The Conservative - Liberal Index

"by their Fruits shall ye know them"


Once again, the 2009 Voting Records of the Utah Legislature indicate there is a difference between Republicans and Democrats.

For simplicity, Conservatives may be defined as favoring 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 2009 House goes to Rep. Lockhart at 82.5 with Honorable Mention to Representatives Dougall, 82.2, Frank, 80.8, Herrod, 80.7, Morley, 80.3, Grover, 80.0, Hughes, 79.8, Sumsion, 79.7, Daw, 78.6, and Mathis, 78.5.


Conservative Leader in the Senate was Senator Dayton, 84.9, for the THIRD consecutive year - she again edged out Senators Madsen, 82.3 and Stephenson, 80.5 at the top of the Senate list.

The Most Liberal Award goes to Rep. Chavez-Houck, 13.0, with several Democrats vying for that coveted title; and Senator Romero, 23.3 retains his liberal dominance of the Senate.

This year, ALL Democrats achieved a CLI lower than ALL Republicans, except one. Sen. Mayne, 46.5 showed a higher conservative rating than Rep. McIff, 42.0, the most liberal Republican, and Reps Holdaway and Bird (but they did manage to edge out the most conservative Democrat Representative (Hendrickson, 35.9)

All told, we can count 49 Conservatives (above CLI 60), 29 Liberals (below 40) and 25 Mugwumps, firmly balanced on the fence in the middle. (2008 had 42/29/33). Some might declare that a balanced, moderate group, others might yearn for stronger principles.

Education ratings showed the biggest disparities in the ratings with Parents for Choice being a virtual mirror of Utah Education Association. In an interesting anomaly, ALL of the Democrats in the House voted 100% correct according to the UEA. The GOP exhibited much more diversity in their education votes.

There were some changes in 2009 of groups "rating" our Utah legislators. Equality Utah, which focuses on "gay" rights, only rated some committee members. PCE posted some ratings as mentioned above and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) published at belated report from the previous year.

The Deseret News returned with its "effective legislator" based on passing the highest percentage of bills. Their rating is included for comic relief.

Rating groups used in the index:

GrsRts = 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."

SIERRA = Sierra Club "activists dedicated to preserving and enjoying the land and quality of life in Utah and the West. "

NFIB = National Federation of Independent Business Reports the "Voting Record on Small Business Issues."

These Ratings were NOT used in CLIndex:

Eqlty = Equality Utah mission: "To secure equal rights and protections for LGBT Utahns and their families."

DNews = Deseret News appears to promote that the more laws, the better.

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	UTA	UFIRE	Sierra	PCE
	Life	2009	2009	2009	2009	2009	2009	CLI
HOUSE
REPUBLICAN	60	69	60	84	69	36	74	65
DEMOCRAT	28	30	100	46	46	81	23	25
SENATE
REPUBLICAN	59	67	40	96	59	53	81	69
DEMOCRAT	26	38	86	68	53	70	38	36

Utah House CLI 2009

The Conservative Liberal Index rating for the Utah House in 2009.

