Now is the time for all good Republicans to come to the aid of their State. The primary elections are barely a month away. While most voters are focused on the top races for Governor and Congress, we should also pay attention to the State Rep races. Some of the worst RINOs are on the ballot and are ripe for the plucking. Defeating these terrible candidates could be just as important as choosing the best candidates for the top of the ticket.
I have crunched the voting records of 697 members going back to 2011 to objectively determine which members are RINOs—Republicans in Name Only. The RINO Report is different from all other scorecards in that it looks at every single roll call. It is entirely mathematical and objective. There is no subjective decision-making about which votes to score or what is the correct vote for each roll call.
The correct vote for each roll call is whichever way 80% of Republicans vote. If Republicans are divided then that roll call is not scored. When both parties vote the same way, those roll calls are not scored. The RINO Report scores all votes where a super-majority (80%) of Republicans voted opposite a majority of Democrats. A RINO vote is when a Republican votes with Democrats against a super-majority of Republicans. Obviously, a low score is good – the fewer RINO votes, the better.
We Want to thank Spec Bowers for the RINO Report. Send Your Content to steve@granitegrok.com.
It should be no surprise that most Republicans vote the same way. We believe in certain principles, such as individual freedom, limited government, and free enterprise. For most bills, we reach the same conclusion. But almost every Rep at one time or another casts a vote the same as the Democrats. One example is when a Republican votes against the budget because it is too large, while the Democrats vote against it because they think it is too small. Thankfully, such votes are not common.
Since 2011, 70 Reps have scored a perfect 0%. Looking at all 697 Republicans during that period, the median RINO score was 2%, meaning that, on average, they voted with Democrats only 2% of the time. 80% of Republicans scored lower (i.e., better) than 6.3%.
This year, we have 184 State Rep candidates with voting records. 18 of them have perfect RINO scores. Their median score is 1.2%. 90% had scores better than 6%. Clearly, anyone with scores above 6% is out of the mainstream of Republicans. Anyone with scores of 10% or even 20% is far out of the mainstream. 73 Republican Reps have primaries. 7 of them have perfect scores. The median score of all 73 is 1.7%. 80% have scored better than 4.2%. Candidates with scores of 10% or even 20% are far out of the Republican mainstream.
These five candidates have terrible records and should be defeated:
Please tell your friends that voting records matter. The job of a Rep is to vote. The best predictor of how well they will do their job is how well they have done their job in the past.
In the coming days, I will have details of their voting records.
