Rice University Analysis: Ideological Scoring for the Texas House
Rice University Professor Mark Jones' scoring of House members, on a liberal to conservative scale, based on votes cast during the 2023 regular session.

(The order you see below reflects the revised order Jones issued in December 2023 after removing the gaming of the analysis by some representatives using Local and Consent votes.
But since he did not show the revised scores, we paired each rep's new position with the original score for that position.)

Why did we include this analysis tool? See below.

Very LiberalLiberalSlightly LiberalSlightly ConservativeConservativeVery Conservative
 Rep. Steve Toth (R)
 Rep. Briscoe Cain (R)
 Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R)
 Rep. Matt Schaefer (R)
 Rep. Cody Vasut (R)
 Rep. Shelby Slawson (R)
 Rep. Brian Harrison (R)
 Rep. Terry Wilson (R)
 Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson (R)
 Rep. Carrie Isaac (R)
 Rep. Nate Schatzline (R)
 Rep. Valoree Swanson (R)
 Rep. Cole Hefner (R)
 Rep. Richard Hayes (R)
 Rep. Jared Patterson (R)
 Rep. Matt Shaheen (R)
 Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R)
 Rep. Mark Dorazio (R)
 Rep. Candy Noble (R)
 Rep. Will Metcalf (R)
 Rep. David Spiller (R)
 Rep. Cody Harris (R)
 Rep. Lacey Hull (R)
 Rep. Dennis Paul (R)
 Rep. Jeff Leach (R)
 Rep. Gary Gates (R)
 Rep. Mike Schofield (R)
 Rep. Carl Tepper (R)
 Rep. Ben Bumgarner (R)
 Rep. Cecil Bell (R)
 Rep. Caroline Harris (R)
 Rep. Mano DeAyala (R)
 Rep. Tom Oliverson (R)
 Rep. Reggie Smith (R)
 Rep. Stan Gerdes (R)
 Rep. Jay Dean (R)
 Rep. David Cook (R)
 Rep. Lynn Stucky (R)
 Rep. Andrew Murr (R)
 Rep. John Smithee (R)
 Rep. Justin Holland (R)
 Rep. Kronda Thimesch (R)
 Rep. Tom Craddick (R)
 Rep. Keith Bell (R)
 Rep. Glenn Rogers (R)
 Rep. Craig Goldman (R)
 Rep. Stephanie Klick (R)
 Rep. Stan Kitzman (R)
 Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R)
 Rep. Greg Bonnen (R)
 Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R)
 Rep. Trent Ashby (R)
 Rep. Charles "Doc" Anderson (R)
 Rep. Ed Thompson (R)
 Rep. Four Price (R)
 Rep. Angelia Orr (R)
 Rep. Charles Cunningham (R)
 Rep. Brad Buckley (R)
 Rep. DeWayne Burns (R)
 Rep. Travis Clardy (R)
 Rep. James Frank (R)
 Rep. Frederick Frazier (R)
 Rep. John Kuempel (R)
 Rep. Sam Harless (R)
 Rep. Gary VanDeaver (R)
 Rep. Ernest Bailes (R)
 Rep. Jacey Jetton (R)
 Rep. Stan Lambert (R)
 Rep. Geanie Morrison (R)
 Rep. Ken King (R)
 Rep. Angie Button (R)
 Rep. Drew Darby (R)
 Rep. Dustin Burrows (R)
 Rep. Hugh Shine (R)
 Rep. Todd Hunter (R)
 Rep. John Lujan (R)
 Rep. Janie Lopez (R)
 Rep. Kyle Kacal (R)
 Rep. Morgan Meyer (R)
 Rep. John Raney (R)
 Rep. Charlie Geren (R)
 Rep. J.M. Lozano (R)
 Rep. Steve Allison (R)
 Rep. Ryan Guillen (R)
 Rep. Richard Peña Raymond (D)
 Rep. Terry Canales (D)
 Rep. Tracy King (D)
 Rep. R. D. Guerra (D)
 Rep. Sergio Muñoz, Jr. (D)
 Rep. Oscar Longoria (D)
 Rep. Harold Dutton (D)
 Rep. Eddie Morales (D)
 Rep. Philip Cortez (D)
 Rep. Julie Johnson (D)
 Rep. Abel Herrero (D)
 Rep. Liz Campos (D)
 Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (D)
 Rep. Claudia Ordaz (D)
 Rep. Shawn Thierry (D)
 Rep. Josey Garcia (D)
 Rep. Ray Lopez (D)
 Rep. Christian Manuel (D)
 Rep. Armando "Mando" Martinez (D)
 Rep. Suleman Lalani (D)
 Rep. Joe Moody (D)
 Rep. Hubert Vo (D)
 Rep. Salman Bhojani (D)
 Rep. Alma Allen (D)
 Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D)
 Rep. Jarvis Johnson (D)
 Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D)
 Rep. Ramon Romero, Jr. (D)
 Rep. Erin Gamez (D)
 Rep. Ana Hernandez (D)
 Rep. Diego Bernal (D)
 Rep. Rhetta Bowers (D)
 Rep. Penny Morales Shaw (D)
 Rep. Ann Johnson (D)
 Rep. Victoria Neave Criado (D)
 Rep. Mary Ann Perez (D)
 Rep. Mary González (D)
 Rep. Sheryl Cole (D)
 Rep. Armando Walle (D)
 Rep. Carl Sherman, Sr. (D)
 Rep. Evelina "Lina" Ortega (D)
 Rep. Donna Howard (D)
 Rep. Yvonne Davis (D)
 Rep. Venton Jones (D)
 Rep. Terry Meza (D)
 Rep. Rafael Anchía (D)
 Rep. Lulu Flores (D)
 Rep. Nicole Collier (D)
 Rep. Jolanda Jones (D)
 Rep. Chris Turner (D)
 Rep. James Talarico (D)
 Rep. John Bucy (D)
 Rep. Jon Rosenthal (D)
 Rep. Mihaela Plesa (D)
 Rep. John Bryant (D)
 Rep. Toni Rose (D)
 Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D)
 Rep. Ron Reynolds (D)
 Rep. Erin Zwiener (D)
 Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D)
 Rep. Jessica González (D)
 Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos (D)
 Rep. Gene Wu (D)
 Rep. Christina Morales (D)