Representative GrsRts GrsRts UEA UTA UFIRE Sierra PCE NFIB 2009 DNEWs Eqlty REPUBLICANS Life 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2008 CLI 2009 Lockhart 64 R 79 74 36 100 75 25 100 100 82.5 100 Dougall 27 R 73 88 30 100 75 38 100 100 82.2 50 Frank 57 R 81 71 40 94 75 25 100 100 80.8 25 Herrod 62 R 75 83 36 94 90 38 100 100 80.7 63 Morley 66 R 89 94 57 100 85 25 90 100 80.3 100 0 Grover 61 R 68 89 36 94 85 38 100 100 80.0 75 0 Hughes 51 R 74 79 30 94 90 25 82 100 79.8 50 Sumsion 56 R 77 95 42 88 85 38 100 90 79.7 63 Daw 60 R 67 74 30 94 80 43 100 100 78.6 100 0 Mathis 55 R 57 83 40 93 85 14 90 100 78.5 83 Newbold 50 R 71 83 36 94 80 25 82 100 78.0 78 Noel 73 R 62 83 36 94 85 43 100 100 77.9 77 Wimmer 52 R 85 94 42 81 85 50 82 90 74.4 53 Barrus 18 R 59 63 36 88 75 43 100 100 74.1 43 Oda 14 R 77 76 60 93 80 25 80 100 73.0 64 Painter 67 R 63 76 40 93 85 43 80 100 72.5 83 0 Harper 43 R 67 69 40 94 80 29 70 100 72.4 69 Garn 16 R 67 72 40 100 58 25 60 100 71.1 100 0 Wilcox* 7 R 78 78 64 82 62 14 80 na 71.0 100 Gibson, F* 65 R 67 67 55 82 85 29 90 na 71.0 100 0 Clark, S 63 R 53 61 45 88 0 29 100 100 69.7 50 Aagard 15 R 62 71 55 94 75 38 80 100 69.3 80 Hutchings 38 R 53 59 60 77 80 0 80 100 69.2 44 0 Clark, D 74 R 57 60 45 86 0 29 90 89 67.6 100 Fowlke 59 R 52 69 50 94 58 38 80 80 67.3 75 0 Sandstrom 58 R 68 82 73 81 90 38 80 89 66.3 58 0 Gibson, K 6 R 53 78 50 75 60 14 60 100 65.8 100 Ray 13 R 52 67 55 93 75 38 70 100 65.4 55 0 Winn 68 R 58 68 55 80 60 43 80 100 64.9 100 Last 71 R 55 71 50 88 75 38 55 100 63.5 80 Froerer 8 R 59 65 64 82 65 50 80 90 62.3 60 0 Greenwood 12 R 66 83 75 82 85 38 60 100 62.0 57 Dee 11 R 48 59 60 75 80 25 64 100 61.4 83 Webb 5 R 45 63 60 81 65 38 70 100 60.7 75 0 Kiser 41 R 63 61 73 77 80 43 70 100 60.0 100 0 Ipson* 75 R 63 63 67 82 75 43 64 na 59.8 100 0 Wallis* 10 R 63 63 64 82 65 43 60 na 59.1 100 Dunnigan 39 R 51 68 70 75 62 25 60 89 58.8 86 0 Ferry 2 R 55 71 80 75 60 29 60 88 57.0 50 Mascaro 47 R 44 67 91 81 58 29 70 90 55.7 0 Powell* 54 R 58 58 75 77 75 63 73 na 55.0 33 0 Brown 53 R 44 61 80 77 60 29 60 88 54.7 67 Fisher, Julie 17 R 54 63 82 82 75 50 60 100 54.7 91 Draxler 3 R 44 50 83 77 60 50 80 100 54.2 50 Bigelow 32 R 54 42 75 82 62 14 30 90 52.5 87 Vickers* 72 R 56 56 82 77 80 43 50 na 51.7 67 0 Hunsaker 4 R 46 58 91 65 60 38 50 100 47.9 80 Menlove 1 R 37 59 91 71 60 50 60 90 47.5 73 0 Edwards* 20 R 58 58 77 69 60 75 55 na 47.2 50 Allen 19 R 36 61 82 69 60 63 60 78 46.8 57 0 Bird 42 R 48 63 91 53 75 57 50 90 44.6 80 0 Holdaway 34 R 40 56 92 71 58 38 36 50 43.4 43 McIff 70 R 37 38 90 65 0 50 60 100 42.0 43 0 Average 59.8 69.1 59.6 83.7 68.9 36.3 74.4 95.2 65.0 70.8 0.0 DEMOCRATS Hendrickson 33 D 37 33 100 50 60 25 20 89 35.9 50 Duckworth 22 D 34 28 100 47 0 29 30 70 32.5 100 100 Gowans 21 D 38 17 100 41 60 38 20 88 31.3 100 Seegmiller* 49 D 56 56 100 47 65 100 30 na 30.3 33 Fisher, Janice 29 D 31 50 100 59 55 88 30 60 29.8 50 Litvack 26 D 17 22 100 59 55 71 40 70 29.7 33 Beck* 48 D 29 53 100 53 65 88 30 na 28.7 0 Poulson* 46 D 50 50 100 47 65 88 18 na 28.2 100 Cosgrove 44 D 21 39 100 53 55 100 40 78 27.0 50 Hemingway 40 D 25 33 100 47 55 88 30 67 25.7 33 Watkins* 69 D 28 28 100 41 60 50 10 na 25.7 40 King* 28 D 28 28 100 53 55 88 30 na 25.5 20 100 Seelig 23 D 25 33 100 44 60 100 30 70 23.8 50 Riesen 36 D 16 17 100 53 60 88 30 60 23.8 0 100 Moss 37 D 16 28 100 47 60 88 27 70 23.6 20 Wiley 31 D 22 33 100 40 60 100 30 67 22.7 0 Wheatley 35 D 22 21 100 41 60 86 9 70 19.7 67 100 Hansen 9 D 27 25 100 38 0 75 10 78 19.5 0 100 Black* 45 D 26 26 100 41 60 100 9 na 17.5 0 Johnson, C 25 D 19 16 100 38 0 100 20 70 15.5 40 100 Biskupski 30 D 21 17 100 35 0 88 10 78 15.5 33 100 Chavez-Houck 24 D 17 11 100 41 0 100 10 60 13.0 25 Average 27.5 30.2 100.0 46.1 45.9 80.8 23.3 71.6 24.8 38.4 100.0

Utah Senate CLI 2009

The Conservative Liberal Index rating for the Utah Senate in 2009.

