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 11, 2014

2014 Conservative Liberal Index

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


The Compiled 2014 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 2014 House goes to Rep.  Jacob Anderegg at 88.5 with Honorable Mention to Representatives Dan McCay, Marc Roberts, Ryan Wilcox, Curt Oda, John Knotwell, Brian Greene, Keith Grover, and Jon Stanard .  Several new names in the mix as many past stalwarts moved on to other ventures. 

Conservative Leader positions in the Senate are still being tabulated but, as in previous years, Mark Madsen, Margaret Dayton and Howard Stephenson appear to be again in the running for the top three positions.

The Most Liberal Awards goes to  Rep. Mark Wheatley, (25.3),  and Senator TBD 

The Conservatives (above CLI 70)  count  dropped to 15 so it was changed to CLI 60 for a total of 30 to make it look better, but the  Liberals (below CLI 30) were cut to 6, so to be fair, we count 15 below CLI 40 (actually 36) to include one with an (R).  That leaves  30 Mugwumps, firmly balanced on the fence in the middle in the House or maybe on the railing on the balcony.  The Senate scored remains TBD.

We skipped CLI ratings in 2013, so this will have to suffice for both years.  UEA and PCE ratings ARE for 2013 so we can call this 2013/14.

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 88% and the GOP opting for PCE with 74 in the House  and the Senate TBD.  

Libertas is a new entrant into the CLI rating field and indicates the least differences between the parties 66% from the GOP and 45% for the Democrats. 

The SL Tribune has not yet posted any ratings.    The Sierra Club is back and NFIB are late with their ratings or have given up.   With no immigration bills considered, UFIRE gives the legislature a gratuitous "D".  The only "action" was to postpone the "Guest Worker" bill.

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.')
Dist County Party
Senator CLI UTA GR 2014 GR Life PCE 2013 UEA 2013 SuthInst Sierra Libertas
15 Utah R Margaret Dayton 87.0% 93.8% 80% 82% 100% 23% 100% 25% 90%
13 Utah/SL R Mark Madsen 85.7% 100.0% 65% 76% 100% 20% 100% 29% 95%
11 SL/Utah R Howard Stephenson 84.7% 94.1% 55% 74% 100% 28% 93% 14% 94%
20 Davis/Weber R Scott Jenkins 76.7% 94.1% 58% 61% 100% 31% 93% 38% 65%
7 Utah R Deidre Henderson 65.7% 88.2% 45% 50% 92% 47% 94% 63% 72%
18 Dav/Mor/Web R Stuart Reid 69.3% 76.5% 39% 56% 92% 40% 94% 43% 57%
27 many SE R David Hinkins 63.7% 87.5% 33% 64% 63% 63% 79% 17% 63%
28 Bvr/Iron/Wash R Evan Vickers 59.0% 88.2% 56% 57% 58% 64% 81% 43% 74%
14 Utah R John Valentine 63.6% 87.5% 37% 56% 90% 40% 88% 75% 61%
6 Salt Lake R Wayne, Harper 59.0% 88.2% 42% 65% 64% 64% 88% 57% 68%
9 Salt Lake R Wayne, Niederhauser 67.1% 75.0% 20% 59% 100% 20% 80% 71% 50%
21 Davis R Jerry Stevenson 64.6% 76.5% 25% 57% 100% 26% 81% 83% 56%
12 SL/Tooele R Daniel Thatcher 62.9% 76.5% 26% 57% 82% 46% 80% 50% 58%
22 Davis R Stuart Adams 66.1% 68.8% 26% 53% 100% 27% 80% 63% 45%
29 Washington R Stephen Urquhart 63.7% 70.6% 21% 60% 91% 24% 75% 75% 58%
19 Mor/Web/Sum R Allen Christensen 56.9% 78.6% 42% 57% 73% 58% 85% 71% 58%
16 Utah/Wasatch R Curtis Bramble 62.2% 66.7% 20% 59% 100% 43% 69% 71% 61%
26 many NE R Kevin VanTassell 54.6% 88.2% 45% 53% 67% 60% 82% 71% 53%
25 Cache, R Lyle Hillyard 55.4% 78.6% 31% 44% 80% 36% 85% 100% 73%
24 many cent R Ralph Okerlund 59.5% 80.0% 29% 58% 75% 46% 67% 50% 42%
23 Davis/Salt R Todd Weiler 59.9% 68.8% 20% 44% 92% 35% 82% 75% 55%
10 Salt Lake R Aaron Osmond 58.0% 82.4% 16% 46% 83% 48% 80% 63% 47%
17 BE/Tle/Cache R Peter Knudson 56.0% 70.6% 28% 43% 82% 40% 71% 75% 55%
8 Salt Lake R Brian Shiozawa 31.1% 81.3% 33% 29% 18% 83% 71% 86% 50%





