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Republican · Georgia Senate, district 54

Serving since Jan 18, 2017GA 2025–26 session

Portrait of Chuck Payne, rendered as a two-tone print
Official portrait
56%
of itemized money from Georgia donors, in the bottom tenth of State Senate Republicans

56% of the itemized money from individuals in the 2026 cycle came from donors with an address in Georgia. Ranks 777th of 860, where 1st is the highest share. 6 itemized donors.

Only donors who give more than $200 are reported with an address, so this is the share of that itemized money from donors living in Georgia, ranked among State Senate Republicans. Small gifts are not counted either way. Candidates running statewide or for federal office often draw more money from out of state.

At a glance

6 measures against the Georgia Senate. 86% of the 360 bills Payne sponsored got out of committee, in the top quarter of the Georgia Senate. Payne sits at +0.58 on the CSIP scale, more conservative than 81% of State Senate Republicans.

The measures on which Payne sits furthest from the middle of the Georgia Senate, each against the same group, with the CSIP score when there is one. Every number is explained in its own section below.

Party unity

100%

Georgia Senate average 96.0% · ranks 5th of 54 · 17 votes against the majority of Georgia Senate Republicans

From Georgia, 2026

56%

Of itemized individual dollars · ranks 777th of 860 State Senate Republicans

Out of committee

86%

Georgia Senate average 77% · ranks 6th of 53

Attendance

99.1%

Georgia Senate average 92.2% · ranks 8th of 54 · 1,406 roll calls

CSIP ideology

+0.58

More conservative than 81% of State Senate Republicans · ± 0.08

Itemized, 2026

$35.1K

State Senate Republicans’ median $46.2K · ranks 527th of 936

Peer group: Georgia Senate. Rank 1 is the highest value in the group; the thick bar is Payne, the thin grey bar the peer average. The headline is the measure on which Payne is most unusual among peers (Methods, §08).

Back to topNext: What politicians say

What Payne says

Payne claims credit less than 96% of State Senate Republicans. Credit claiming in 0% of 6 statements, against 15% for the average State Senate Republican; 342nd of 355.

An AI model reads each of Payne’s 6 statements in the GA 2025–26 session (6 posts on X) and marks the kinds of statement it contains: a personal attack, criticism of a policy, discussion of policy, bipartisanship, credit claiming, and extreme labels. A statement can carry several. Every rate is compared with the average for State Senate Republicans and ranked among them.

Kinds of statement

Share of statements carrying each label, the GA 2025–26 session

0%80%
Payne
Peers
Rank
Policy discussion1 statements
17%
37%
304th of 355
Personal attacks0 statements
0%
2%
273rd of 355
Policy criticism0 statements
0%
9%
331st of 355
Bipartisanship0 statements
0%
2%
311th of 355
Credit claiming0 statements
0%
15%
342nd of 355
Show the data
Payne's share of statements in each category against the State Senate Republicans average.
RowPaynePeers
Policy discussion17%37%
Personal attacks0%2%
Policy criticism0%9%
Bipartisanship0%2%
Credit claiming0%15%
6

statements classified

6 posts on X.

posts on X: 6 (100.0%)posts on X 6
Show the data
Payne's statements by source
PartValue
posts on X6
How to read the bars

The thick bar is Payne; the thin grey bar is the average State Senate Republicans. A longer thick bar means Payne does this more than peers. Rank 1 is the highest rate in the group.

Extreme labels

Payne used no extreme labels in 6 statements. The peer average is 1.3%.

No extreme labels in this window.

Who gets the labels

Targets named alongside an extreme label, by number of statements

No targets recorded.

What an extreme label is

Calls a politician, a party or a policy “far left”, “far right”, “MAGA”, “extreme”, “radical”, “woke”, “fascist” or “communist”. The target is who or what the label was aimed at. The lists show the five most used labels and targets; the toggle shows the rest.

Month by month

Share of statements per month, the GA 2025–26 session

No month in this window has 10 or more statements, too few to chart month by month.

