Conservative Liberal Index 2007

The Conservative - Liberal Index

"by their Fruits shall ye know them"

Once again, the 2007 Voting Records of the Utah Legislature indicate there is a difference between Republicans and Democrats.


For simplicity, Conservatives may be defined as in favor of LIMITED Government and PROTECTION of INDIVIDUAL rights and Liberals 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 the THIRD consecutive year goes to Rep. Morley at 87.1; with Honorable Mention to Representatives Tilton, Frank, Dougall, Lockhart, Donnelson, Wimmer, Herrod, Oda, and Newbold.


Leader in the Senate was Senator Dayton (moving from the House); she edged out Senators Stephenson and Madsen at the top of the Senate list. (All were above 75)

The Most Liberal Award goes to Rep. Becker, with several Democrats vying for that coveted title; with Senator McCoy winning the Senate.

In past years, ALL Republicans had achieved a CLI higher than ALL Democrats. This year, the two highest Democrat (Gowans and Hendrickson) had a higher CLI's than theTWO lowest ranking Republicans (Allen and McIff)

All told, we might count 45 Conservatives (above 60), 32 Liberals (below 40) and 27 Mugwumps. (2006 showed 41/31/33) Some might declare that a balanced, moderate group, others might yearn for stronger principles.

There was, again, a change in 2007 of groups "rating" our Utah legislators. The UAR (realtors) have so many legislative members, they may have decided they didn't need to rate them for the last couple years. Accountability Utah seems to be no longer accountable.

The Deseret News may have (thankfully) dropped its "effective legislator" based on passing the most bills. They did however adopt a (somewhat) less inane grading report based on attendance.

Votes were finally taken in the House, allowing UFIRE to offer a rating, for that body, on illegal alien coddling issues. (Credit being given for trying). The Sierra Club analysis of voting also demonstrates the philosophical differences and was also added to the CLI.

Rating groups used:

GrsRts = GrassRoots ( http://www.utahgrassroots.com/ ) 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 ( http://www.utea.org/ ) 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."

Gay = Gay Rights ( www.actwin.com/eatonohio/gay ) grades on the basis of hate crimes, same-sex marriage and "gay rights."

UTA = Utah Taxpayers Association (http://www.utahtaxpayers.org/ ) 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 (http://www.ufire.net/) Illegal immigration issues

SIERRA = Sierra Club (http://www.utah.sierraclub.org/) "activists dedicated to preserving and enjoying the land and quality of life in Utah and the West. "

Each group has different criteria for their ratings, based on votes that the group consider favor or oppose "their" particular issues. Please refer to the individual websites for bills considered and rating considerations which were used.

	GrsRts	GrsRts	UEA	GAY	UTA	UFIRE	Sierra
	Life	2007	2006	2007	2007	2007	2007	CLI
HOUSE
REPUBLICAN	58	53	54	11	76	79	49	62
DEMOCRAT	22	23	88	65	58	42	74	27
SENATE
REPUBLICAN	56	55	33	28	86		47	63
DEMOCRAT	20	24	87	70	70		64	26

Utah Senate CLI 2007

The Conservative Liberal Index rating for the Utah Senate in 2007. (An asterisk * denotes first year of service, UEA ratings were estimated for those without prior experience)

Senator			GrsRts	GrsRts	UEA	GAY	UTA	Sierra
REPUBLICANS	Dist		Life	2007	2006	2007	2007	2007	CLI
Dayton *	15	R	81	76	30	0	100	43	81.3
Stephenson	11	R	74	72	29	0	100	33	79.5
Madsen	13	R	70	65	25	0	93	43	76.7
Peterson	24	R	72	60	33	0	94	43	74.7
Neiderhauser *	9	R	57	57	30	0	88	50	69.8
Jenkins	20	R	71	71	25	40	77	43	69.1
Stowell *	28	R	55	55	30	0	82	43	68.9
Greiner *	18	R	50	50	30	0	75	43	66.1
Bramble	16	R	58	53	27	40	86	33	62.9
Waddoups	6	R	57	52	23	40	88	43	62.7
Buttars	10	R	57	59	29	40	79	43	62.3
VanTassell *	26	R	43	43	30	0	65	43	62.2
Christensen	19	R	55	55	27	40	88	43	61.9
Hickman	29	R	57	59	42	40	73	43	59.3
Killpack	21	R	51	53	33	40	87	40	59.4
Valentine	14	R	55	50	30	40	80	67	58.2
Walker	8	R	48	50	31	60	88	43	54.3
Bell	22	R	41	47	43	40	94	43	53.8
Eastman	23	R	46	47	62	40	86	50	50.3
Knudsen	17	R	36	48	55	60	82	100	41.7
Hillyard	25	R	42	33	36	60	92	50	48.1
Average			56	55	33	28	86	47	63.0
DEMOCRATS
Mayne	5	D	28	32	85	70	88	57	31.6
Dmitrich	27	D	25	35	77	80	65	43	30.4
Jones *	4	D	16	21	93	40	65	71	28.1
Goodfellow	12	D	19	24	80	70	65	57	27.1
Davis	3	D	20	19	85	80	69	43	24.5
Fife	1	D	20	24	85	80	65	57	24.3
Romero *	7	D	23	20	93	70	77	86	23.6
McCoy	2	D	12	15	100	70	63	100	16.4
Average			20	24	87	70	70	64	25.8

