The 112th Congress is coming to an end. Many of us are disappointed that the high hopes in the 2010 midterm election were not realized, and many freshmen congressmen never met our expectations. Since Christmas is near, it seems like a good time to make a couple of lists showing who’s nice and who’s naughty. A great place to bookmark and use for reference is here.
The scoring of GOP House members is determined with a Madison Performance Index (MPI). The Madison Performance Index is very simple. It involves nothing more than addition and subtraction. In order to match up a member’s voting record with the general ideological bent of their district, two elements are used: 1) the average between their Club for Growth and Heritage Action score in 2011 and 2) the Cook Partisan Voter Index (PVI) based on pre-redistricting to reflect the districts of 2011.
Then a target optimal conservative score based on how conservative the district is rated by the Cook PVI is set, and it’s matched against the average of their Heritage Action and Club for Growth legislative score. For every point they score below the target number for their district, they received a minus; for every point they scored above the target, they received a positive score.
The lists below take into account some additional criteria. Only states with a GOP majority in their congressional delegation are considered. States are not considered if they have members in both lists. The name of the State GOP is in bold letters instead of the individual members because a lot of people at the PC committeeman level are responsible for recruiting a great slate of candidates and holding them accountable once elected. This year the Naughty List is longer than the Nice List, but this can be temporary. Each State GOP has the power to change, and now is the time.
The State GOP that make the Nice List
South Carolina GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+7 | Mick Mulvaney (SC-5) | 93 | 99 | 96 | 81 | 15 |
| R+9 | Joe Wilson (SC-2) | 94 | 97 | 95.5 | 84 | 11.5 |
| R+17 | Jeff Duncan (SC-3) | 98 | 97 | 97.5 | 90 | 7.5 |
| R+15 | Trey Gowdy (SC-4) | 96 | 97 | 96.5 | 90 | 6.5 |
| R+10 | Tim Scott (SC-1) | 86 | 92 | 89 | 85.5 | 3.5 |
Arizona GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+5 | David Schweickert (AZ-5) | 91 | 93 | 92 | 78 | 14 |
| R+13 | Trent Franks (AZ-2) | 97 | 100 | 98.5 | 90 | 8.5 |
| R+15 | Jeff Flake (AZ-6) | 97 | 100 | 98.5 | 90 | 8.5 |
| R+9 | Ben Quayle (AZ-3) | 82 | 98 | 90 | 84 | 6 |
Wisconsin GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+2 | Reid Ribble (WI-8) | 79 | 90 | 84.5 | 73.5 | 11 |
| R+2 | Paul Ryan (WI-1) | 78 | 73 | 75.5 | 73.5 | 2 |
Georgia GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+28 | Tom Graves (GA-9) | 97 | 100 | 98.5 | 90 | 8.5 |
| R+15 | Paul Broun (GA-10) | 96 | 95 | 95.5 | 90 | 5.5 |
Colorado GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+14 | Doug Lamborn (CO-5) | 94 | 100 | 97 | 90 | 7 |
| R+8 | Mike Coffman (CO-6) | 82 | 86 | 84 | 82.5 | 1.5 |
Kansas GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+23 | Tim Huelskamp (KS-1) | 93 | 100 | 96.5 | 90 | 6.5 |
| R+3 | Kevin Yoder (KS-3) | 74 | 76 | 75 | 75 | Even |
Indiana GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+17 | Dan Burton (IN-5) | 91 | 98 | 94.5 | 90 | 4.5 |
| R+14 | Marlin Stutzman (IN-3) | 86 | 99 | 92.5 | 90 | 2.5 |
