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Democrat · New York House, district 115

Serving since Nov 13, 2025NY 2025–26 session

Portrait of Michael Cashman, rendered as a two-tone print
Official portrait
96%
of State House Democrats score to the left of Cashman on the CSIP scale

CSIP score −0.20 (approximate range −0.25 to −0.15, which understates the uncertainty); negative is left of the scale’s centre, positive right. From 292 donors and 127 roll calls.

CSIP places every official on one left–right scale estimated from roll-call votes, campaign donations and the text of statements; 0 is the centre of the scale, not a definition of moderate. The share says where Cashman sits among State House Democrats, not how far from the centre.

At a glance

6 measures against State House Democrats. Cashman reported $235.2K in the 2026 cycle, in the top quarter of State House Democrats (median $40.4K). Cashman voted against the majority of New York House Democrats 46 times; party unity 84%, in the bottom quarter of the New York House (average 92.9%).

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

CSIP ideology

−0.20

More conservative than 96% of State House Democrats · ± 0.05

Attendance

100%

New York House average 93.9% · ranks 10th of 149 · 995 roll calls

Itemized, 2026

$235.2K

State House Democrats’ median $40.4K · ranks 234th of 2,082

Party unity

84%

New York House average 92.9% · ranks 126th of 149 · 46 votes against the majority of New York House Democrats

Out of committee

13%

New York House average 20% · ranks 102nd of 148

From New York, 2026

95%

Of itemized individual dollars · ranks 872nd of 1,983 State House Democrats

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

Back to topNext: What politicians say

What Cashman says

No statements for the NY 2025–26 session.No classified statements (posts, press releases, newsletters, floor speeches) in this time window.

Back to topNext: Policy

Policy

No policy statements for the NY 2025–26 session.No classified statements (posts, press releases, newsletters, floor speeches) in this time window.

Back to topNext: Ideology

Ideology

Cashman sits at −0.20 on the CSIP scale, left of 0, more conservative than 96% of State House Democrats. Approximate range −0.25 to −0.15, which understates the uncertainty; from 292 donors and 127 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”.

−0.20

CSIP ideal point

Approximate range −0.25 to −0.15. From 292 donors and 127 roll calls. Run 2026-10-25T215945. Blue is left of 0, red right of 0.

← More liberalMore conservative →0Cashman −0.2State House Democrats −0.6New York House −0.5All State House +0.1

The outlined dot is Cashman, 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 Cashman’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 Cashman sits

Every official in each group, on the CSIP scale

−2.0−1.00.0+1.0+2.0← More liberalMore conservative →State House Democratsmedian −0.6Cashman −0.2New York Housemedian −0.5All State Housemedian +0.1
Show the data
Cashman's CSIP score of −0.20 placed against State House Democrats, New York House, All State House.
GroupOfficialsMedianShare left of Cashman
State House Democrats2392−0.696%
New York House150−0.564%
All State House5324+0.144%
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 Cashman 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 Cashman.

Back to topNext: Money

Money

Cashman reported $235.2K in the 2026 cycle, 5.8 times the State House Democrats’ median of $40.4K. State filings report no small-donation total. 95% of itemized individual money came from New York.

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.

$235.2K

itemized in the 2026 cycle

From 293 itemized donors. State House Democrats’ median $40.4K.

Where the money came from

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

Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)Individuals (itemized): $48.6K (20.7%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)PACs and other committees: $182.4K (77.6%)Party committees: $4,100 (1.7%)Party committees: $4,100 (1.7%)
  • Individuals (itemized)21 squares$48.6K
  • PACs and other committees77 squares$182.4K
  • Party committees2 squares$4,100
Show the data
Sources of Cashman's money, 2026 cycle, one square per percent
SourceAmountShare
Individuals (itemized)$48.6K20.7%
PACs and other committees$182.4K77.6%
Party committees$4,1001.7%
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, 2026 to 2026. The grey line is the State House Democrats’ median for 2026.

2026 cycle: $235.2K$235.2K2026State House Democrats median $40.4K
Show the data
Cashman's receipts by cycle against the 2026 State House Democrats median.
ItemValue
2026 cycle$235.2K

Top donor states, 2026

Itemized contributions by donor state. 95% came from New York.