Senator Dist GrsRts GrsRts UEA UTA UFIRE Sierra PCE NFIB DNews Eqlty REPUBLICANS Life 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2008 CLI 2009 Dayton 15 R 81 86 25 100 95 38 100 90 84.9 90 Madsen 13 R 74 85 12 100 85 50 91 89 82.3 46 0 Stephenson 11 R 74 77 18 100 0 33 100 90 80.5 50 Waddoups 6 R 59 86 30 100 80 50 100 90 78.2 60 0 Jenkins 20 R 69 68 25 100 80 50 91 89 77.1 85 Buttars 10 R 58 65 12 100 40 33 82 100 76.8 33 0 Bramble 16 R 59 65 20 100 80 40 82 100 76.3 71 Neiderhauser 9 R 59 68 30 100 80 60 100 100 75.3 88 Killpack 21 R 55 70 22 100 40 43 91 100 75.2 100 Valentine 14 R 55 67 17 91 40 43 73 89 70.8 80 Urquhart** 29 R 64 64 44 100 90 67 91 100 70.6 89 Christensen 19 R 55 67 44 100 40 43 82 100 68.9 60 Stowell 28 R 62 68 50 100 70 71 82 90 66.0 92 Liljenquist* 23 R 50 50 44 94 40 43 82 na 64.8 75 Okerlund* 24 R 59 59 60 94 40 63 82 na 60.8 50 Greiner 18 R 58 71 78 94 90 63 64 80 57.7 83 Knudson 17 R 39 62 44 92 40 67 64 90 57.6 75 Bell 22 R 45 50 67 93 40 63 73 100 55.6 91 0 Hillyard 25 R 44 63 56 92 40 71 64 80 55.3 86 VanTassell 26 R 49 52 67 94 40 57 55 100 53.9 60 Hinkins* 27 R 71 71 78 75 90 63 45 na 52.5 80 59.0 67.3 40.1 96.1 59.0 52.9 80.7 88.3 68.6 73.5 0.0 DEMOCRATS Mayne 5 D 38 55 80 75 80 57 45 70 46.5 63 Jones 4 D 20 43 80 75 0 50 45 63 39.6 83 Goodfellow 12 D 22 42 91 75 60 63 36 100 37.9 50 Davis 3 D 21 33 89 75 70 63 36 67 36.9 29 Robles* 1 D 32 32 80 57 70 75 45 na 36.8 14 McCoy 2 D 19 27 80 63 70 88 45 78 34.4 20 100 Morgan** 8 D 31 41 92 65 70 88 36 80 33.8 0 Romero 7 D 23 27 100 56 0 75 18 80 23.3 20 100 25.8 37.5 86.5 67.6 52.5 69.9 38.3 76.9 36.1 34.9 100.0

2008 CLI Summary

The Conservative - Liberal Index

"by their Fruits shall ye know them"


Once again, the 2008 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 FOURTH consecutive year goes to Rep. Morley at 83.8; with Honorable Mention to Representatives Tilton, Wimmer, Oda, Donnelson, Sumsion, Frank, Herrod, Dougall, and Hughes.


Leader in the Senate was Senator Dayton for the SECOND year - she edged out Senators Madsen and Stephenson (again) at the top of the Senate list.

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

This year, ALL Republicans but one achieved a CLI higher than ALL Democrats. This year, the highest Democrat (Duckworth) had a higher CLI than the lowest ranking Republicans (McIff)

All told, we might count 42 Conservatives (above 60), 29 Liberals (below 40) and 33 Mugwumps, firmly balanced on the fence. (2007 had 45/32/27 and 2006 showed 41/31/33) Some might declare that a balanced, moderate group, others might yearn for stronger principles.

There was, again, a minor change in 2008 of groups "rating" our Utah legislators. The "Gay" rights ratings used previously has disappeared, but replaced by Equality Utah which focuses on the same issue, but must be more "moderate" (or successful).