Minnesota GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+7 | Michele Bachmann (MN-6) | 90 | 89 | 89.5 | 81 | 8.5 |
Utah GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+26 | Jason Chaffetz (UT-3) | 97 | 100 | 98.5 | 90 | 8.5 |
The State GOP that make the Naughty List
Pennsylvania GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+12 | Todd Platts (PA-19) | 53 | 48 | 50.5 | 88.5 | -38 |
| R+17 | Bill Shuster (PA-9) | 55 | 54 | 54.5 | 90 | -35.5 |
| R+9 | Glenn Thompson (PA-5) | 56 | 48 | 52 | 84 | -32 |
| R+8 | Tom Marino (PA-10) | 58 | 60 | 59 | 82.5 | -23.5 |
| D+3 | Pat Meehan (PA-7) | 49 | 42 | 45.5 | 66 | -20.5 |
| R+3 | Mike Kelly (PA-3) | 55 | 54 | 54.5 | 75 | -20.5 |
| D+2 | Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8) | 52 | 43 | 47.5 | 67.5 | -20 |
Alabama GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+14 | Jo Bonner (AL-1) | 56 | 49 | 52.5 | 90 | -37.5 |
| R+26 | Robert Aderholt (AL-4) | 59 | 51 | 55 | 90 | -35 |
| R+9 | Mike Rogers (AL-3) | 56 | 49 | 52.5 | 84 | -31.5 |
| R+16 | Martha Roby (AL-2) | 63 | 58 | 60.5 | 90 | -29.5 |
| R+29 | Spencer Bachus (AL-6) | 64 | 61 | 62.5 | 90 | -27.5 |
Kentucky GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+15 | Ed Whitfield (KY-1) | 53 | 50 | 51.5 | 90 | -38.5 |
| R+16 | Hal Rogers (KY-5) | 56 | 48 | 52 | 90 | -38 |
| R+15 | Brett Guthrie (KY-2) | 56 | 60 | 58 | 90 | -32 |
| R+14 | Geoff Davis (KY-4) | 63 | 70 | 66.5 | 90 | -23.5 |
West Virginia GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+9 | David McKinley (WV-1) | 42 | 37 | 39.5 | 84 | -44.5 |
| R+8 | Shelly Moore Capito (WV-2) | 53 | 44 | 48.5 | 82.5 | -34 |
Oklahoma GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+24 | Frank Lucas (OK-3) | 55 | 48 | 51.5 | 90 | -38.5 |
| R+18 | Tom Cole (OK-4) | 57 | 53 | 55 | 90 | -35 |
Arkansas GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+16 | Steve Womack (AR-3) | 58 | 52 | 55 | 90 | -35 |
| R+8 | Rick Crawford (AR-1) | 58 | 53 | 55.5 | 82.5 | -27 |
Nebraska GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+11 | Jeff Fortenberry (NE-1) | 59 | 49 | 54 | 87 | -33 |
| R+24 | Adrian Smith (NE-3) | 66 | 68 | 67 | 90 | -23 |
Mississippi GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+20 | Steven Palazzo (MS-4) | 63 | 61 | 62 | 90 | -28 |
| R+15 | Gregg Harper (MS-3) | 61 | 63 | 62 | 90 | -28 |
Tennessee GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+21 | Phil Roe (TN-1) | 69 | 70 | 68.5 | 90 | -20.5 |
| R+13 | Diane Black (TN-6) | 69 | 71 | 70 | 90 | -20 |
Alaska GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+13 | Don Young (AK-0) | 39 | 36 | 37.5 | 90 | -52.5 |
North Dakota GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+10 | Rick Berg (ND-0) | 61 | 54 | 57.5 | 85.5 | -28 |
Virginia GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+9 | Eric Cantor (VA-7) | 61 | 55 | 58 | 84 | -26 |
South Dakota GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+9 | Kristi Noem (SD-0) | 60 | 60 | 60 | 84 | -24 |
Montana GOP
| Cook PVI | Member | Heritage Action | Club for Growth | Average Score | Target | Index (MPI) |
| R+7 | Denny Rehberg (MT-0) | 61 | 58 | 59.5 | 81 | -21.5 |
I’ve sent this to my reps in AL. I think part of the problem is that statewide, many of our Republicans are former Dems and not conservative. We’re trying to recruit and grow some new ones.
Pilgrim, I’m surprised you didn’t include Ohio here. Are we naughty or nice?