2006 National Journal ratings released

The National Journal has released its annual vote record ratings for members of Congress. The results for Washington are linked above, though there are some notable things to point out. Jim McDermott had a rather conservative year, not even placing in the top ten of most liberal members of the body. Dave Reichert, whom we repeatedly heard was too conservative for the Eastside, ranked among the moderates with a liberal score of 47.3 and a conservative score of 52.7. The next most moderate member of the House delegation was Rick Larsen, with a 66.7/33.3 difference. In the Senate, Patty Murray ranked as the nation's 8th most liberal senator, and Maria Cantwell fit nicely in the middle of the Democratic Caucus at 22nd.

Nationally, there were three members of Congress tied for having perfectly centrist voting records. Reps. Vernon Ehlers [R-MI], Jim Marshall [D-GA], and Gene Taylor [D-MS] had 50/50 splits. The most moderate senator was ousted Sen. Mike DeWine [R-OH], with a 51/49 rating. Rep. Diane Watson [D-CA] and Sen. Dick Durbin [D-IL] had the highest liberal scores and Rep. Jim Ryun [R-KS] and Sen. Jim DeMint [R-SC] had the highest conservative scores.