63.8% 81.7% 37.2% 56.7% 83.4% 42.2% 83.3% 58.6% 62.5%
1 Salt Lake D Luiz Robles 37.4% 73.3% 36% 27% 36% 77% 64% 100% 67%
5 Salt Lake D Karen Mayne 39.4% 80.0% 22% 32% 36% 79% 59% 88% 53%
2 Salt Lake D Jim Dabakis 36.2% 69.2% 37% 26% 36% 79% 50% 100% 50%
4 Salt Lake D Patricia Jones 35.1% 70.6% 24% 23% 42% 80% 56% 100% 45%
3 Salt Lake D Gene Davis 37.4% 60.0% 17% 21% 27% 73% 59% 100% 50%





37.1% 70.6% 27.2% 25.8% 35.4% 77.6% 57.6% 97.5% 53.0%


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

Dist County Party
Representative CLI UTA GR 2014 GR Life PCE 2013 UEA 2013 Suth Inst Libertas Sierra
6 Utah R Jacob Anderegg 88.5% 93% 83% 76% 100% 33% 89% 100% 0%
41 SLCo R Daniel McCay 85.8% 94% 86% 80% 89% 33% 83% 100% 13%
67 Utah R Marc Roberts 85.6% 94% 79% 85% 90% 36% 89% 100% 17%
7 Weber R Ryan Wilcox 85.2% 93% 88% 79% 80% 31% 94% 91% 13%
14 Davis R Curtis Oda 85.1% 88% 75% 79% 100% 18% 82% 88% 13%
52 SLCo R John Knotwell 85.1% 94% 83% 80% 90% 24% 83% 100% 25%
57 Utah R Brian Greene 82.3% 94% 77% 84% 100% 38% 89% 95% 43%
61 Utah R Keith Grover 82.2% 100% 63% 73% 90% 31% 94% 81% 13%
62 Washington R Jon Stanard 81.2% 92% 72% 67% 100% 32% 92% 78% 20%
47 SLCo R Ken Ivory 78.4% 81% 83% 83% 70% 50% 88% 97% 25%
55 Duchesne/Uintah R John Mathis 75.6% 88% 70% 67% 70% 46% 82% 86% 13%
64 Utah R Becky Lockhart 73.6% 85% 50% 77% 100% 30% 92% 82% 67%
27 Utah R Michael Kennedy 73.0% 88% 67% 72% 80% 42% 94% 75% 50%
2 Utah R David Lifferth 71.6% 88% 63% 59% 89% 47% 89% 69% 38%
48 Utah R Kevin Stratton 70.8% 88% 61% 59% 90% 47% 83% 76% 43%
60 Utah R Dana Layton 69.8% 80% 57% 60% 70% 50% 94% 85% 38%
73 Bv/Ga/K/Pi/SJ/Se/Way R Michael Noel 69.0% 77% 48% 66% 100% 31% 78% 71% 57%
63 Utah R Dean Sanpei 68.4% 77% 50% 65% 90% 33% 78% 71% 50%
65 Utah R Francis Gibson 68.2% 69% 50% 70% 90% 42% 82% 70% 43%
56 Utah R Kay Christofferson 68.0% 82% 70% 64% 70% 62% 81% 76% 38%
51 SLCo R Gregory Hughes 67.3% 67% 48% 71% 100% 23% 87% 55% 67%
59 Utah R Val Peterson 66.6% 56% 58% 71% 60% 56% 83% 75% 14%
15 Davis R Brad Wilson 66.4% 75% 45% 62% 100% 36% 82% 60% 57%
11 Weber/Davis R Brad Dee 65.6% 67% 50% 55% 80% 42% 75% 60% 20%
75 Washington R Don Ipson 65.5% 79% 45% 64% 100% 25% 71% 57% 67%
18 Davis R Roger Barrus 65.2% 75% 54% 62% 90% 42% 83% 62% 63%
69 Carb/Duc/Grand R Jerry Anderson 63.9% 75% 58% 60% 70% 54% 83% 62% 43%
5 Cache R Curt Webb 61.9% 94% 45% 51% 60% 54% 89% 60% 50%
71 Iron/Wash R Bradley Last 61.0% 64% 43% 57% 89% 54% 81% 58% 50%
9 Weber R Jeremy Peterson 60.4% 94% 43% 60% 80% 62% 94% 62% 88%
32 SLCo R LaVar Christensen 59.8% 77% 45% 64% 78% 58% 81% 67% 75%
38 SLCo R Eric Hutchings 59.4% 75% 43% 54% 80% 50% 71% 52% 50%
19 Davis R Jim Nielson 59.3% 59% 50% 64% 78% 45% 78% 78% 88%
8 Weber R Gage Froerer 58.9% 67% 30% 56% 88% 33% 75% 60% 71%
66 Utah R Mike McKell 58.4% 77% 39% 49% 60% 67% 82% 65% 38%
43 Salt R Earl Tanner 58.3% 71% 46% 42% 90% 47% 83% 57% 75%
58 Juab/Sanpete R Jon Cox 57.6% 82% 58% 58% 70% 69% 72% 52% 63%
34 SLCo R Johnny Anderson 57.2% 75% 48% 62% 60% 77% 76% 76% 63%
45 SLCo R Steve Eliason 57.0% 65% 42% 47% 90% 38% 83% 55% 88%
42 SLCo R Jim Bird 55.8% 81% 55% 53% 44% 92% 65% 65% 25%
39 SLCo R James Dunnigan 55.7% 87% 35% 54% 67% 69% 65% 50% 43%
12 Davis/Weber R Richard Greenwood 55.7% 82% 25% 55% 56% 38% 72% 43% 50%
13 Davis R Paul Ray 54.8% 77% 32% 52% 75% 60% 63% 43% 43%
53 Sum/Dag/Rich R Mel Brown 54.6% 75% 41% 49% 80% 75% 87% 60% 80%
50 Utah R Rich Cunningham 54.4% 77% 39% 45% 70% 56% 59% 52% 50%
17 Davis R Stewart Barlow 54.2% 69% 43% 51% 80% 58% 72% 52% 75%
21 Tooele R Douglas Sagers 52.9% 77% 25% 47% 50% 44% 69% 50% 50%
16 Davis R Stephen Handy 51.1% 63% 33% 46% 60% 54% 67% 57% 63%
2 Box R Lee Perry 51.0% 75% 35% 49% 44% 77% 75% 57% 50%
49 SLCo R Robert Spendlove 50.7% 65% 39% 39% 74% 52% 78% 50% 88%
4 Cache R Edward Redd 48.2% 82% 46% 40% 40% 85% 83% 67% 88%
74 Washington R V Lowry Snow 47.8% 59% 33% 47% 75% 67% 71% 52% 88%
70 Em/Gr/SanP/Sev R Kay McIff 47.4% 69% 20% 40% 75% 50% 60% 45% 80%
1 B.E./Cache R Rhonda Menlove 47.1% 79% 32% 43% 40% 83% 76% 47% 57%
72 Iron R John Westwood 47.0% 71% 33% 38% 60% 62% 61% 38% 63%
33 SLCo R Craig Hall 43.9% 71% 29% 29% 40% 77% 72% 75% 88%
10 Weber R Dixon Pitcher 43.8% 65% 27% 48% 33% 64% 76% 53% 88%
3 Cache R Jack Draxler 43.6% 71% 38% 46% 40% 86% 78% 50% 88%
20 Davis R Becky Edwards 43.0% 67% 23% 41% 56% 75% 71% 45% 83%
68 Bvr/Ju/Mil/Too/Ut R Merrill Nelson 40.9% 75% 25% 37% 30% 92% 72% 43% 63%
54 Wasatch/Summit R Kraig Powell 35.9% 50% 25% 45% 40% 88% 72% 43% 100%