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Utah House CLI 2007

Representative			GrsRts	GrsRts	UEA	GAY	UTA	UFIRE	Sierra
REPUBLICANS			Life	2007	2006	2007	2007	2007	2007	CLI
Morley	66	R	91	90	27	0	100	90	50	87.1
Tilton	65	R	86	91	33	0	100	90	38	85.6
Frank	57	R	84	83	47	0	94	90	38	80.6
Dougall	27	R	73	77	26	0	88	90	50	79.6
Lockhart	64	R	82	76	36	0	77	90	43	79.5
Donnelson	7	R	80	75	43	0	100	100	50	79.1
Wimmer *	52	R	77	77	40	0	100	90	50	78.7
Herrod *	62	R	75	75	40	0	80	100	38	77.9
Oda	14	R	77	77	47	0	94	90	38	77.8
Newbold	50	R	72	64	25	0	87	90	38	77.8
Hughes	51	R	75	61	28	0	80	90	38	76.9
Sumsion *	56	R	74	74	40	0	81	90	63	75.4
Daw	60	R	71	71	43	0	82	90	38	75.1
Harper	43	R	67	65	38	0	100	90	50	74.3
Sandstrom *	58	R	67	67	40	0	88	100	75	72.6
Garn *	16	R	68	64	40	0	75	90	50	72.4
Painter	67	R	63	55	47	0	100	90	38	70.5
Urquhart	75	R	65	65	50	0	82	90	50	70.4
Noel	73	R	58	57	40	0	82	90	43	69.5
Grover *	61	R	59	59	40	0	75	80	50	68.6
Anderson *	48	R	54	54	40	0	82	90	50	67.5
Barrus	18	R	58	58	47	0	88	75	50	67.4
Wheeler	68	R	63	52	43	0	85	60	50	67.1
Curtis	49	R	53	64	36	0	53	90	67	67.0
Aagard	15	R	61	63	73	0	88	90	38	65.9
Walker	45	R	52	43	43	0	87	90	57	64.3
Mathis	55	R	54	46	53	0	65	90	38	63.3
Hutchings	38	R	51	52	64	0	75	90	50	61.4
Neuenschwander *	20	R	48	48	60	0	87	85	50	61.1
Clark, D	74	R	57	41	47	0	82	58	75	60.9
Froerer *	8	R	50	50	60	0	81	78	55	60.9
Kiser	41	R	64	61	50	40	77	90	63	60.8
Gibson	6	R	52	48	66	0	75	78	38	60.6
Last	71	R	53	58	64	40	88	90	38	57.1
Bird *	42	R	42	42	60	0	59	70	43	56.3
Ray	13	R	48	33	71	0	64	90	38	55.9
Snow, G	54	R	58	26	67	0	56	60	33	55.8
Brown *	53	R	42	42	60	0	53	58	38	55.4
Clark, S	63	R	53	41	43	40	67	75	43	55.3
Dee	11	R	43	35	71	0	80	75	43	54.8
Ferry	2	R	56	54	58	40	59	58	50	53.7
Dunnigan	39	R	50	39	87	0	53	90	57	52.6
Draxler *	3	R	33	33	60	0	77	60	63	51.6
Fowlke	59	R	52	48	46	40	71	0	50	50.9
Fisher, Julie	17	R	49	48	71	40	77	90	63	50.7
Wyatt	5	R	49	38	57	40	87	58	63	50.1
Buxton	12	R	42	41	86	0	67	70	71	49.9
Hunsaker	4	R	44	33	86	0	59	58	50	49.0
Bigelow	32	R	53	42	85	40	53	90	67	46.2
Holdaway	34	R	40	23	76	40	77	60	57	41.3
Mascaro	47	R	43	33	93	40	60	58	38	40.8
Bowman	72	R	36	11	67	40	63	58	43	39.6
Menlove	1	R	34	25	86	40	59	75	38	39.3
Allen	19	R	34	29	86	40	56	60	50	38.2
McIff *	70	R	33	33	60	80	53	58	38	36.5
Average			58	53	54	11	76	79	49	62
DEMOCRATS
Gowans	21	D	40	43	78	60	59	58	25	41.7
Hendrickson	33	D	35	43	83	60	50	58	33	38.4
Morgan	46	D	28	25	80	40	69	70	67	37.4
Hemingway *	40	D	17	17	80	40	50	58	86	30.1
Fisher, Janice	29	D	29	32	79	60	73	58	88	33.6
Riesen *	36	D	17	17	80	40	47	58	88	29.8
Hansen	9	D	27	38	86	70	67	58	43	33.5
Duckworth	22	D	35	48	93	70	53	65	50	35.2
Johnson, C *	25	D	17	17	80	60	63	58	100	26.3
Seelig *	23	D	17	17	80	80	53	58	86	22.8
Wiley	31	D	19	22	93	70	56	58	63	25.3
Shurtliff	10	D	21	18	90	70	53	58	67	25.1
Wheatley	35	D	21	14	93	60	59	0	71	22.2
Cosgrove	44	D	18	21	93	60	53	58	88	24.9
King	69	D	23	22	93	80	53	0	71	20.1
Biskupski	30	D	20	22	92	80	63	0	88	19.1
McGee	28	D	14	13	100	70	59	58	100	18.9
Moss	37	D	15	13	95	70	56	0	75	17.8
Litvack	26	D	16	17	93	80	69	0	100	16.6
Becker	24	D	16	8	100	80	53	0	100	12.6
Average			22	23	88	65	58	42	74	27

