A LEGISLATIVE TRANSPARENCY TOOL


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.

Why did we include this analysis tool? See below.

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