The UAR (realtors) have so many legislative members, they may have decided they didn't need to rate them for the last couple years.

The Deseret News may has dropped its "effective legislator" based on passing the most bills. They continued a grading report based on attendance, which doesn't show much as must legislators voted (attended) over 90% of the time.

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."

Eqlty = Equality Utah mission: "To secure equal rights and protections for LGBT Utahns and their families."

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

SIERRA = Sierra Club "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	Eqlty	UTA	UFIRE	Sierra
	Life	2008	2008	2007	2008	2008	2008	CLI
HOUSE
REPUBLICAN	57	54	56	60	81	80	59	62
DEMOCRAT	23	26	97	92	53	16	89	24
SENATE
REPUBLICAN	49	50	44	38	80	67	62	53
DEMOCRAT	21	28	95	75	57	41	85	24

Utah House CLI 2008

The Conservative Liberal Index rating for the Utah House in 2008.

Representative GrsRts GrsRts UEA Eqlty UTA UFIRE Sierra REPUBLICANS Life 2008 2008 2007 2008 2008 2008 CLI Morley 66 R 88 74 14 50 93 90 25 83.8 Tilton 65 R 85 81 11 33 86 90 33 83.4 Wimmer 52 R 82 86 22 67 92 90 25 80.8 Oda 14 R 77 77 27 50 93 90 33 79.4 Donnelson 7 R 79 73 27 67 87 100 38 77.8 Sumsion 56 R 70 65 31 67 93 90 29 75.5 Frank 57 R 83 77 36 67 86 85 29 75.3 Herrod 62 R 71 67 33 50 79 100 50 73.3 Dougall 27 R 70 64 36 67 93 90 57 72.3 Hughes 51 R 73 67 33 67 86 90 57 71.8 Lockhart 64 R 80 60 27 50 77 85 67 70.8 Painter 67 R 60 53 37 50 85 78 25 69.6 Daw 60 R 66 50 36 50 85 85 50 69.6 Noel 73 R 59 60 36 67 80 90 43 68.0 Urquhart 75 R 64 60 33 59 83 85 67 67.9 Sandstrom 58 R 63 59 60 50 77 100 33 67.8 Newbold 50 R 70 53 38 67 85 90 75 67.5 Grover 61 R 58 57 55 50 87 90 50 67.0 Harper 43 R 67 70 50 67 85 90 75 66.4 Kiser 41 R 63 62 55 67 87 90 57 66.3 Bigelow 32 R 54 65 44 50 82 90 71 65.8 Anderson 48 R 54 55 36 67 87 90 75 65.8 Walker 45 R 51 47 43 67 93 85 60 65.4 Curtis 49 R 53 50 44 50 91 78 67 65.0 Garn 16 R 66 53 45 67 75 90 57 64.7 Ray 13 R 49 55 50 67 86 85 57 63.1 Aagard 15 R 61 59 73 67 87 90 63 62.2 Fisher, Julie 17 R 52 60 73 50 87 90 63 62.2 Clark, D 74 R 57 55 50 50 86 70 71 62.2 Dee 11 R 46 60 60 50 80 90 75 60.6 Last 71 R 53 57 64 67 79 90 63 60.2 Hutchings 38 R 52 60 70 67 80 90 57 60.0 Barrus 18 R 58 59 82 67 86 90 63 59.9 Mathis 55 R 52 44 80 67 80 90 25 59.7 Clark, S 63 R 52 45 40 50 69 80 71 59.6 Gibson 6 R 47 30 57 67 79 85 38 59.3 Froerer 8 R 57 62 70 50 80 80 75 59.3 Winn 68 R 47 47 56 59 83 80 83 58.0 Greenwood 12 R 50 50 64 59 69 85 50 57.5 Snow, G 54 R 58 52 73 50 80 70 75 56.4 Neuenschwander 20 R 50 52 82 67 80 90 71 55.8 Webb 5 R 39 41 50 40 73 65 75 54.4 Ferry 2 R 54 33 60 67 67 70 63 52.7 Draxler 3 R 41 50 55 67 69 70 86 51.3 Bird 42 R 42 43 100 67 80 90 71 50.8 Bowman 72 R 35 22 80 50 86 60 59 50.1 Dunnigan 39 R 48 41 100 67 73 80 63 48.8 Mascaro 47 R 41 32 89 50 73 70 71 47.8 Hunsaker 4 R 43 41 82 67 64 62 75 44.8 Allen 19 R 35 45 91 67 64 70 75 43.6 Menlove 1 R 33 27 73 83 67 60 63 43.5 Holdaway 34 R 39 25 93 50 67 62 71 43.4 Fowlke 59 R 48 38 67 50 73 0 71 41.5 Brown 53 R 36 30 90 67 64 60 71 41.3 McIff 70 R 36 40 91 67 86 0 83 36.5 Average 56.7 53.5 55.9 59.6 80.8 80.1 59.0 61.6 DEMOCRATS Duckworth 22 D 34 26 87 83 60 60 86 37.6 Morgan 46 D 30 50 100 83 53 80 100 37.2 Hansen 9 D 27 25 91 83 85 0 63 33.8 Gowans 21 D 39 30 79 67 62 0 63 33.8 King 69 D 23 19 90 100 57 60 75 33.4 Wheatley 35 D 22 24 92 100 43 60 75 29.8 Hendrickson 33 D 37 70 90 83 46 0 63 29.7 Riesen 36 D 15 14 100 83 47 60 100 26.8 Shurtliff 10 D 22 29 100 83 60 0 83 23.9 Cosgrove 44 D 17 14 100 83 60 0 86 21.6 Hemingway 40 D 22 27 100 100 60 0 100 20.9 Wiley 31 D 19 18 100 100 53 0 88 18.9 Chavez-Houck 24 D 23 23 100 91 47 0 100 18.3 Johnson, C 25 D 20 24 100 100 47 0 88 18.1 Seelig 23 D 22 27 100 100 47 0 100 17.7 Fisher, Janice 29 D 26 19 100 100 47 0 100 17.7 Biskupski 30 D 21 26 100 100 47 0 100 17.4 McGee 28 D 15 15 100 100 47 0 100 15.5 Litvack 26 D 16 18 100 100 43 0 100 14.9 Moss 37 D 15 18 100 100 43 0 100 14.8 Average 23.3 25.8 96.5 92.0 52.7 16.0 88.5 24.1