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Presidential Aspirant Voting Records

With the field of Potential Presidential candidates for 2008 now being formulated here's a composite of the voting records from two diverse "interest group" categories, as reported by Project Vote Smart

(A VERY rough estimate = Average of first 10 ratings in either category.)

Republicans:

• Sen John McCain votes 70% "conservative" 26% "liberal"
• Sen Sam Brownback votes 80% "conservative" 6% "liberal"
• Gov Mitt Romney not rated
• Rep Duncan Hunter votes 49% "conservative" 5% "liberal"
  

Democrats:

• Sen Barack Obama votes 23% "conservative" 97% "liberal" (If he gets the nod from the Demos would that be an Obamanomination)
• Sen Hillary Clinton votes 19% "conservative" 96% "liberal"
• Sen Evan Bayh votes 30% "conservative" 91% "liberal"
  

For comparison:

Rep Ron Paul votes 88% "conservative" 32% "liberal" (That last number is a little surprising)

Sen John Kyl (AZ) votes 88% "conservative" 4% "liberal"

Rep Nancy Pelosi votes 22% "conservative" 98% "liberal"

Sen Orrin Hatch votes 66% "conservative" 7% "liberal"

Rep Jim Matheson votes 45% "conservative" 70% "liberal"

Sen Ted Kennedy votes 13% "conservative" 98% "liberal"

Rep Tom Tancredo votes 85% "conservative" 7% "liberal"

Sen Joe Biden votes 16% "conservative" 90% "liberal"

Sen Joe Lieberman votes 22% "conservative" 86% "liberal"

Conservative Liberal Index 2006

The Conservative - Liberal Index

"by their Fruits shall ye know them"

2006 Voting records of the Utah Legislature indicate once again there is a difference between Republicans and Democrats.

For simplicity, Conservatives may be defined as in favor of LIMITED Government and PROTECTION of INDIVIDUAL rights and Liberals as in favor of ACTIVIST Government and PROVISION of GROUP rights.

Individually, ALL Republicans achieved a CLI higher than ALL Democrats. The Most Conservative Award for the second consecutive year goes to Rep. Morley at 85.1; with Honorable Mention to Representatives Dayton, Tilton, Hughes, Lockhart, Frank, Newbold and Donnelson and Senators Stephenson and Madsen at the top of the Senate list. (All were above 75)

The Most Liberal Award goes to Rep. Litvack at 17.5, with several Democrats vying for the position.

All told, we might count 41 Conservatives (above 60), 31 Liberals (below 40) and 33 Mugwumps. (2005 showed 47/27/30) Some might declare that a balanced, moderate group, others might yearn for stronger principles.

There was a change in 2006 of groups "rating" our Utah legislators. Voice for Moderation ratings were not available online. The Deseret News "effective legislator" was added as a replacement, but NOT used as a viable determinant in the CLI rating. The idea of the most effective legislator being the one passing the most bills goes against the grain of logic of limited government.

Rating groups used:

GrsRts = GrassRoots ( www.utahgrassroots.com ) 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 ( www.utea.org ) 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."