GOP
Average
62% 77% 49% 58% 74% 52% 79% 66% 53%
30 SLCo D Janice Fisher 34.5% 71% 22% 27% 40% 91% 50% 45% 88%
44 SLCo D Tim Cosgrove 33.9% 53% 21% 22% 40% 72% 59% 48% 100%
23 SLCo D Jennifer Seelig 31.8% 53% 15% 21% 40% 83% 59% 35% 86%
40 SLCo D Lynn Hemingway 31.8% 56% 19% 21% 33% 82% 57% 50% 100%
31 SLCo D Larry Wiley 31.0% 65% 21% 25% 30% 85% 44% 48% 100%
24 SLCo D Rebecca Chavez 30.6% 50% 17% 19% 44% 86% 56% 45% 100%
37 SLCo D Carol Moss 30.5% 53% 17% 15% 40% 80% 56% 43% 100%
28 SLCo/Summit D Brian King 30.0% 56% 17% 21% 30% 82% 53% 45% 100%
46 SLCo D Marie Poulson 29.9% 59% 22% 25% 30% 94% 56% 41% 100%
36 SLCo D Patrice Arent 28.7% 59% 17% 18% 22% 92% 56% 50% 100%
22 SLCo D Susan Duckworth 28.7% 47% 17% 31% 30% 93% 50% 48% 100%
25 SLCo D Joel Briscoe 28.6% 53% 22% 14% 30% 94% 56% 48% 100%
26 SLCo D Angela Romero 27.0% 53% 17% 13% 30% 92% 53% 42% 100%
35 SLCo D Mark Wheatley 25.3% 53% 17% 21% 13% 100% 50% 48% 100%

DEM
Average
30% 56% 19% 21% 32% 88% 54% 45% 98%