How to read the strips

Each row is one kind of statement; each cell is a month, shaded against that row’s own peak (darker = closer to the peak), with the peak and the latest value written at the right. The top row counts statements. The strip covers every month of the GA 2025–26 session, the same span as the rates above, including months with no statements. A month with fewer than 10 statements is hatched, not shaded: one or two posts would swing its rate to 0% or 100%. 22 months are hatched here; 18 of them have no statements.

In Payne’s words

Real statements from the classifier’s example set, with the labels it assigned

Policy discussion

The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.

Sep 1, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · policy discussion; Armed Forces and National Security · Source

Examples by category

Up to five recent statements in each category

Category

Overtly questions a named person’s character, integrity or loyalty, or calls them names. Criticising a record or a policy does not count.

No statements in this category in this window.

All 6 statements

Newest first, the GA 2025–26 session

The full feed

Five statements at a time, newest first; filters apply to the statements loaded so far. Export saves the statements that match. Sources: 6 posts on X.

Back to topNext: Policy

Policy

Armed Forces and National Security is what Payne talks about most: 100% of policy statements, 15.4 times the peer share. Peers give it 6.5%. Agreement with legislation needs at least 20 policy statements and 5 bills.

Each policy statement is tagged by the AI model with one or more of 25 policy areas from the Congressional Research Service list, so the shares say what Payne talks about. The bills Payne sponsors and cosponsors carry the same areas, so the two can be compared.

What Payne talks about

Share of policy statements by area, the GA 2025–26 session

0%100%
Payne
Peers
Armed Forces and National Security1 statements
100%
6%
Agriculture and Food0 statements
0%
6%
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues0 statements
0%
5%
Commerce0 statements
0%
4%
Crime and Law Enforcement0 statements
0%
12%
Show the data
Policy areas Payne talks about, as a share of policy statements, against the State Senate Republicans average.
RowPaynePeers
Armed Forces and National Security100%6%
Agriculture and Food0%6%
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues0%5%
Commerce0%4%
Crime and Law Enforcement0%12%
How to read the bars

The thick bar is the share of Payne’s policy statements in an area; the thin grey bar is the average share for State Senate Republicans. A statement counts once in each of its areas, so shares can add to more than 100%. The five largest areas are shown; the toggle shows the rest.

Talks about · legislates on

Left: share of statements by policy area. Right: share of bills. Areas in order of their share of statements; both sides run from 0 to 100%. Grey ticks are the State Senate Republicans averages.

Talks aboutLegislates onArmed Forces and NationalSecurityArmed Forces and National Security, talks about: 100% (State Senate Republicans 6%)100%Armed Forces and National Security, legislates on: 3% (State Senate Republicans 2%)3%Agriculture and FoodAgriculture and Food, talks about: 0% (State Senate Republicans 6%)0%Agriculture and Food, legislates on: 3% (State Senate Republicans 3%)3%Civil Rights and Liberties,Minority IssuesCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues, talks about: 0% (State Senate Republicans 5%)0%Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues, legislates on: 3% (State Senate Republicans 3%)3%CommerceCommerce, talks about: 0% (State Senate Republicans 4%)0%Commerce, legislates on: 2% (State Senate Republicans 3%)2%Crime and Law EnforcementCrime and Law Enforcement, talks about: 0% (State Senate Republicans 12%)0%Crime and Law Enforcement, legislates on: 16% (State Senate Republicans 10%)16%
Show the data
Payne's share of statements against share of bills in each policy area.
AreaTalks aboutState Senate Republicans, talks aboutLegislates onState Senate Republicans, legislates on
Armed Forces and National Security100%6%3%2%
Agriculture and Food0%6%3%3%
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues0%5%3%3%
Commerce0%4%2%3%
Crime and Law Enforcement0%12%16%10%

No agreement score.Needs at least 20 policy statements and 5 bills in the window.

What agreement means, and what it doesn’t

Agreement is 1 minus the distance between the two distributions (Jensen–Shannon): 1 means Payne legislates on exactly the areas Payne talks about, in the same proportions; 0 means no overlap. It does not say whether the bills match the positions in the statements, only the subjects. Bills Payne sponsored count fully, cosponsored bills a quarter. Shown with at least 20 policy statements and 5 bills.