Gay = Gay Rights ( www.actwin.com/eatonohio/gay ) grades on the basis of hate crimes, same-sex marriage and "gay rights."

UTA = Utah Taxpayers Association (www.utahtaxpayers.org ) deals mainly with tax issues and "is a non-profit, non-partisan association working for greater efficiency and effectiveness in government."

DNews=Deseret News (www.deseretnews.com/photos/0326bigxgr.pdf) "Effective Legislator" NOT used in ratings, presented as information only.

UAR = Utah Association of Realtors (www.utahrealtors.com ) reports on issues dealing with real estate on property issues. Ratings used were from 2002 (or estimated) as 2003 is not yet available on the website.

AccUT = Accountability Utah (www.accountabilityutah.com ) "promotes government that is restrained, fair, open, and representative; an economy based on free market principles; and strong individuals and families."

Each have different criteria for their ratings, based on votes that those groups consider favor or oppose "their" particular issues. Please refer to the individual websites for bills considered and rating considerations which were used.

The Conservative - Liberal Index (CLI) is a compiled aggregate of those various ratings to determine who is "truly" Conservative or "really" Liberal.

	GrsRts	GrsRts	UEA	GAY	UTA	Dnews	UAR	AccUT	CLI
	Life	2006	2005	2006	2006	2006	2004	life 2005
HOUSE
Republicans	60	47	49	11	83	53	67	-38	62
Democrats	23	18	95	73	47	18	56	-61	23
SENATE
Republicans	55	49	40	35	93	60	88	-53	59
Democrats	20	13	79	79	68	40	55	-67	24

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2006 Utah Senate Conservative Liberal Index

				GrsRts	GrsRts	UEA	Gay	UTA	Dnews	UAR	AccUT	CLI
	Senator	Dist		Life	2006	2005	2006	2006	2006	2004	life2005
	REPUBLICANS
80	Stephenson	11	R	74	75	20	0	100	80	84	-21	75.0
	Madsen *	13	R	72	75	30	0	100	24	?	-64	76.1
	Peterson *	24	R	74	61	44	0	100	75	100	-57	73.0
70	Jenkins	20	R	71	75	44	40	100	45	100	-31	68.2
	Hatch	28	R	65	47	50	0	91	67	100	-40	67.0
	Thomas	18	R	49	50	45	0	100	72	84	-55	63.6
	Hickman	29	R	56	21	0	40	91	25	100	-38	61.8
60	Buttars	10	R	56	64	44	40	83	22	100	-52	60.7
	Mansell	9	R	48	54	29	40	89	90	100	-57	59.8
	Bramble	16	R	59	47	44	40	92	69	100	-60	58.6
	Valentine	14	R	55	44	44	40	92	0	100	-48	57.4
	Waddoups	6	R	57	47	50	40	92	68	100	-48	57.3
55	Killpack	21	R	51	47	38	40	92	72	84	-57	56.8
	Hellewell	15	R	58	44	56	40	92	48	100	-57	55.6
	Bell	22	R	40	44	33	40	85	53	100	-62	48.6
	Christensen *	19	R	56	53	56	40	92	50	?	-64	53.7
	Eastman	23	R	46	35	40	40	82	74	100	-57	53.3
	Hillyard	25	R	43	38	33	60	100	80	100	-62	51.6
50	Walker	8	R	47	53	56	60	100	80	100	-57	51.3
45	Evans, B	26	R	38	27	43	60	91	81	88	-57	45.3
	Knudsen	17	R	35	22	44	70	92	77	100	-64	42.1
	average			54.8	48.7	40.1	34.8	93.1	59.6	87.6	-52.8	59.1
	DEMOCRATS
30	Dmitrich	27	D	24	17	75	80	77	59	100	-64	29.8
	Mayne	5	D	28	6	67	80	69	39	71	-55	28.2
	Davis	3	D	21	17	75	80	77	27	80	-69	27.7
25	Goodfellow	12	D	18	6	56	80	77	60	63	-67	27.4
	Hale	7	D	19	24	100	80	58	40	63	-62	21.8
20	Fife *	1	D	19	11	78	80	69	0	?	-79	21.0
	McCoy *	2	D	11	11	78	70	62	0	?	-71	20.6
15	Arent	4	D	20	11	100	80	58	92	63	-67	19.4
	average			20.0	12.9	78.6	78.8	68.4	39.6	55.0	-66.8	24.2

