Sorry for the Fox News Channel-esque headline, but I wanted to bring attention to some interesting data I came across.
I’m not aware of any polls indicating whether the average Democratic voter is any more or less partisan than the average Republican voter. However, recent data collected by the Washington Post would seem to suggest that among members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats are more partisan than Republicans.
After comparing the voting records of all 435 members of the U.S. House among the 110th Congress (including the two U.S. Representatives who have died since their term began in January of this year), the Washington Post determined that House Democrats (on average) vote with their party 92.7% of the time whereas House Republicans (on average) vote with their party 84.2% of the time.
Moreoever, when members of Congress are ranked according to how often they vote with their own party, the results become even more striking. House Democrats occupy 19 of the top 20 spots in terms of most partisan voting records while House Republicans occupy 18 of the top 20 least partisan voting records:
MOST PARTISAN
1-tie. Charles Norwood (R-GA) ……… 100% of 9 votes.
1-tie. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) …………… 100% of 81 votes.
3. Nita Lowey (D-NY) ………………….. 99.% of 700 votes.
4. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA) 99.4% of 169 votes.
5. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) …………… 99.1% of 695 votes.
6. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) ………………. 98.9% of 709 votes.
7. Diana DeGette (D-CO) ……………… 98.7% of 669 votes.
8-tie. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) ……….. 98.6% of 707 votes.
8-tie. Hilda Solis (D-CA) ……………… 98.6% of 721 votes.
8-tie. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) ………… 98.6% of 721 votes.
8-tie. Al Wynn (D-MD) ………………… 98.6% of 694 votes.
12-tie. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) …….. 98.5% of 710 votes.
12-tie. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) ………… 98.5% of 713 votes.
12-tie. Adam Schiff (D-CA) …………… 98.5% of 721 votes.
15. Timothy Bishop (D-NY) …………… 98.4% of 741 votes.
16-tie. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) …………. 98.3% of 715 votes.
16-tie. James Langevin (D-RI) ……….. 98.3% of 724 votes.
16-tie. Doris Matsui (D-CA) ………….. 98.3% of 719 votes.
16-tie. James McGovern (D-MA) ……. 98.3% of 714 votes.
16-tie. Richard Neal (D-MA) …………. 98.3% of 689 votes.
16-tie. David Price (D-NC) …………… 98.3% of 712 votes.
16-tie. John Sarbanes (D-MD) ………. 98.3% of 717 votes.
LEAST PARTISAN
1. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) …….. 68.4% of 673 votes.
2. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) ……. 74.9% of 718 votes.
3. Christopher Shays (R-CT) …… 75.0% of 673 votes.
4. Ron Paul (R-TX) ………………. 75.3% of 594 votes.
5. Tim Johnson (R-IL) …………… 76.3% of 671 votes.
6. Mike Ferguson (R-NJ) ……….. 76.7% of 690 votes.
7-tie. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) ….. 77.0% of 721 votes.
7-tie. Walter Jones (R-NC) …….. 77.0% of 700 votes.
9. Michael Castle (R-DE) ……….. 78.0% of 719 votes.
10. Mark Kirk (R-IL) …………….. 78.4% of 689 votes.
11. James Walsh (R-NY) ……….. 78.6% of 672 votes.
12. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) .. 78.7% of 714 votes.
13. Jim Saxton (R-NJ) …………. 78.8% of 706 votes.
14. Gene Taylor (D-MS) ………. 79.3% of 720 votes.
15-tie. Jim Ramstad (R-MN) …. 79.6% of 721 votes.
15-tie. John McHugh (R-NY) … 79.6% of 719 votes.
15-tie. Ray LaHood (R-IL) …… 79.6% of 642 votes.
18. Tim Murphy (R-PA) ……….. 80.1% of 713 votes.
19. John Barrow (D-GA) ………. 80.3% of 742 votes.
20-tie. David Reichert (R-WA) . 80.7% of 722 votes.
20-tie. Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) .. 80.7% of 706 votes.
Draw your own conclusions.
Birthplace: San Diego, CA
Birthdate: That’s for me to know
Political Party: Independent
Political Philosophy: Libertarian-liberal