Back to topNext: Ideology

Ideology

Payne sits at +0.58 on the CSIP scale, right of 0, more conservative than 81% of State Senate Republicans. Approximate range +0.50 to +0.66, which understates the uncertainty; from 34 donors and 874 roll calls.

CSIP, the lab’s Common-Space Ideal Point, places every official, federal and state, on one left–right scale, estimated from roll-call votes, who gives money to whom, and the text of statements. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it; 0 is the centre of the scale, not a definition of “moderate”.

+0.58

CSIP ideal point

Approximate range +0.50 to +0.66. From 34 donors and 874 roll calls. Run 2026-10-25T215945. Blue is left of 0, red right of 0.

← More liberalMore conservative →0Payne +0.6State Senate Republicans +0.4Georgia Senate +0.4All State Senate +0.1

The outlined dot is Payne, coloured by its side of 0 (blue left, red right, deeper further out); the bar through it is the approximate range (±1.96 standard errors), which understates the uncertainty; the grey ticks below are the medians of Payne’s groups. 0 is the centre of the scale, not “moderate” by definition.

What this means, and what it doesn’t

The score summarises how an official votes, who funds them and how they talk, relative to everyone else. It does not grade positions as good or bad, and two officials with the same score can differ on any single issue. The ± range is 1.96 standard errors, which understates the uncertainty: scores whose ranges overlap may not differ at all, and even scores whose ranges do not overlap may not differ.

Where Payne sits

Every official in each group, on the CSIP scale

−2.0−1.00.0+1.0+2.0← More liberalMore conservative →State Senate Republicansmedian +0.4Payne +0.6Georgia Senatemedian +0.4All State Senatemedian +0.1
Show the data
Payne's CSIP score of +0.58 placed against State Senate Republicans, Georgia Senate, All State Senate.
GroupOfficialsMedianShare left of Payne
State Senate Republicans1083+0.481%
Georgia Senate55+0.489%
All State Senate1909+0.189%
How to read the strips

Every small dot is one official on the same scale, coloured by its own score (blue left of 0, red right of 0, grey at 0, deeper further out) and spread up and down only to keep dots apart; where a group is crowded the dots overlap, and darker patches mean more officials. The large outlined dot is Payne in every row; the rule is each group’s median. The table under the figure gives the share of each group to the left of Payne.

Back to topNext: Money

Money

Payne reported $35.1K in the 2026 cycle, below the State Senate Republicans’ median of $46.2K. State filings report no small-donation total. 56% of itemized individual money came from Georgia.

Campaign money from state campaign-finance filings, as aggregates only; the lab never shows an individual donor. Campaigns must report by name every person who gives them more than $200 in a cycle (“itemized”); smaller gifts are reported only as one total (“unitemized”), so donor counts, donor states, employers and occupations describe itemized donors only. State filings report no small-gift total, so these figures add up itemized contributions only.

Election cycle
$35.1K

itemized in the 2026 cycle

From 6 itemized donors. State Senate Republicans’ median $46.2K.

Where the money came from

Each square is one percent of itemized contributions in the 2026 cycle.

Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)Individuals (itemized): $5,000 (14.2%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)PACs and other committees: $30.1K (85.8%)
  • Individuals (itemized)14 squares$5,000
  • PACs and other committees86 squares$30.1K
Show the data
Sources of Payne's money, 2026 cycle, one square per percent
SourceAmountShare
Individuals (itemized)$5,00014.2%
PACs and other committees$30.1K85.8%
What this means, and what it doesn’t

Totals say how much a campaign took in, not how it was spent, and they rise sharply when a seat is up for election; compare cycles with that in mind.

Receipts by cycle

Itemized contributions, 2020 to 2026. The grey line is the State Senate Republicans’ median for 2026.

2020 cycle: $34.9K$34.9K20202022 cycle: $58.0K$58.0K20222024 cycle: $18.1K$18.1K20242026 cycle: $35.1K$35.1K2026State Senate Republicans median $46.2K
Show the data
Payne's receipts by cycle against the 2026 State Senate Republicans median.
ItemValue
2020 cycle$34.9K
2022 cycle$58.0K
2024 cycle$18.1K
2026 cycle$35.1K

Top donor states, 2026

Itemized contributions by donor state. 56% came from Georgia.