2006 Utah House Conservative Liberal Index

SCALE	REPUBLICANS			GrsRts	GrsRts	UEA	GAY	UTA	DNews	UAR	AccUT
	Representative			Life	2006	2005	2006	2006	2006	2004	life2005	CLI
85	Morley	66	R	91	81	31	0	100	64	78	40	85.1
	Dayton	61	R	82	70	29	0	100	33	100	9	81.6
80	Tilton *	65	R	84	78	31	0	100	13	?	-43	80.4
	Hughes	51	R	78	70	38	0	100	45	100	8	78.9
	Lockhart	64	R	83	58	33	0	93	65	100	11	78.5
	Frank	57	R	84	60	31	0	100	30	78	0	78.2
	Newbold	50	R	73	67	31	0	100	67	100	-14	77.7
75	Donnelson	7	R	81	69	46	0	93	11	78	1	75.9
	Ure	53	R	75	59	38	0	83	54	100	-24	74.0
	Dougall	27	R	70	61	36	0	100	45	78	-17	73.4
	Alexander	62	R	78	50	36	0	77	64	100	-22	73.1
	Oda *	14	R	78	60	46	0	100	62	?	-50	71.9
70	Ferrin	58	R	77	67	31	40	100	36	100	-22	70.9
	Harper	43	R	67	55	38	0	93	62	78	-14	70.8
	Urquhart	75	R	64	39	23	0	83	50	100	-36	69.9
	Painter *	67	R	68	55	38	0	100	50	?	-50	69.9
	Barrus	18	R	58	58	31	0	93	67	78	-41	69.6
	Daw *	60	R	71	50	38	0	82	29	?	-57	68.2
	Noel	73	R	59	58	54	0	93	27	100	-29	67.3
	Kiser	41	R	65	44	33	0	64	38	78	-23	67.1
65	Christensen	48	R	66	45	50	0	77	44	78	-7	65.7
	Wheeler *	68	R	68	50	46	0	93	67	?	-86	65.6
	Curtis	49	R	52	47	40	0	91	0	100	-43	65.5
	Clark, D	74	R	59	35	38	0	92	60	100	-46	65.4
	Snow, G	54	R	63	56	50	0	67	86	?	-26	64.9
	Ferry	2	R	57	40	42	0	87	83	100	-41	64.9
	Walker *	45	R	56	40	31	0	93	44	?	-57	64.4
	Hutchings	38	R	64	50	62	0	86	19	78	-36	63.5
	Adams	16	R	55	29	42	0	92	77	100	-38	62.8
	Buttars	3	R	66	59	45	40	79	60	100	-37	62.3
	Mathis *	55	R	59	50	54	0	93	60	?	-71	62.1
60	Last	71	R	51	42	54	0	93	45	100	-36	62.1
	Aagard	15	R	61	55	67	0	67	90	78	-24	61.9
	Johnson, B	70	R	64	50	36	40	69	75	100	-34	61.3
	Buxton	12	R	43	32	42	0	80	45	100	-44	59.4
	Gibson *	6	R	55	50	69	0	85	64	?	-50	58.2
	Dunnigan	39	R	54	47	73	0	73	89	78	-26	57.9
	Wallace	42	R	53	35	31	40	87	44	100	-53	57.2
	Clark, S	63	R	56	35	38	40	79	54	100	-38	56.6
55	Fisher *	17	R	50	33	54	0	87	50	?	-86	55.4
	Ray *	13	R	54	37	60	0	73	38	?	-79	55.4
	Hardy	20	R	39	22	54	0	73	78	100	-36	54.1
	Dee	11	R	46	22	69	0	85	79	100	-39	53.7
	Cox, D	56	R	53	50	62	40	56	27	100	-36	52.8
	Hunsaker *	4	R	50	40	69	0	60	71	?	-71	52.5
	Mascaro	47	R	45	26	37	40	69	0	100	-43	51.5
50	Wyatt *	5	R	46	33	33	40	93	50	?	-100	50.5
	Bowman	72	R	38	44	69	40	86	25	100	-48	48.1
	Fowlke *	59	R	54	50	77	40	80	47	?	-57	47.8
45	Murray	8	R	44	39	69	40	67	73	100	-38	47.8
	Bigelow	32	R	54	35	85	40	75	100	78	-44	46.8
	Menlove *	1	R	40	32	85	0	64	80	?	-100	44.3
	Lawrence	36	R	38	32	67	40	60	88	78	-56	42.9
40	Hogue	52	R	46	21	77	40	60	12	78	-39	41.5
	Allen	19	R	34	21	77	40	67	57	78	-58	38.4
	Holdaway	34	R	42	18	85	40	47	50	78	-34	37.8
	Average			60.0	46.6	49.1	11.4	82.8	52.6	66.9	-38.0	62.2