  1. New York$46.0K
  2. Florida$1,062
  3. Pennsylvania$358
  4. Massachusetts$350
  5. Vermont$210

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: $1MEVermont: $210VTNew Hampshire: no dataNHWashington: $11WAIdaho: no dataIDMontana: no dataMTNorth Dakota: no dataNDMinnesota: $7MNIllinois: $104ILWisconsin: no dataWIMichigan: no dataMINew York: $46.0KNYRhode Island: no dataRIMassachusetts: $350MAOregon: no dataORNevada: no dataNVWyoming: no dataWYSouth Dakota: no dataSDIowa: no dataIAIndiana: no dataINOhio: $4OHPennsylvania: $358PANew Jersey: $11NJConnecticut: $4CTCalifornia: $125CAUtah: no dataUTColorado: no dataCONebraska: no dataNEMissouri: no dataMOKentucky: no dataKYWest Virginia: $4WVVirginia: $122VAMaryland: $109MDDelaware: no dataDEArizona: $13AZNew Mexico: $2NMKansas: no dataKSArkansas: no dataARTennessee: $1TNNorth Carolina: no dataNCSouth Carolina: no dataSCDistrict of Columbia: $35DCOklahoma: no dataOKLouisiana: no dataLAMississippi: no dataMSAlabama: no dataALGeorgia: $100GAHawaii: no dataHITexas: $11TXFlorida: $1,062FL
Show the data
Cashman's itemized individual contributions by donor state, 2026 cycle
StateValue
New York$46.0K
Florida$1,062
Pennsylvania$358
Massachusetts$350
Vermont$210
California$125
Virginia$122
Maryland$109
Illinois$104
Georgia$100
District of Columbia$35
Arizona$13
Texas$11
New Jersey$11
Washington$11
Minnesota$7
West Virginia$4
Ohio$4
Connecticut$4
New Mexico$2
Maine$1
Tennessee$1
AlaskaNo data
New HampshireNo data
IdahoNo data
MontanaNo data
North DakotaNo data
WisconsinNo data
MichiganNo data
Rhode IslandNo data
OregonNo data
NevadaNo data
WyomingNo data
South DakotaNo data
IowaNo data
IndianaNo data
UtahNo data
ColoradoNo data
NebraskaNo data
MissouriNo data
KentuckyNo data
DelawareNo data
KansasNo data
ArkansasNo data
North CarolinaNo data
South CarolinaNo data
OklahomaNo data
LouisianaNo data
MississippiNo data
AlabamaNo data
HawaiiNo data
293

itemized donors

People who gave more than $200

95%

from New York

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 New York. Gifts of $200 or less carry no address and are left out.

Top donor occupations

Itemized, 2026 cycle.

  1. NOT EMPLOYED$9,349 46 donors
  2. RETIRED$7,850 22 donors
  3. ATTORNEY$3,200 6 donors
  4. OWNER$800 4 donors
  5. UNEMPLOYED$800 5 donors

Top committees

PAC and committee contributions, 2026 cycle.

  1. NYS DEMOCRATIC ASSEMBLY CAMPAIGN COMMIT$149.1K
  2. 1199 SEIU - NYS POLITICAL ACTION FUND$6,000
  3. CWA DISTRICT ONE PAC$4,500
  4. ESSEX COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE$3,000
  5. NASRCC POLITICAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE$3,000

Top employers

Itemized, 2026 cycle.

  1. NEW YORK STATE$400 3 donors
  2. CLINTON COUNTY$300 3 donors

Aggregates only. Individual donors are never named.

Back to topNext: Votes

Votes

Cashman voted with the majority of New York House Democrats on 84% of party-line votes and missed none of 995 roll calls. New York House on average: 92.9% party unity, 93.9% attendance. Across all roll calls, Cashman voted against the majority of New York House Democrats 46 times.

995 roll calls Cashman could vote on in the NY 2025–26 session, compared with New York House. 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 Cashman voted with the majority of New York House Democrats. The count of votes against that majority covers every roll call where the majority took a side.

46

votes against the majority of New York House Democrats

Party unity 84%, New York House average 92.9%, ranks 126th of 149. 995 roll calls in the NY 2025–26 session.

Attendance and party unity

The thick bar is Cashman, the thin grey bar the New York House average. The scale runs from 80% to 100% to show the gap.

