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Republican · Texas House, district 86

Serving since Jan 8, 1985TX 2025–26 session

Portrait of John Smithee, rendered as a two-tone print
Official portrait
15%
of roll calls missed, attendance in the bottom quarter of the Texas House

Attendance 85%; the average within the Texas House is 93.1%. Ranks 126th of 143, where 1st has the highest attendance. 3,700 roll calls in the TX 2025–26 session.

Attendance is the share of the roll calls Smithee could vote on where a yea, nay or present was recorded, ranked within the Texas House. A missed vote has many causes, from illness to campaigning; the number says how often, not why.

At a glance

6 measures against the Texas House. 100% of Smithee’s itemized money in the 2026 cycle came from Texas, in the top quarter of State House Republicans. Smithee reported $7,500 in the 2026 cycle, in the bottom quarter of State House Republicans (median $33.7K).

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

Attendance

85%

Texas House average 93.1% · ranks 126th of 143 · 3,700 roll calls

From Texas, 2026

100%

Of itemized individual dollars · ranks 392nd of 2,335 State House Republicans

Itemized, 2026

$7,500

State House Republicans’ median $33.7K · ranks 2039th of 2,521

Party unity

76%

Texas House average 85% · ranks 108th of 143 · 196 votes against the majority of Texas House Republicans

Out of committee

61%

Texas House average 49% · ranks 34th of 145

CSIP ideology

+0.37

More conservative than 53% of State House Republicans · ± 0.03

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

Back to topNext: What politicians say

What Smithee says

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

Back to topNext: Ideology

Ideology

Smithee sits at +0.37 on the CSIP scale, right of 0, more conservative than 53% of State House Republicans. Approximate range +0.35 to +0.40, which understates the uncertainty; from 159 donors and 803 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”.

+0.37

CSIP ideal point

Approximate range +0.35 to +0.40. From 159 donors and 803 roll calls. Run 2026-10-25T215945. Blue is left of 0, red right of 0.

← More liberalMore conservative →0Smithee +0.4State House Republicans +0.4Texas House +0.3All State House +0.1

The outlined dot is Smithee, 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 Smithee’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 Smithee sits

Every official in each group, on the CSIP scale

−2.0−1.00.0+1.0+2.0← More liberalMore conservative →State House Republicansmedian +0.4Smithee +0.4Texas Housemedian +0.3All State Housemedian +0.1
Show the data
Smithee's CSIP score of +0.37 placed against State House Republicans, Texas House, All State House.
GroupOfficialsMedianShare left of Smithee
State House Republicans2917+0.453%
Texas House148+0.360%
All State House5324+0.174%
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 Smithee 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 Smithee.

Back to topNext: Money

Money

Smithee reported $7,500 in the 2026 cycle, 22% of the State House Republicans’ median of $33.7K. State filings report no small-donation total. 100% of itemized individual money came from Texas.

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
$7,500

itemized in the 2026 cycle

From 1 itemized donors. State House Republicans’ median $33.7K.

Where the money came from

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

Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)Individuals (itemized): $2,500 (33.3%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,000 (66.7%)
  • Individuals (itemized)33 squares$2,500
  • PACs and other committees67 squares$5,000
Show the data
Sources of Smithee's money, 2026 cycle, one square per percent
SourceAmountShare
Individuals (itemized)$2,50033.3%
PACs and other committees$5,00066.7%
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, 2020 to 2026. The grey line is the State House Republicans’ median for 2026.

2020 cycle: $68.0K$68.0K20202022 cycle: $68.1K$68.1K20222024 cycle: $282.7K$282.7K20242026 cycle: $7,500$7,5002026State House Republicans median $33.7K
Show the data
Smithee's receipts by cycle against the 2026 State House Republicans median.
ItemValue
2020 cycle$68.0K
2022 cycle$68.1K
2024 cycle$282.7K
2026 cycle$7,500

Top donor states, 2026

Itemized contributions by donor state. 100% came from Texas.

  1. Texas$2,500

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: no dataNCSouth Carolina: no dataSCDistrict of Columbia: no dataDCOklahoma: no dataOKLouisiana: no dataLAMississippi: no dataMSAlabama: no dataALGeorgia: no dataGAHawaii: no dataHITexas: $2,500TXFlorida: no dataFL
Show the data
Smithee's itemized individual contributions by donor state, 2026 cycle
StateValue
Texas$2,500
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
North CarolinaNo data
South CarolinaNo data
District of ColumbiaNo data
OklahomaNo data
LouisianaNo data
MississippiNo data
AlabamaNo data
GeorgiaNo data
HawaiiNo data
FloridaNo data
1

itemized donors

People who gave more than $200

100%

from Texas

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 Texas. 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. TEXANS FOR LAWSUIT REFORM PAC$5,000

Top employers

Itemized, 2026 cycle.

No employers reported.

Aggregates only. Individual donors are never named.

Back to topNext: Votes

Votes

Smithee voted with the majority of Texas House Republicans on 76% of party-line votes and missed 15% of 3,700 roll calls. Texas House on average: 85% party unity, 93.1% attendance. Across all roll calls, Smithee voted against the majority of Texas House Republicans 196 times.

3,700 roll calls Smithee could vote on in the TX 2025–26 session, compared with Texas 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 Smithee voted with the majority of Texas House Republicans. The count of votes against that majority covers every roll call where the majority took a side.

196

votes against the majority of Texas House Republicans

Party unity 76%, Texas House average 85%, ranks 108th of 143. 3,700 roll calls in the TX 2025–26 session.

Attendance and party unity

The thick bar is Smithee, the thin grey bar the Texas House average. The scale runs from 70% to 100% to show the gap.