	Representative			GrsRts	GrsRts	UEA	GAY	UTA	Dnews	UAR	AccUT
	DEMOCRATS			Life	2006	2005	2006	2006	2006	2004	life2005	CLI
35	Morgan	46	D	28	28	85	40	50	23	56	-75	33.7
	Hendrickson	33	D	35	25	100	60	47	25	100	-36	32.1
	Gowans	21	D	39	20	100	70	50	33	89	-36	29.8
	Duckworth	22	D	34	26	100	80	60	0	78	-31	27.9
30	Shurtliff	10	D	22	22	93	70	53	23	67	-58	25.4
	Romero *	25	D	24	20	92	70	67	23	?	-43	24.4
	Fisher	29	D	26	26	100	80	53	0	67	-75	23.4
	Hansen	9	D	26	26	100	80	36	7	67	-41	23.4
	Wheatley *	35	D	25	30	100	70	53	0	?	-71	23.2
25	King	69	D	23	11	92	80	36	25	94	-48	22.8
	Bourdeaux	23	D	21	5	86	80	43	0	67	-66	20.5
	Wiley *	31	D	18	20	92	70	47	33	?	-77	20.3
	Jones	40	D	15	5	90	70	50	17	67	-78	20.2
	Cosgrove *	44	D	17	15	92	70	47	23	?	-71	19.2
20	Biskupski	30	D	20	10	100	80	50	38	67	-63	19.1
	Spackman - Moss	37	D	15	20	100	80	47	23	67	-81	19.0
	McGee	28	D	15	10	92	80	43	33	67	-78	18.4
	Becker	24	D	17	17	92	80	31	0	39	-61	18.3
	Litvack	26	D	15	5	92	80	36	21	67	-64	17.5
	Average			22.9	17.9	94.6	73.2	47.3	18.3	55.7	-60.7	22.8

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Is there a difference between Parties?

Judging from the composite Conservative Liberal Index, it appears the answer is clearly - YES!!!

The Conservative - Liberal Index

"by their Fruits shall ye know them"

There are now several groups "rating" our Utah legislators. They each have different criteria for their ratings, based on votes that those groups consider favor or oppose "their" particular issues. The Conservative - Liberal Index (CLI) is a compiled aggregate of those various ratings to determine who is "truly" Conservative or "really" Liberal.

For simplicity, Conservatives may be defined as in favor of LIMITED Government and PROTECTION of INDIVIDUAL rights and Liberals as in favor of ACTIVIST Government and PROVISION of GROUP rights. There may indeed be "a dime's work of difference" between the parties - well, maybe a nickel's.

Individually, ALL Republicans achieved a CLI higher than ALL Democrats. The Most Conservative Award goes to Rep. Morley at 88.4; the Most Liberal Award to Sen. Arent at 17.0.

All told, we might count 47 Conservatives (above 60), 27 Liberals (below 40) and 30 Mugwumps. Some might declare that a balanced, moderate group, others might yearn for stronger principles.

Please refer to the individual websites for bills considered and further rating considerations which were used.

	GrsRts	GrsRts	UEA	GAY	UTA	V4M	UAR	AccUT	CLI
	Life	2005	2005	2005	2005	2003	2003	life 04
HOUSE
REPUBLICAN	65	69	49	3	78	39	67	-7	65
DEMOCRAT	23	22	95	59	45	56	56	-45	26
SENATE
REPUBLICAN	55	61	40	22	90	45	88	-38	62
DEMOCRAT	20	20	79	73	41	59	55	-45	26

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2005 Utah Legislative Ratings

Rating groups used in this report were:

GrsRts = GrassRoots www.utahgrassroots.com 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 www.utea.org 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."

Gay = Gay Rights www.actwin.com/eatonohio/gay grades on the basis of hate crimes, same-sex marriage and "gay rights."

UTA = Utah Taxpayers Association www.utahtaxpayers.org deals mainly with tax issues and "is a non-profit, non-partisan association working for greater efficiency and effectiveness in government."

V4Mod = Voice for Moderation www.voiceformoderation.com "We promote and support the election of mainstream Republican candidates and attempt to influence legislation that is in keeping with the goals and values of the majority of the people of Utah."

UAR = Utah Association of Realtors www.utahrealtors.com reports on issues dealing with real estate on property issues.

AccUT = Accountability Utah www.accountabilityutah.com "promotes government that is restrained, fair, open, and representative; an economy based on free market principles; and strong individuals and families."

CLI = Conservative - Liberal Index: A weighted average of the above groups.

