WASHINGTON, D.C. — Club for Growth Foundation today released its Missed Votes California scorecard for the State Legislature’s 2021 regular session. The newly launched Missed Votes Scorecards calculate how often lawmakers show up to vote and how often they miss votes.
Lawmakers miss votes for a whole host of reasons, including medical issues, family concerns, prior commitments, purely political motivations, or other reasons. The Club for Growth Foundation generally doesn’t analyze why a lawmaker has missed a vote and is simply publishing this quantified information for educational purposes only.
According to Club for Growth Foundation President David McIntosh, “Constituents need to know the missed votes records of their representatives so they can decide for themselves if elected officials are avoiding a difficult vote or have a legitimate reason for missing a particular vote. Sadly, this information is often not available, and that is why the Club for Growth Foundation is publishing Missed Votes scorecards.”
This scorecard is based on a review of all floor votes taken in the California State Legislature from December 7, 2020 to September 10, 2021. There are inherent limitations in judging the overall qualifications of any legislator based on how many votes he or she has missed, and the Club for Growth Foundation does not endorse or oppose any legislator for public office.
Key Insights
California Senate
The average California senator missed 7 percent of 1,573 total floor votes, with Republican senators on average missing 10 percent of all floor votes and Democrat senators on average missing 6 percent of all floor votes. Sen. Henry Stern (SD-27) missed the most votes – 982 votes out of 1,573 – for a score of 62% missed votes. Sen. John Laird (SD-17) missed the least votes, 2 out of 1,573 – for a score of 0% missed votes.
California State Assembly
The average California State Assembly member missed 8 percent of 1,726 total floor votes, with Republican members on average missing 12 percent of all floor votes and Democrat members on average missing 7 percent of all floor votes. Assemblywoman Janet Nguyen (HD-72) missed the most votes – 482 out of 1,726 – for a score of 28% missed votes. By not missing a single vote, Assemblyman Mark Stone (HD-29) received a perfect attendance score.
We asked lawmakers who missed at least 10 percent of the votes if they’d like us to include an explanation. Here are the responses we received:
Rep. Lorena Gonzalez (HD-80)
Assemblywoman Gonzalez had excused absences from the Assembly for both her son’s graduation and medical reasons, including being treated for breast cancer and surgery.
Sen. Monique Limón (SD-19)
Senator Limón was on maternity leave and participating remotely during part of the 2021 legislative year. The Senate does not allow votes to be cast while participating remotely during floor sessions.