  1. Georgia$2,800
  2. North Carolina$1,500
  3. Florida$700

Small donations

State filings report no total for small gifts.

Not reported in state filings.

Where itemized donors live

Individuals who gave more than $200, by donor state

Alaska: no dataAKMaine: no dataMEVermont: no dataVTNew Hampshire: no dataNHWashington: no dataWAIdaho: no dataIDMontana: no dataMTNorth Dakota: no dataNDMinnesota: no dataMNIllinois: no dataILWisconsin: no dataWIMichigan: no dataMINew York: no dataNYRhode Island: no dataRIMassachusetts: no dataMAOregon: no dataORNevada: no dataNVWyoming: no dataWYSouth Dakota: no dataSDIowa: no dataIAIndiana: no dataINOhio: no dataOHPennsylvania: no dataPANew Jersey: no dataNJConnecticut: no dataCTCalifornia: no dataCAUtah: no dataUTColorado: no dataCONebraska: no dataNEMissouri: no dataMOKentucky: no dataKYWest Virginia: no dataWVVirginia: no dataVAMaryland: no dataMDDelaware: no dataDEArizona: no dataAZNew Mexico: no dataNMKansas: no dataKSArkansas: no dataARTennessee: no dataTNNorth Carolina: $1,500NCSouth Carolina: no dataSCDistrict of Columbia: no dataDCOklahoma: no dataOKLouisiana: no dataLAMississippi: no dataMSAlabama: no dataALGeorgia: $2,800GAHawaii: no dataHITexas: no dataTXFlorida: $700FL
Show the data
Payne's itemized individual contributions by donor state, 2026 cycle
StateValue
Georgia$2,800
North Carolina$1,500
Florida$700
AlaskaNo data
MaineNo data
VermontNo data
New HampshireNo data
WashingtonNo data
IdahoNo data
MontanaNo data
North DakotaNo data
MinnesotaNo data
IllinoisNo data
WisconsinNo data
MichiganNo data
New YorkNo data
Rhode IslandNo data
MassachusettsNo data
OregonNo data
NevadaNo data
WyomingNo data
South DakotaNo data
IowaNo data
IndianaNo data
OhioNo data
PennsylvaniaNo data
New JerseyNo data
ConnecticutNo data
CaliforniaNo data
UtahNo data
ColoradoNo data
NebraskaNo data
MissouriNo data
KentuckyNo data
West VirginiaNo data
VirginiaNo data
MarylandNo data
DelawareNo data
ArizonaNo data
New MexicoNo data
KansasNo data
ArkansasNo data
TennesseeNo data
South CarolinaNo data
District of ColumbiaNo data
OklahomaNo data
LouisianaNo data
MississippiNo data
AlabamaNo data
HawaiiNo data
TexasNo data
6

itemized donors

People who gave more than $200

56%

from Georgia

Of itemized individual dollars

How to read the map

Every state the same size. Darker states gave more itemized money; hatched states had no itemized donors; the outlined state is Georgia. Gifts of $200 or less carry no address and are left out.

Top donor occupations

Itemized, 2026 cycle.

No occupations reported.

Top committees

PAC and committee contributions, 2026 cycle.

  1. GEORGIA REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL COMMITTEE INC$3,300
  2. LARRY WALKER FOR STATE SENATE$3,300
  3. REALTORS PAC$3,300
  4. GEORGIA SOLIDARITY NETWORK, INC.$2,500
  5. TIM BEARDEN FOR GEORGIA$1,500

Top employers

Itemized, 2026 cycle.

No employers reported.

Aggregates only. Individual donors are never named.

Back to topNext: Votes

Votes

Payne voted with the majority of Georgia Senate Republicans on 100% of party-line votes and missed 0.8% of 1,406 roll calls. Georgia Senate on average: 96.0% party unity, 92.2% attendance. Across all roll calls, Payne voted against the majority of Georgia Senate Republicans 17 times.

1,406 roll calls Payne could vote on in the GA 2025–26 session, compared with Georgia Senate. Attendance is the share with a vote recorded. Party unity counts only party-line roll calls, where most Democrats and most Republicans voted on opposite sides, and is the share of those where Payne voted with the majority of Georgia Senate Republicans. The count of votes against that majority covers every roll call where the majority took a side.

