sum,Web R Allen Christensen 68.1% 75% 78% 61% 88% 45% 100% F
17 multi R Peter Knudson 67.9% 78% 64% 44% 100% 64% 83% C
26 Was,Duc,Uint R Kevin VanTassell 57.1% 67% 60% 55% 63% 55% 90% F
25 Cache,Rich R Lyle Hillyard 51.1% 89% 54% 45% 63% 80% 67% F




Average 73.4% 87.1% 78.5% 69.0% 90.5% 50.8% 95.0% D


























5 SLCo Dem Karen Mayne 46.6% 75% 24% 37% 57% 73% 36% C
3 SLCo Dem Gene Davis 40.7% 80% 24% 21% 71% 73% 42% F
8 SLCo Dem Karen Morgan 40.0% 67% 28% 33% 50% 76% 58% F
2 SLCo Dem Ben McAdams 39.9% 82% 19% 27% 75% 77% 33% F
4 SLCo Dem Patricia Jones 39.6% 73% 31% 24% 75% 91% 45% F
7 SLCo Dem Ross Romero 37.4% 67% 18% 24% 63% 85% 25% D
1 SLCo Dem Luz Robles 33.1% 64% 28% 29% 57% 91% 25% F




Average 39.6% 72.6% 24.6% 27.9% 64.0% 80.9% 37.7% F