Utah Senate CLI 2008

The Conservative Liberal Index rating for the Utah Senate in 2008.

Senator	Dist		GrsRts	GrsRts	UEA	Eqlty	UTA	UFIRE	Sierra
REPUBLICANS			Life	2008	2008	2007	2008	2008	2008	CLI
Dayton	15	R	81	70	11	50	94	85	14	81.0
Madsen	13	R	71	74	22	50	100	80	20	76.2
Stephenson	11	R	74	74	30	50	100	60	50	68.2
Hickman	29	R	57	56	40	25	91	85	50	67.6
Peterson	24	R	70	61	45	50	93	80	43	67.1
Jenkins	20	R	69	60	44	25	93	60	57	64.1
Neiderhauser	9	R	54	50	44	25	94	80	60	63.9
Bramble	16	R	58	58	30	50	93	80	80	63.7
Stowell	28	R	58	61	44	50	88	80	57	63.0
Waddoups	6	R	57	60	44	50	94	85	71	62.9
Valentine	14	R	55	50	43	25	85	80	67	62.7
Killpack	21	R	52	55	50	50	87	80	67	58.9
Buttars	10	R	56	55	57	25	91	60	50	58.9
Eastman	23	R	47	55	44	50	87	80	71	58.7
Walker	8	R	48	47	50	50	94	80	67	58.0
Knudsen	17	R	37	47	44	50	81	80	71	55.3
Hillyard	25	R	43	50	50	25	81	80	100	55.2
Bell	22	R	44	56	56	50	88	80	80	55.0
Greiner	18	R	51	53	78	50	79	80	86	50.2
VanTassell	26	R	47	53	87	50	93	60	83	45.3
Christensen	19	R	51	44	50	50	58	30	83	43.1
			49.0	49.8	44.3	38.1	79.5	66.7	61.6	53.4
DEMOCRATS
Dmitrich	27	D	26	45	100	50	50	60	83	33.4
Goodfellow	12	D	21	47	100	75	75	60	86	32.3
Jones	4	D	17	20	78	75	69	60	100	31.2
Mayne	5	D	20	20	100	75	56	60	57	30.4
Fife	1	D	21	25	78	75	50	0	71	21.5
McCoy	2	D	17	30	100	75	57	0	100	14.6
Davis	3	D	20	15	100	75	43	0	83	14.0
Romero	7	D	22	20	100	100	56	0	100	12.0
			20.5	27.8	94.5	75.0	57.0	41.7	85.0	23.7

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

---

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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