17

votes against the majority of Georgia Senate Republicans

Party unity 100%, Georgia Senate average 96.0%, ranks 5th of 54. 1,406 roll calls in the GA 2025–26 session.

Attendance and party unity

The thick bar is Payne, the thin grey bar the Georgia Senate average. The scale runs from 80% to 100% to show the gap.

80%100%
Payne
Peers
Rank
Attendance
99.1%
92.2%
8th of 54
Party unity
100%
96.0%
5th of 54
Show the data
Payne's attendance and party unity against Georgia Senate.
RowPaynePeers
Attendance99.1%92.2%
Party unity100%96.0%
What this means, and what it doesn’t

A missed roll call has many causes, from illness to campaigning, so attendance says how often, not why. A vote against the majority can be on procedure as well as substance, and many fall on roll calls where both parties split; the key votes below show the ones that decided something.

Key votes

25 roll calls the lab flagged as key in the GA 2025–26 session

Key votes
Party split (yea–nay)Why it’s key
Jun 23, 2026
SB 3
Election Equipment Specifications and Standards Committee; establish
AGREE TO HOUSE SUBSTITUTE AS AMENDED
NayWith majorityfailD 19–0 · R 0–32Democrats 19 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 0 yea, 32 naybecame law
Jun 23, 2026
SB 3
Election Equipment Specifications and Standards Committee; establish
AGREE TO HOUSE SUBSTITUTE
YeaWith majoritypassD 4–16 · R 32–0Democrats 4 yea, 16 nay; Republicans 32 yea, 0 naybecame law · party crossover
Jun 20, 2026
SB 1
Glynn County; ad valorem taxes; homestead property determined annually for the special district based upon the proceeds of a new Local Homestead Option Sales Tax (LHOST); provide homestead exemption
PASSAGE
YeaWith majorityfailD 0–18 · R 33–0Democrats 0 yea, 18 nay; Republicans 33 yea, 0 naymuch discussed
Jun 20, 2026
SB 3
Election Equipment Specifications and Standards Committee; establish
PASSAGE AS AMENDED
YeaWith majoritypassD 0–19 · R 33–0Democrats 0 yea, 19 nay; Republicans 33 yea, 0 naybecame law
Jun 20, 2026
SB 1
Glynn County; ad valorem taxes; homestead property determined annually for the special district based upon the proceeds of a new Local Homestead Option Sales Tax (LHOST); provide homestead exemption
LOCAL CONSENT CALENDAR
YeaWith majorityfailD 0–18 · R 33–0Democrats 0 yea, 18 nay; Republicans 33 yea, 0 naymuch discussed
How key votes are chosen

Automatically: a final-passage or override vote where the measure became law, the margin was under 10%, at least 10% of either party voted against its majority, or the bill was among the 25 most mentioned in officials’ own statements. Up to 25 per window, most recent first; five are shown. Bars show yea on the left, nay on the right, per party.

Votes most often with

The colleagues who voted the same way as Payne most often

  1. Jon BurnsR1,313 shared votes99%
  2. Frank GinnR1,368 shared votes99%
  3. Shawn StillR1,349 shared votes99%
  4. Marty HarbinR1,311 shared votes99%
  5. Drew EcholsR1,313 shared votes98%

Votes least often with

The colleagues who voted the same way as Payne least often

  1. Jaha HowardD698 shared votes64%
  2. Nikki MerrittD1,287 shared votes68%
  3. Josh McLaurinD1,322 shared votes68%
  4. Nan OrrockD1,273 shared votes70%
  5. Sally HarrellD1,272 shared votes71%
How to read the agreement lists

The share of roll calls both members voted on where they voted the same way, among colleagues sharing at least 50 such votes. High agreement with members of the other party is common on routine votes.

Full voting record

GA 2025–26 session, loads in batches

Back to topNext: Legislation

Legislation

Payne sponsored 360 bills in the GA 2025–26 session; 55 became law. Cosponsored 0 others. 86% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Georgia Senate average 77%; 6th of 53).

