Two new surveys from non partisan organizations show Arizona members of Congress wield less influence on Capitol Hill than other states, and that those members range from some of the most liberal in the House to some of the most conservative.
According to Knowlegis, an independent group associated with the largest publisher of congressional directories and information about the body, Arizona ranks 36th among states in terms of the amount of influence it has in the halls of Congress.
Based on such tangible factors as tenure, committee assignments and ability to deliver for the state, as well as other intangible factors such as ability to influence a debate through the media, Arizona’s two senators are much more powerful than the state’s House delegation, the report claims.
As the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, John McCain is rated as the tenth-most powerful member of the Senate, ahead of every other Republican member except Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky.
McCain won points for powerful posts he holds, as the ranking minority member on the Senate Armed Services Committee and as the second most senior member on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Indian Affairs Committee. McCain also won points for his inordinate media attention.
McCain’s junior colleague, Sen. Jon Kyl, places third in the Republican power rankings and 18th overall. Kyl’s position as Senate minority whip and his cultivation of more than $92 million in earmarks for Arizona this year boosted him above every Republican but McCain and McConnell, giving Arizona one of the most powerful delegations in the Senate. Still, that could change in 2008 if McCain wins the presidency and Governor Janet Napolitano is forced to choose a replacement who would go to the back of the line in Senate seniority.
The power of the state’s House delegation is about the end of the good news. Only Democratic Rep. Ed Pastor, ranked as the 84th most powerful member of the House, breaks the top 200, thanks largely to his position as Democratic chief deputy whip and his position as one of the top members of the House Appropriations Committee.
Republican Rep. John Shadegg is the most powerful Copper State Republican, at 211th overall and as the 46th most influential member of his party. Long a driving force behind the conservative Republican Study Committee, Shadegg’s influence comes largely as a leader of a movement aiming to nudge the GOP toward the right.
Other members from Arizona have significantly lower influence, the survey found. Freshmen Democrats Harry Mitchell (334th) and Gabrielle Giffords (277th) each suffered from their lack of time in the body. Republicans Jeff Flake and Trent Franks are hurt by service in the minority; in the House, the minority has many fewer rights than they would in the Senate.
Republican Rick Renzi, who has announced his retirement next year, is facing dozens of counts after being indicted by a grand jury and is serving in the minority, owns the dubious distinction of finishing dead last among the House’s 435 members, behind even delegates and resident commissioners from Puerto Rico, American Samoa and Guam (there are several vacant House seats that were not rated).
Partisan Tendancies
The second report, from National Journal, shows Copper State legislators span the ideological gamut and are some of the most conservative and liberal members of the House. The ratings were determined by examining 107 key votes in the House and 99 crucial measures in the Senate the magazine classifies as indicative of a member’s economic, social and foreign policy ideology.
The ratings show Rep. Raul Grijalva is the state’s most liberal delegate to Congress. Grijalva votes to the left of the majority of the House 89 percent of the time, while he casts votes more conservative than the rest of the body just 11 percent of the time.
Franks and Shadegg, on the other hand, tie for the most conservative score in the House, voting to the right of the body on just over 93 percent of all votes.
While state and national Republicans have high hopes for defeating Mitchell and Giffords, the GOP may have a difficult time painting the two as liberals. Both freshmen voted virtually right in the middle of the House — Mitchell voted with the left 54 percent of the time and with the right 46 percent of the time, while Giffords cast her lot with liberals 57 percent and with conservatives 43 percent.
While Democrats are labeling every member of the opposite party a “Bush Republican,” the GOP is busy associating Democrats with their House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, is the perfect example of what independent voters do not like about Democrats: A city-based limousine liberal associated with one of the most left-leaning urban areas in America.
Giffords, interviewed by the magazine for its annual vote-ranking issue, said she predicted the score would help her shed the label of “Nancy Pelosi liberal.”
In the Senate, Kyl, largely in his capacity as a Republican leader, votes to the right of the majority of the upper chamber nearly 83 percent of the time, more than all but a handful of Republicans. McCain, thanks to his presidential campaign, missed more than half the votes in all three categories and did not receive a score.