2005 Utah Senate Vote Ratings

				GrsRts	GrsRts	UEA	Gay	UTA	V4Mod	UAR	AccUT	CLI
	Senator	Dist	Party	Life	2005	2005	2005	2005	2003	2004	life2004
REPUBLICANS
75	Stephenson	11	R	74	67	20	0	100	40	84	-4	75.3
	Peterson *	24	R	76	80	44	0	89	50	100	-3	73.3
	Hickman	29	R	59	71	0	10	60	40	100	-39	72.6
70	Jenkins	20	R	71	75	44	10	89	53	100	-14	69.7
	Madsen *	13	R	70	70	30	0	89	?	?	?	69.3
	Hatch	28	R	66	72	50	0	88	40	100	-29	67.6
65	Bramble	16	R	61	72	44	10	100	47	100	-50	66.4
	Valentine	14	R	56	61	44	10	100	40	100	-39	63.7
	Killpack	21	R	52	60	38	10	89	47	84	-43	61.2
	Buttars	10	R	55	56	44	10	100	47	100	-61	61.2
	Mansell	9	R	47	67	29	40	86	53	100	-57	61.1
60	Hellewell	15	R	60	63	56	10	100	60	100	-54	60.9
	Waddoups	6	R	58	59	50	40	88	33	100	-39	60.3
	Eastman	23	R	47	63	40	40	88	53	100	-50	58.5
	Hillyard	25	R	44	47	33	40	78	33	100	-46	56.7
	Christensen *	19	R	58	58	56	40	100	?	?	?	56.5
55	Thomas	18	R	48	50	45	0	89	67	84	-43	56.1
	Bell	22	R	39	50	33	40	75	53	100	-54	54.1
	Walker	8	R	46	63	56	70	100	53	100	-57	53.6
50	Evans, B	26	R	39	22	43	10	100	73	88	-50	48.2
	Knudsen	17	R	37	47	44	70	78	67	100	-61	47.8
	average			55.4	60.6	40.1	21.9	89.8	45.2	87.6	-37.8	61.6
DEMOCRATS
	Dmitrich	27	D	24	30	75	80	67	73	100	-57	33.1
	Mayne	5	D	29	28	67	80	44	73	71	-46	32.5
30	Allen, R	12	D	19	25	56	80	63	80	63	-57	31.4
	Fife *	1	D	21	20	78	80	56	?	?	?	29.1
	McCoy *	2	D	11	11	78	0	22	?	?	?	27.7
25	Davis	3	D	21	15	75	80	13	73	80	-68	24.0
	Hale	7	D	18	15	100	80	33	93	63	-64	17.2
15	Arent	4	D	20	15	100	100	33	80	63	-71	17.0
	average			20.4	19.9	78.6	72.5	41.4	59.0	55.0	-45.4	28.0

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2005 Utah House Vote Ratings