The bills Payne sponsored and cosponsored in the GA 2025–26 session, from the official bill records, and how far each got: introduced, referred to or acted on in committee, passed one chamber, passed both, became law. A bill counts at every stage it has reached, so the blocks only shrink to the right.

Bills by stage

Counts for the GA 2025–26 session

Sponsored360 billsSponsored, Introduced: 360360Sponsored, In committee: 360360Sponsored, Passed one chamber: 308308Sponsored, Passed both chambers: 6464Sponsored, Became law: 5555Cosponsored0 billsCosponsored, Introduced: 00Cosponsored, In committee: 00Cosponsored, Passed one chamber: 00Cosponsored, Passed both chambers: 00Cosponsored, Became law: 00IntroducedIncommitteePassed onechamberPassed bothchambersBecamelaw
Show the data
Bills Payne sponsored and cosponsored, by furthest stage reached
RoleIntroducedIn committeePassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law
Sponsored3603603086455
Cosponsored00000
How to read the blocks

Ink blocks are bills Payne sponsored, ochre blocks bills Payne cosponsored; the figure above each block is the count. Most bills in any legislature never leave committee, so a short staircase is the norm.

86%

of sponsored bills got out of committee

Georgia Senate average 77%. Ranks 6th of 53.

Cosponsorship partners

Colleagues who most often cosponsor with Payne, by number of shared bills in the GA 2025–26 session; the square shows their party.

  1. Randy Robertson130
  2. Shawn Still128
  3. Billy Hickman124
  4. Kay Kirkpatrick120
  5. Rick Williams113
What this means, and what it doesn’t

The score is the share of sponsored bills that a committee reported out or a chamber passed, with at least 5 sponsored bills, ranked within the peer group. Members of the majority party and committee chairs move more bills, so the rank reflects position in the chamber as well as effort. Cosponsorship partners are the five colleagues who share the most of Payne’s bills; the toggle shows more.

Bill list

Sponsored and cosponsored, with status and policy area; five are shown, the toggle shows the rest

Bills sponsored and cosponsored
SB 10Sales and Use Taxes; any existing special district option sales and use tax (FLOST) cease to be imposed and levied immediately prior to the imposition of any local homestead option sales tax (LHOST); requireSponsorJun 22, 2026In committeeTaxation(model)Senate Read and Referred Jun 23, 2026
SB 3Election Equipment Specifications and Standards Committee; establishSponsorJun 17, 2026Became lawGovernment Operations and Politics(model)Effective Date Jun 25, 2026
SR 1087McCullom, Maggie; recognize and commendSponsorMar 31, 2026Passed one chamberUnassignedSenate Read and Adopted Apr 2, 2026
SR 1085Willis, Robert "Bob"; congratulateSponsorMar 31, 2026Passed one chamberUnassignedSenate Read and Adopted Apr 2, 2026
SR 1086Metzger, Deaundra "Deedee"; recognize and commendSponsorMar 31, 2026Passed one chamberUnassignedSenate Read and Adopted Apr 2, 2026

Back to topNext: Online

Online

The lab crawls Payne’s official and campaign websites (weekly for Congress, monthly for the states) and keeps every page’s text, so changes can be read later; it also records social accounts and describes the images Payne posts with a vision model.

Websites

No websites are tracked for this official.

How to read the counts

“Pages crawled” is the size of the site at the last crawl; “changes in 90 days” counts pages whose text differed from the previous crawl. Sites change for many routine reasons, such as new press releases, so a high count is not by itself notable.

Images Payne posted

No images from Payne’s posts have been described.

About the descriptions

Written by a vision model and may be wrong. Open the post to see the original. Five are shown; the toggle shows the rest.

State floor speeches

71 turns, Jan 14, 2020 to Mar 23, 2026

Floor speeches

Transcribed from chamber video or captions by the lab. They are not classified for kinds of statement.

Back to topNext: Methods and sources

Methods and sources

How this page was made. Profile built Oct 28, 2026; site last built Oct 28, 2026. Every number on the page is computed from the sources listed here, by the same rules for every official; nothing is written by hand.

The headline

The headline is the measure on which Payne is most unusual among Georgia Senate, chosen by one rule for every official of every party. The candidates are the rate of each kind of statement and of extreme labels, party unity, attendance, the small-donor share, the in-state share and total receipts of the latest cycle, the share of sponsored bills that got out of committee, talk-to-bills agreement, and the CSIP score’s place within the party group.