80%100%
Cashman
Peers
Rank
Attendance
100%
93.9%
10th of 149
Party unity
84%
92.9%
126th of 149
Show the data
Cashman's attendance and party unity against New York House.
RowCashmanPeers
Attendance100%93.9%
Party unity84%92.9%
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 NY 2025–26 session

Key votes
Party split (yea–nay)Why it’s key
Jun 5, 2026
S 10586
Extends provisions relating to public hearings on proposed rules
Assembly Vote
YeaWith majoritypassD 86–0 · R 43–0Democrats 86 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 43 yea, 0 naybecame law
Jun 5, 2026
S 10001
Provides for a license to sell liquor at retail for consumption on certain premises
Assembly Vote
YeaWith majoritypassD 85–2 · R 43–0Democrats 85 yea, 2 nay; Republicans 43 yea, 0 naybecame law
Jun 5, 2026
S 10655
Relates to the compensation, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment of certain state officers and employees; repealer
Assembly Vote
YeaWith majoritypassD 86–0 · R 43–0Democrats 86 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 43 yea, 0 naybecame law
Jun 5, 2026
S 9862
Authorizes the town of Minisink to impose a hotel and motel tax
Assembly Vote
NayAgainst majoritypassD 64–23 · R 30–13Democrats 64 yea, 23 nay; Republicans 30 yea, 13 naybecame law · party crossover
Jun 5, 2026
S 9027
Authorizes the village of Ellicottville to impose a hotel and motel tax
Assembly Vote
NayAgainst majoritypassD 66–21 · R 30–13Democrats 66 yea, 21 nay; Republicans 30 yea, 13 naybecame law · party crossover
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 Cashman most often

  1. Paula KayD992 shared votes98%
  2. Judy GriffinD979 shared votes98%
  3. Kwani O'PharrowD984 shared votes98%
  4. Pat CarrollD995 shared votes97%
  5. Jen LunsfordD995 shared votes97%

Votes least often with

The colleagues who voted the same way as Cashman least often

  1. Dave DiPietroR985 shared votes73%
  2. Chris FriendR889 shared votes75%
  3. Mike FitzpatrickR892 shared votes79%
  4. Andrew MolitorR995 shared votes81%
  5. Brian ManktelowR988 shared votes81%
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

NY 2025–26 session, loads in batches

Back to topNext: Legislation

Legislation

Cashman sponsored 63 bills in the NY 2025–26 session; 4 became law. Cosponsored 89 others. 13% of sponsored bills got out of committee (New York House average 20%; 102nd of 148).

The bills Cashman sponsored and cosponsored in the NY 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 NY 2025–26 session

Sponsored63 billsSponsored, Introduced: 6363Sponsored, In committee: 6363Sponsored, Passed one chamber: 88Sponsored, Passed both chambers: 55Sponsored, Became law: 44Cosponsored89 billsCosponsored, Introduced: 8989Cosponsored, In committee: 8989Cosponsored, Passed one chamber: 1515Cosponsored, Passed both chambers: 1010Cosponsored, Became law: 11IntroducedIncommitteePassed onechamberPassed bothchambersBecamelaw
Show the data
Bills Cashman sponsored and cosponsored, by furthest stage reached
RoleIntroducedIn committeePassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law
Sponsored6363854
Cosponsored898915101
How to read the blocks

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

13%

of sponsored bills got out of committee

New York House average 20%. Ranks 102nd of 148.

Cosponsorship partners

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

  1. Angelo Santabarbara23
  2. Paula Kay21
  3. Joe DeStefano17
  4. William Colton17
  5. Jo Anne Simon16
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 Cashman’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
A 11560Enacts the responsible data center development actCosponsorJun 1, 2026Passed both chambersEnergy(model)RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY Jun 4, 2026
A 11225Relates to contracts by service-disabled veteran-owned business enterprisesCosponsorMay 1, 2026Passed both chambersCommerce(model)RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY Jun 2, 2026
A 11071Relates to residential rehabilitation units in correctional facilitiesSponsorApr 24, 2026In committeeCrime and Law Enforcement(model)REFERRED TO CORRECTION Apr 24, 2026
A 11046Requires the division for small-business to publish a small business compliance guideCosponsorApr 24, 2026In committeeCommerce(model)SUBSTITUTED BY S6023 May 28, 2026
A 10955Requires the commissioner of transportation establishes an interactive website for reporting defects on public highwaysCosponsorApr 14, 2026In committeeTransportation and Public Works(model)REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION Apr 14, 2026

Back to topNext: Online

Online

The lab crawls Cashman’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 Cashman 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.

Social accounts

No social accounts on file.

Images Cashman posted

No images from Cashman’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

82 turns, Feb 3, 2026 to Jun 5, 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 Cashman is most unusual among State House Democrats, 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
2b850a01-7bc1-4602-a0e4-46663e477060
Open States
ocd-person/2b850a01-7bc1-4602-a0e4-46663e477060

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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