Another interest group spouts off

The other day I posted the results of the Washington Conservation Voters legislative scoresheet, and upon checking the Washington Conservative Union website, they now have their rating sheet up for the 2006 session. While their site is far less slick than WCV's (several spelling errors and has some Democrats bolded as Republicans), these results are probably more notable in that WCU's mission is far more broad than WCV and their one-issue crusade. In general, WCU is useful in telling which Republicans are reasonable moreso than which Democrats are. The bills the WCU uses are more tailored towards complete conservatism, so your typical Democrat usually scores very low despite that not all are across-the-board liberals. Aside from the comparisons below, one notable fact from last session is that Supreme Court candidate Stephen Johnson scored a 77, ruining his lifetime 100 rating and settling on an overall score of 95. Could it be he attempted to moderate himself with his sights on the bench?

Low House Republicans:
1. Tom Campbell 31
1. Fred Jarrett 31
3. Rodney Tom 54
4. Maureen Walsh 61
5. Shirley Hankins 69

High House Democrats tied with a score of 15: Brian Blake, Tami Green, Derek Kilmer, Dawn Morrell, and Deb Wallace. Most other Democrats in both houses scored 0, many Republicans scored 100s in the House, but there was some variation in the Senate.

High Senate Republicans:
1. Mike Hewitt 100
2. Jim Honeyford 92
2. Joyce Mulliken 92
2. Linda Evans Parlette 92
5. Cheryl Pflug 91
5. Val Stevens 91

Low Senate Republicans:
1. Bill Finkbeiner 40
2. Bob Oke 50
3. Dave Schmidt 59
4. Luke Esser 62
5. Alex Deccio 63
5. Bob McCaslin 63

High Senate Democrats:
1. Tim Sheldon 62
2. Jim Hargrove 31
3. Mark Doumit 23
3. Mary Margaret Haugen 23
3. Jim Kastama 23
3. Craig Pridemore 23

Before anybody begins suffering from brain tumors, the main reason for Deccio and McCaslin (both solid conservative voices with much higher lifetime ratings) scoring so low is because they missed many votes and the votes they did vote against the WCU on mattered much more than other senators. The only surprises on here for me were Bob Oke and Luke Esser scoring so low -- definitely based on economic issues and not social issues -- and that Craig Pridemore scored that high. Considering he has been a predictable liberal vote on just about everything, being in the same area as moderates like Doumit and Haugen was unforseen.