SCALE	REPUBLICANS	DIST	Party	GrsRts	GrsRts	UEA	GAY	UTA	V4Mod	UAR	AccUT	CLI
	Representative			Life	2005	2005	2005	2005	2003	2003	life2004	ave
	Morley	66	R	94	100	31	0	91	36	78	75	88.4
85	Frank	57	R	95	95	31	0	91	36	78	29	84.6
	Dayton	61	R	83	95	29	0	90	36	100	35	83.4
	Lockhart	64	R	86	95	33	0	90	43	100	37	83.0
80	Hughes	51	R	81	85	38	0	100	43	100	34	79.3
	Ferrin	58	R	79	84	31	10	100	57	100	3	77.3
	Oda *	14	R	95	95	46	0	82	?	?	?	77.3
	Alexander	62	R	80	86	36	0	90	57	100	-4	76.7
	Tilton *	65	R	86	86	31	0	91	?	?	?	76.7
	Donnelson	7	R	83	90	46	0	91	43	78	19	76.6
	Daw *	60	R	90	90	38	0	82	?	?	?	76.5
75	Newbold	50	R	74	76	31	0	90	50	100	-3	74.6
	Dougall	27	R	79	79	36	0	100	71	78	-4	73.3
	Ure	53	R	76	79	38	0	91	71	100	3	73.2
	Wheeler *	68	R	85	85	46	0	91	?	?	?	73.2
	Wyatt *	5	R	78	78	33	0	100	?	?	?	73.1
	Kiser	41	R	70	80	33	0	91	50	78	1	72.7
	Urquhart	75	R	69	70	23	0	80	57	100	-22	71.9
	Painter *	67	R	80	80	38	0	82	?	?	?	71.9
70	Harper	43	R	68	79	38	0	73	43	78	8	70.5
	Christensen	48	R	73	85	50	0	82	57	78	8	70.3
	Walker *?	45	R	71	71	31	10	91	?	?	?	69.0
	Adams	16	R	62	78	42	0	90	57	100	-25	68.4
	Buttars	3	R	66	81	45	10	90	64	100	-26	68.3
	Johnson, B	70	R	65	71	36	10	91	71	100	-19	67.7
	Ferry	2	R	59	83	42	0	70	64	100	-29	66.7
	Clark	74	R	64	59	38	0	73	50	100	-7	65.9
65	Clark, S	63	R	60	55	38	10	91	36	100	-22	65.0
	Curtis	49	R	52	63	40	0	100	43	100	-33	64.5
	Wallace	42	R	57	60	31	10	80	50	100	-37	64.4
	Snow, G	54	R	63	75	50	0	78	?	?	-11	63.3
	Mathis *?	55	R	67	67	54	0	73	?	?	?	62.0
	Barrus	18	R	58	52	31	0	82	64	78	-26	61.9
	Noel	73	R	59	60	54	0	82	57	100	-7	61.7
60	Fisher *	17	R	65	65	54	0	55	?	?	?	59.9
	Cox, D	56	R	54	60	62	10	50	6	100	-26	58.7
	Aagard	15	R	62	62	67	0	73	50	78	-10	58.6
	Mascaro	47	R	49	50	37	10	70	50	100	-33	58.6
	Last	71	R	54	62	54	0	55	57	100	-22	58.5
	Ray *?	13	R	62	61	60	0	60	?	?	?	57.4
	Buxton	12	R	46	50	42	0	60	50	100	-33	56.8
	Dunnigan	39	R	58	64	73	0	67	57	78	-3	56.1
	Gibson *	6	R	60	60	69	0	73	?	?	?	55.7
	Hunsaker *	4	R	60	60	69	0	64	?	?	?	55.1
55	Hardy	20	R	44	48	54	0	73	50	100	-15	54.9
	Hutchings	38	R	49	60	62	0	82	71	78	-22	54.5
	Dee	11	R	52	50	69	0	64	57	100	-15	53.4
	Fowlke *	59	R	57	57	77	0	64	?	?	?	52.1
	Hogue	52	R	49	70	77	10	60	64	78	-30	51.6
50	Murray	8	R	44	48	69	10	55	57	100	-15	49.6
	Bigelow	32	R	56	50	85	10	64	64	78	-30	48.1
	Bowman	72	R	37	45	69	10	60	57	100	-37	46.7
	Menlove *			48	48	85	0	55	?	?	?	45.7
45	Holdaway	34	R	45	48	85	10	55	64	78	-11	44.8
	Lawrence	36	R	40	38	67	0	50	86	78	-33	43.2
	Allen	19	R	36	45	77	10	64	64	78	-44	42.9
	Average			64.9	69.1	49.1	2.5	77.5	39.5	66.9	-7.2	64.6

scale	Representative	Dist	Party	GrsRts	GrsRts	UEA	GAY	UTA	V4Mod	UAR	AccUT	CLI
	DEMOCRATS			Life	2005	2005	2005	2005	2003	2003	life2004	ave
35	Morgan	46	D	29	35	85	10	64	71	56	-70	34.7
	Gowans	21	D	41	37	100	80	55	57	89	-30	34.5
	Romero *	25	D	29	29	92	0	36	?	?	?	34.2
	Hendrickson	33	D	35	20	100	70	56	43	100	-18	32.3
30	Cosgrove *	44	D	19	19	92	0	45	?	?	?	30.1
	Duckworth	22	D	34	24	100	80	55	57	78	-10	29.9
	Wheatley *	35	D	20	20	100	0	45	?	?	?	29.0
	Wiley *	31	D	15	16	92	0	27	?	?	?	27.3
	Bourdeaux	23	D	23	33	86	80	45	79	67	-75	26.6
25	King	69	D	24	10	92	80	36	50	94	-37	25.4
	Hansen	9	D	26	24	100	80	55	71	67	-36	25.3
	Shurtliff	10	D	22	19	93	70	36	79	67	-51	23.0
	Jones	40	D	16	17	90	70	50	71	67	-85	21.9
	Litvack	26	D	17	24	92	80	36	86	67	-71	21.0
20	Goodfellow	29	D	19	20	100	80	40	71	67	-77	20.2
	Biskupski	30	D	22	14	100	80	50	86	67	-63	20.0
	McGee	28	D	16	24	92	100	55	93	67	-85	19.8
	Becker	24	D	17	14	92	80	27	71	39	-56	18.1
	Spackman - Moss	37	D	15	19	100	80	36	79	67	-85	17.9
	Average			23.1	22.0	94.6	58.9	44.7	56.0	55.7	-44.7	25.8

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