70%100%
Smithee
Peers
Rank
Attendance
85%
93.1%
126th of 143
Party unity
76%
85%
108th of 143
Show the data
Smithee's attendance and party unity against Texas House.
RowSmitheePeers
Attendance85%93.1%
Party unity76%85%
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 TX 2025–26 session

Key votes
Party split (yea–nay)Why it’s key
Sep 3, 2025
HB 1
Relating to youth camp emergency plans and preparedness; authorizing penalties.
passage
YeaWith majoritypassD 44–1 · R 46–37Democrats 44 yea, 1 nay; Republicans 46 yea, 37 naybecame law · party crossover · much discussed
Sep 3, 2025
SB 1
Relating to campground and youth camp safety.
passage
YeaWith majoritypassD 45–0 · R 76–8Democrats 45 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 76 yea, 8 naybecame law · much discussed
Sep 3, 2025
HB 8
Relating to public school accountability and transparency, including the implementation of an instructionally supportive assessment program and the adoption and administration of assessment instruments in public schools, indicators of achievement, public school performance ratings, and interventions
passage
YeaWith majoritypassD 1–40 · R 78–7Democrats 1 yea, 40 nay; Republicans 78 yea, 7 naybecame law · much discussed
Sep 3, 2025
SB 5
Relating to making supplemental appropriations for disaster relief and preparedness and giving direction and adjustment authority regarding those appropriations.
adopt the conference committee report on SB 5.
YeaWith majoritypassD 43–0 · R 86–0Democrats 43 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 86 yea, 0 naybecame law · much discussed
Sep 3, 2025
HB 8
Relating to public school accountability and transparency, including the implementation of an instructionally supportive assessment program and the adoption and administration of assessment instruments in public schools, indicators of achievement, public school performance ratings, and interventions
passage
Nay—passD 45–1 · R 41–41Democrats 45 yea, 1 nay; Republicans 41 yea, 41 naybecame law · party crossover · much 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 Smithee most often

  1. Stan KitzmanR2,952 shared votes94%
  2. Janie LopezR2,976 shared votes94%
  3. John LujanR3,117 shared votes94%
  4. Gary VanDeaverR3,122 shared votes94%
  5. Angie ButtonR3,096 shared votes94%

Votes least often with

The colleagues who voted the same way as Smithee least often

  1. Brian HarrisonR3,065 shared votes61%
  2. Briscoe CainR2,917 shared votes63%
  3. David LoweR3,081 shared votes63%
  4. Mike OlcottR2,955 shared votes64%
  5. Steve TothR3,036 shared votes67%
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

TX 2025–26 session, loads in batches

Back to topNext: Legislation

Legislation

Smithee sponsored 74 bills in the TX 2025–26 session; 19 became law. Cosponsored 74 others. 61% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Texas House average 49%; 34th of 145).

The bills Smithee sponsored and cosponsored in the TX 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 TX 2025–26 session

Sponsored74 billsSponsored, Introduced: 7474Sponsored, In committee: 7474Sponsored, Passed one chamber: 4545Sponsored, Passed both chambers: 2424Sponsored, Became law: 1919Cosponsored74 billsCosponsored, Introduced: 7474Cosponsored, In committee: 6464Cosponsored, Passed one chamber: 3939Cosponsored, Passed both chambers: 2828Cosponsored, Became law: 2323IntroducedIncommitteePassed onechamberPassed bothchambersBecamelaw
Show the data
Bills Smithee sponsored and cosponsored, by furthest stage reached
RoleIntroducedIn committeePassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law
Sponsored7474452419
Cosponsored7464392823
How to read the blocks

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

61%

of sponsored bills got out of committee

Texas House average 49%. Ranks 34th of 145.

Cosponsorship partners

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

  1. Royce West8
  2. Kevin Sparks7
  3. Mihaela Pleșa7
  4. A.J. Louderback7
  5. Joan Huffman6
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 Smithee’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
HR 128Amending the House Rules of Procedure to authorize additional constitutionally compliant, proportional penalties for members absent without leave for purpose of impeding the action of the House that do not unfairly impair members' representative functions.CosponsorAug 29, 2025Passed one chamberUnassignedReported enrolled Sep 4, 2025
HB 298Relating to a vacancy in the office of senator or representative due to excessive absence.CosponsorAug 25, 2025In committeeGovernment Operations and Politics(model)Referred to State Affairs Aug 26, 2025
HB 295Relating to election procedures regarding accepting a voter with a residence address that is not current and the immediate effect of a voter's registration after the registrar's receipt of certain change of address notices.CosponsorAug 25, 2025In committeeGovernment Operations and Politics(model)Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) Aug 28, 2025
HCR 13Urging the federal government to take immediate action to curb the spread of the New World screwworm in Texas.CosponsorAug 22, 2025Became lawAgriculture and Food(model)Signed by the Governor Sep 17, 2025
HB 291Relating to medical school admissions, coursework, academic standards, and employment decisions in this state.CosponsorAug 22, 2025IntroducedEducation(model)Filed Aug 22, 2025

Back to topNext: Online

Online

A site that changed 1 time in 90 days. Smithee’s official site had 1 page when last crawled on Oct 1, 2026.

The lab crawls Smithee’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 Smithee posts with a vision model.

Websites

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 Smithee posted

No images from Smithee’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

No transcribed state floor speeches are matched to this legislator yet.

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 Smithee is most unusual among Texas House, 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
3cac81cd-62ca-41d6-aa4a-8e4156244dec
Open States
ocd-person/3cac81cd-62ca-41d6-aa4a-8e4156244dec

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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