WASHINGTON, D.C. — Club for Growth Foundation today released its Missed Votes Delaware scorecard for the General Assembly’s 2021 regular and special sessions. The newly launched Missed Votes Scorecards calculate how often lawmakers show up to vote and how often they miss votes.
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.”
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.
This scorecard is based on a review of all floor votes taken in the Delaware General Assembly from January 12, 2021 to November 1, 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
Delaware Senate
The average Delaware senator missed 1 percent of 411 total floor votes, with Republican senators on average missing 1 percent of all floor votes and Democrat senators on average missing 0 percent of all floor votes. Sen. Ernesto Lopez (SD-6) missed the most votes – 9 votes out of 411 – for a score of 2 percent missed votes. By not missing a single vote, the following senators received a perfect attendance score:
- Colin Bonini (SD-16)
- Elizabeth Lockman (SD-3)
- Sarah McBride (SD-1)
- Trey Paradee (SD-17)
- David Sokola (SD-8)
- Bryan Townsend (SD-11)
- John Walsh (SD-9)
Delaware House of Representatives
The average Delaware House member missed 1 percent of 337 total floor votes, with Republican members on average missing 1 percent of all floor votes and Democrat members on average missing 1 percent of all floor votes. Rep. Timothy Dukes (HD-40) missed the most votes – 36 out of 337 – for a score of 11 percent missed votes. By not missing a single vote, the following House members received a perfect attendance score:
- David Bentz (HD-18)
- William Bush (HD-29)
- William Carson (HD-28)
- Franklin Cooke (HD-16)
- Sherry Dorsey Walker (HD-3)
- Krista Griffith (HD-12)
- Kevin Hensley (HD-9)
- Larry Lambert (HD-7)
- Sherae’a Moore (HD-8)
- Eric Morrison (HD-27)
- Edward Osienski (HD-24)
- Daniel Short (HD-39)