The builder ranks every measure within the same peer group the page compares it with, and writes each official’s percentile: the share of the group below the value, ties counting half, so 0.5 is the median and a value shared by many never ranks first. A measure’s score is how far that percentile sits from the median (0 in the middle, 0.5 at either end), and the highest score leads if it is above 0.25, outside the middle half of the group. Scores within 0.03 of each other are a tie, broken in this order: votes against the party majority, kinds of statement, ideology, roll calls missed, small donations, in-state money, legislation, agreement, extreme labels, receipts.

A measure counts only with at least 200 statements, 100 roll calls or 5 sponsored bills behind it and a peer group of at least 10. Two things never lead: high party unity or attendance, where most members sit, and a high rate of a kind of statement backed by fewer than 10 statements. When nothing qualifies, the headline is a neutral fact instead: statements classified, or years in office. The wording always names the direction (“in the bottom 5% of …”, “votes against the majority of …”).

Identifiers

Profile id
1ac93f89-f367-4de3-82ba-79fa78d4d134
Open States
ocd-person/1ac93f89-f367-4de3-82ba-79fa78d4d134

Bulk files with the same data for every official:

Freshness of this profile’s data

  • What politicians sayOct 27, 20261 days agoMembers of Congress: tweets since 2017; press releases, newsletters and floor speeches since 2022. State legislators: tweets since May 2024. Governors: tweets since January 2025. Labels from an LLM classifier.
  • Roll calls (state)Oct 21, 20267 days agoOpen States floor roll calls, 2019 on (none for AK and MO).
  • Bills (state)Oct 28, 2026todayOpen States bills and sponsors, 2019 on; stages from roll calls.
  • Campaign money (state)no dateState campaign-finance agencies, 2019 on; aggregates only.
  • Ideology (CSIP)Oct 25, 20263 days agoCommon-Space Ideal Points (CSIP), current validated run.
  • WebsitesOct 25, 20263 days agoWeekly crawls of federal sites since April 2026; monthly state crawls since June 2026.
  • State floor speechesOct 21, 20267 days agoState floor speech turns (published transcripts and captions), 2020 on; not LLM-classified.

How the measures work

What politicians say
Every post, press release, newsletter and congressional floor speech is read by a language model and marked for personal attacks, policy criticism, policy discussion, bipartisanship and credit claiming. A statement can be in several. Rates are shares of statements in the window. The methods paper.
Extreme labels
A statement has an extreme label when it calls a politician, party or policy “far left”, “far right”, “MAGA”, “extreme”, “radical”, “woke”, “fascist” or “communist”. The target is who the label is aimed at.
Policy areas and agreement
Statements and bills share 25 Congressional Research Service policy areas (state bills are assigned by a language model). Agreement is 1 − Jensen–Shannon distance between the two distributions, shown with at least 20 policy statements and 5 bills.
Ideology (CSIP)
Common-Space Ideal Points place federal and state officials on one left–right scale, estimated jointly from roll calls, campaign contributions and the text of statements, with standard errors. Only a validated run is shown. The methods paper.
Campaign money
Campaigns report by name only donors who give more than $200 in a cycle; smaller gifts are reported as one total. Federal totals and the small-donor share come from the FEC’s financial summaries of each campaign committee. Donor counts, donor states, employers and occupations cover itemized donors only. State filings report no small-gift totals, so state figures are itemized only. The lab never publishes donor names.
Votes and key votes
Attendance, party unity and the count of votes against the majority of an official’s own party come from roll calls (Voteview for Congress, chamber records for the states). Key votes are final-passage or override votes that became law, were decided by under 10%, saw at least 10% of a party vote against its majority, or concerned one of the 25 bills most mentioned in officials’ statements.
Peers and ranks
Comparisons are with the same party, chamber and level (for example House Democrats); state legislators are compared within their state and chamber for votes. Every comparison names its group. Rank 1 is the highest value in the group; tied values share the average of their ranks, and the percentile is the share of the group below the value, ties counting half.

America’s Political Pulse · Polarization Research Lab

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