Club for Growth Foundation released its 2020 Idaho State Economic Scorecard, the gold-standard in publishing the voting records of elected officials.
The 2020 Idaho State Economic Scorecard was created by the Club for Growth Foundation to educate the public about the voting records of the lawmakers who serve in the Idaho State Legislature. It is part of a larger scorecard project that the Club for Growth Foundation has created to educate the public about the economic positions taken by legislators in states across the country.
Key Takeaways on Idaho’s 2020 Economic Scorecard:
Idaho Senate
Average Republican Score: 47%
Average Democrat Score: 34%
Highest-Rated Republican: Sen. Regina Bayer (SD-21) – 76%
Highest-Rated Democrat: Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb (SD-19) – 41%
Lowest-Rated Republican: Sen. Bert Brackett (SD-23) – 27%
Lowest-Rated Democrat: Sen. Grant Burgoyne (SD-16) – 16%
Idaho House
Average Republican Score: 66%
Average Democrat Score: 18%
Highest-Rated Republican: Multiple with 100%
Highest-Rated Democrat: Rep. Elaine Smith (HD-29B) – 32%
Lowest-Rated Republican: Rep. Neil Anderson (HD-31A) – 26%
Lowest-Rated Democrat: Rep. Melissa Wintrow (HD-19B) – 8%
Missed Votes Scorecard
The Club for Growth Foundation also released its new Missed Votes Scorecard for Idaho’s 2020 legislative session. This scorecard simply calculates how often lawmakers show up to vote and how often they miss votes. For 2020, the results were:
Idaho Senate
The average Idaho state senator missed 4% of the total 409 floor votes. Senator Scott Grow missed the most votes – 107 votes out of 409 – for a score of 26%. By not missing a single vote, the following senators received perfect attendance scores:
- Sen. Don Cheatham (SD-03)
- Sen. Jim Guthrie (SD-28)
- Sen. Mark Harris (SD-32)
- Sen. Mark Nye (SD-29)
- Sen. Steven Thayn (SD-08)
Idaho House
The average Idaho state house member missed 4% of the total 419 floor votes. Rep. Steve Berch (HD-15A) missed the most votes – 67 votes out of 419 – for a score of 16%. By not missing a single vote, the following house members received perfect attendance scores:
- Rep. John Gannon (HD-17A)
- Rep. Marc Gibbs (HD-32A)
- Rep. Steven Harris (HD-21A)
- Rep. Gary Marshall (HD-30A)
- Rep. Dorothy Moon (HD-08A)
- Rep. Tony Wisniewsky (HD-03B)
- Rep. Christy Zito (HD-23A)
NOTE: Lawmakers miss votes for a whole host of reasons, including medical issues, family concerns, or prior commitments. But they may also miss votes because they are purposely ducking an issue or do not want to upset leadership. The Club for Growth Foundation makes no judgment on why a lawmaker misses votes. The Foundation simply publishes this quantified information for educational purposes only.