0 comments | Print

See most, least independent state legislators

By Phillip Reese
The Sacramento Bee
Published: Friday, Oct. 26, 2012 - 5:16 pm
Last Modified: Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 - 10:08 am

Given more than 3,000 chances, a dozen state legislators voted against the majority of their party fewer than 10 times during the 2011-2012 legislative session.

None of the state's 120 legislators voted against the majority of their party on the Senate or Assembly floor more than 10 percent of the time, according to a Bee review of state voting records.

Republicans broke party ranks more often than Democrats, though they had less to lose. Even if all Republicans stand against a bill, it will still pass if Democrats stand united, since Democrats are in the majority. If enough Democrats vote against party lines, on the other hand, a bill can fail, given significant Republican opposition.

These charts show the legislators, by party, who exercised the most party loyalty and independence during the last legislative session. Related: Two summary charts based on the same data.

Most loyal Democrats

Legislator District Party House  Votes  Votes Against Party Percent Against Party
Lowenthal, Bonnie 54 Dem Assembly         3,585 4 0.1%
Fong, Paul 22 Dem Assembly         3,585 5 0.1%
Hueso, Ben 79 Dem Assembly         3,585 5 0.1%
Davis, Mike 48 Dem Assembly         3,585 6 0.2%
Eng, Mike 49 Dem Assembly         3,585 6 0.2%
Bradford, Steven 51 Dem Assembly         3,585 7 0.2%
Padilla, Alex 20 Dem Senate         3,273 7 0.2%
Hernández, Roger 57 Dem Assembly         3,585 8 0.2%
Steinberg, Darrell 6 Dem Senate         3,273 8 0.2%
Furutani, Warren T. 55 Dem Assembly         3,585 9 0.3%
Williams, Das 35 Dem Assembly         3,585 9 0.3%
de León, Kevin 22 Dem Senate         3,273 9 0.3%
Pérez, John A. 46 Dem Assembly         3,585 10 0.3%
Alejo, Luis A. 28 Dem Assembly         3,585 11 0.3%
Block, Marty 78 Dem Assembly         3,585 11 0.3%
Carter, Wilmer Amina 62 Dem Assembly         3,585 11 0.3%


Most loyal Republicans

Legislator District Party House  Votes  Votes Against Party Percent Against Party
Runner, Sharon* 17 Rep Senate         3,187 28 0.9%
Garrick, Martin 74 Rep Assembly         3,540 56 1.6%
Silva, Jim 67 Rep Assembly         3,540 63 1.8%
Cook, Paul 65 Rep Assembly         3,540 76 2.1%
Conway, Connie 34 Rep Assembly         3,540 79 2.2%
Wagner, Donald P. 70 Rep Assembly         3,540 84 2.4%
Gorell, Jeff* 37 Rep Assembly         3,540 85 2.4%
Harkey, Diane L. 73 Rep Assembly         3,540 95 2.7%
Dutton, Bob 31 Rep Senate         3,220 88 2.7%
Valadao, David G. 30 Rep Assembly         3,540 98 2.8%
Berryhill, Tom 14 Rep Senate         3,220 90 2.8%
Fuller, Jean 18 Rep Senate         3,220 90 2.8%
Harman, Tom 35 Rep Senate         3,220 90 2.8%
Walters, Mimi 33 Rep Senate         3,220 93 2.9%
Strickland, Tony 19 Rep Senate         3,220 95 3.0%

Most independent Democrats

Legislator District Party House  Votes  Votes Against Party Percent Against Party
Correa, Lou 34 Dem Senate         3,273 263 8.0%
Huber, Alyson 10 Dem Assembly         3,585 148 4.1%
Wright, Roderick D. 25 Dem Senate         3,273 115 3.5%
Gatto, Mike 43 Dem Assembly         3,585 110 3.1%
Yee, Leland Y. 8 Dem Senate         3,273 86 2.6%
Calderon, Ron 30 Dem Senate         3,273 76 2.3%
Negrete McLeod, Gloria 32 Dem Senate         3,273 69 2.1%
Rubio, Michael J. 16 Dem Senate         3,273 69 2.1%
Portantino, Anthony J. 44 Dem Assembly         3,585 71 2.0%
Perea, Henry T. 31 Dem Assembly         3,585 65 1.8%
Huffman, Jared 6 Dem Assembly         3,585 63 1.8%
Ammiano, Tom 13 Dem Assembly         3,585 60 1.7%
Galgiani, Cathleen 17 Dem Assembly         3,585 53 1.5%
Leno, Mark 3 Dem Senate         3,273 45 1.4%
Feuer, Mike 42 Dem Assembly         3,585 49 1.4%
Yamada, Mariko 8 Dem Assembly         3,585 49 1.4%

Most independent Republicans

Legislator District Party House  Votes  Votes Against Party Percent Against Party
Donnelly, Tim 59 Rep Assembly         3,540 276 7.8%
Achadjian, Katcho 33 Rep Assembly         3,540 260 7.3%
Nestande, Brian 64 Rep Assembly         3,540 258 7.3%
Blakeslee, Sam 15 Rep Senate         3,220 221 6.9%
Anderson, Joel 36 Rep Senate         3,220 217 6.7%
Norby, Chris 72 Rep Assembly         3,540 222 6.3%
Berryhill, Bill 26 Rep Assembly         3,540 205 5.8%
Olsen, Kristin 25 Rep Assembly         3,540 197 5.6%
Smyth, Cameron 38 Rep Assembly         3,540 193 5.5%
Halderman, Linda 29 Rep Assembly         3,540 162 4.6%
Morrell, Mike 63 Rep Assembly         3,540 157 4.4%
Grove, Shannon L. 32 Rep Assembly         3,540 151 4.3%
Cannella, Anthony 12 Rep Senate         3,220 132 4.1%
Jeffries, Kevin 66 Rep Assembly         3,540 140 4.0%
Jones, Brian W. 77 Rep Assembly         3,540 139 3.9%

Full list of legislator party loyalty

Source: Legislative Counsel

Notes: Excludes Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, who is registered as an independent. Excludes committee votes. Excludes a small number of votes where the same number of party members voted for and against a bill. Abstentions and absences are counted toward the total number of possible votes. The Legislative Counsel does not distinguish between an absence and an abstention.

*Runner missed hundreds of votes due to a double-lung transplant. Gorrell missed hundreds of votes due to military deployment. These extensive absences have the effect of making them appear more "loyal" than they were.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

• Read more articles by Phillip Reese



About Comments

Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.

• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.

• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.

• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.

• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.

• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.

• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.

• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.

You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.

hide comments
Sacramento Bee Job listing powered by Careerbuilder.com
Quick Job Search
Advanced Job Search | Search by Category
Sacramento Bee Jobs »
Buy
Used Cars
Dealer and private-party ads
Make:

Model:

Price Range:
to
Search within:
miles of ZIP

Search used

Advanced Search | 1982 & Older



Find 'n' Save Daily DealGet the Deal!

Local Deals

Find more great deals!
findnsave.sacbee.com