Rice University Analysis: Ideological Scoring for the Texas Senate
Rice University Professor Mark Jones' scoring of Senate members, on a liberal to conservative scale, based on votes cast during the 2023 regular session.

Very LiberalLiberalSlightly LiberalSlightly ConservativeConservativeVery Conservative
 Sen. Bryan Hughes (R)
 Sen. Mayes Middleton (R)
 Sen. Bob Hall (R)
 Sen. Kelly Hancock (R)
 Sen. Drew Springer (R)
 Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R)
 Sen. Brandon Creighton (R)
 Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R)
 Sen. Phil King (R)
 Sen. Tan Parker (R)
 Sen. Kevin Sparks (R)
 Sen. Charles Schwertner (R)
 Sen. Angela Paxton (R)
 Sen. Donna Campbell (R)
 Sen. Charles Perry (R)
 Sen. Joan Huffman (R)
 Sen. Brian Birdwell (R)
 Sen. Pete Flores (R)
 Sen. Robert Nichols (R)
 Sen. Juan Hinojosa (D)
 Sen. César Blanco (D)
 Sen. Morgan LaMantia (D)
 Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D)
 Sen. Nathan Johnson (D)
 Sen. John Whitmire (D)
 Sen. Royce West (D)
 Sen. Carol Alvarado (D)
 Sen. José Menéndez (D)
 Sen. Borris Miles (D)
 Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D)
 Sen. Sarah Eckhardt (D)


What is the Rice University Liberal-Conservative Ranking method?

Mark P. Jones, Political Science Fellow at Rice University, biennially uses roll-call votes cast by members of the Texas Legislature to rank their places on a Liberal-Conservative scale. His rankings are released in June following the end of the Texas Legislature's regular session the last week in May.

Rice U factually captures the aggregate leftward shift of our legislators over time. It also correctly shows that the Senate, as a group, is more conservative than the House.

With Rice U, anything above zero leans conservative; anything below zero leans liberal. We believe a closer look into the Texas Legislature is warranted!

Why do we mention the Rice U TXLege rankings here?

We use it to demonstrate the need for a deeper picture for those who care to look - those who actually believe in the Liberty Principle: "government can only derive its just powers from the consent of the governed."

The Rice University analysis is seen as a fairly objective measure and is sometimes used by incumbents to help bolster their credentials. For example, a female State Representative is using it to boast that she is the most conservative freshman in the Texas House. But if the entire House has shifted Left over time, what does that really mean?

Rice U's ranking gets you into the ballpark, but that's not the whole story - not the complete picture.

Digging deeper, we find legislators who are better than the Rice U ranking portrays, and in other cases, we find legislators worse than the Rice U shows.

For those Republicans ranked by Rice U to the left of the median ideological line, if you also click on our "Show Vote Differences with Other Reps," you'll notice that many of them disagree with Republicans as often or more often than they disagree with Democrats. That's important.

The Rice U ranking is not 100% accurate because it uses a sample of their votes, and not every vote like we do.

Rice U doesn't look at the fiscal notes. We do.

Rice U doesn't look at bill amendments or committee activity. We do.

Rice U's ranking is a snapshot of some activity, but it's also not the "cherry-picking" of votes to which so many incumbents object. Rice U's ranking is a respected tool; thus, we include it, but we also strive to give you the tools to look deeper.

Rice U's Lib-Con ranking is a useful starting tool. Our mission is to deliver a tool that helps Texans take a deeper look into HOW they are being represented.

We believe it is high time that grassroots Texans had a way to "fact check" incumbents, their political consultants, legacy media, and the grifters (on the political Left and Right) who like to keep problems and issues alive to enrich themselves.

Our tool delivers important "ammo" in your quest to save Texas. It's up to you to use it!



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