Personal attacks
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
Oct 26, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · personal attacks; policy discussion; Government Operations and Politics; target: Talarico · Source
17%
of roll calls missed, attendance in the bottom tenth of the Texas House
Attendance 83%; the average within the Texas House is 93.1%. Ranks 132nd of 143, where 1st has the highest attendance. 3,734 roll calls in the TX 2025–26 session.
Attendance is the share of the roll calls Virdell 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 State House Republicans. Virdell reported $172.7K in the 2026 cycle, in the top quarter of State House Republicans (median $33.7K). 6.0% of Virdell’s statements contain a personal attack, 2.1 times the State House Republican average of 2.9%.
The measures on which Virdell sits furthest from the middle of State House Republicans, each against the same group, with the CSIP score when there is one. Every number is explained in its own section below.
Attendance
83%
Texas House average 93.1% · ranks 132nd of 143 · 3,734 roll calls
Itemized, 2026
$172.7K
State House Republicans’ median $33.7K · ranks 288th of 2,521
Personal attacks
6.0%
State House Republicans average 2.9% · ranks 127th of 791
CSIP ideology
+0.59
More conservative than 85% of State House Republicans · ± 0.04
Out of committee
35%
Texas House average 49% · ranks 120th of 145
Talk-to-bills agreement
0.62
State House Republicans average 0.53 · ranks 108th of 504
Peer group: State House Republicans. Rank 1 is the highest value in the group; the thick bar is Virdell, the thin grey bar the peer average. The headline is the measure on which Virdell is most unusual among peers (Methods, §08).
What Virdell says
Virdell stresses bipartisanship less than 66% of State House Republicans. Bipartisanship in 0.3% of 1,966 statements, against 1.8% for the average State House Republican; 526th of 791.
An AI model reads each of Virdell’s 1,966 statements in the TX 2025–26 session (1,966 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 House Republicans and ranked among them.
Kinds of statement
Share of statements carrying each label, the TX 2025–26 session
0%80%
Virdell
Peers
Rank
Policy discussion422 statements
21%
32%
533rd of 791
Policy criticism179 statements
9%
9%
298th of 791
Credit claiming149 statements
8%
13%
463rd of 791
Personal attacks118 statements
6%
3%
127th of 791
Bipartisanship6 statements
0%
2%
526th of 791
Show the data
| Row | Virdell | Peers |
|---|---|---|
| Policy discussion | 21% | 32% |
| Policy criticism | 9% | 9% |
| Credit claiming | 8% | 13% |
| Personal attacks | 6% | 3% |
| Bipartisanship | 0% | 2% |
1,966
statements classified
1,966 posts on X.
Show the data
| Part | Value |
|---|---|
| posts on X | 1,966 |
How to read the bars
The thick bar is Virdell; the thin grey bar is the average State House Republicans. A longer thick bar means Virdell does this more than peers. Rank 1 is the highest rate in the group.
Extreme labels
Virdell used extreme labels in 0.8% of statements, below the peer average. 15 statements, most often aimed at MAGA; peers 1.4%.
- “MAGA”4
- “radical”2
- “communist”1
- “woke”1
Who gets the labels
Targets named alongside an extreme label, by number of statements
- MAGA2
- Democrat1
- green energy1
- left1
- leftists1
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 TX 2025–26 session
Show the data
| Column | Statements | Personal attacks | Policy criticism | Policy discussion | Bipartisanship | Credit claiming | Extreme labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan ’25 | 68 | 4.4% | 25.0% | 36.8% | 0.0% | 2.9% | 0.0% |
| Feb ’25 | 170 | 2.4% | 11.8% | 19.4% | 0.6% | 7.1% | 0.0% |
| Mar ’25 | 158 | 1.9% | 10.8% | 27.2% | 0.0% | 12.0% | 1.9% |
| Apr ’25 | 262 | 7.6% | 9.5% | 20.2% | 0.4% | 15.7% | 0.4% |
| May ’25 | 190 | 7.9% | 7.9% | 15.3% | 1.1% | 8.9% | 0.5% |
| Jun ’25 | 73 | 4.1% | 8.2% | 9.6% | 0.0% | 8.2% | 0.0% |
| Jul ’25 | 59 | 6.8% | 10.2% | 30.5% | 0.0% | 5.1% | 0.0% |
| Aug ’25 | 44 | 4.5% | 6.8% | 9.1% | 0.0% | 9.1% | 2.3% |
| Sep ’25 | 39 | 7.7% | 2.6% | 7.7% | 0.0% | 5.1% | 5.1% |
| Oct ’25 | 26 | 0.0% | 23.1% | 30.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 7.7% |
| Nov ’25 | 45 | 11.1% | 13.3% | 22.2% | 2.2% | 13.3% | 0.0% |
| Dec ’25 | 15 | 6.7% | 13.3% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Jan ’26 | 71 | 7.0% | 2.8% | 21.1% | 0.0% | 4.2% | 0.0% |
| Feb ’26 | 73 | 8.2% | 12.3% | 15.1% | 0.0% | 2.7% | 2.7% |
| Mar ’26 | 81 | 9.9% | 7.4% | 12.3% | 0.0% | 6.2% | 1.2% |
| Apr ’26 | 54 | 9.3% | 14.8% | 22.2% | 0.0% | 5.6% | 0.0% |
| May ’26 | 102 | 9.8% | 7.8% | 11.8% | 1.0% | 2.9% | 2.0% |
| Jun ’26 | 22 | 0.0% | 27.3% | 36.4% | 0.0% | 22.7% | 0.0% |
| Jul ’26 | 31 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 22.6% | 0.0% | 6.5% | 0.0% |
| Aug ’26 | 59 | 1.7% | 3.4% | 35.6% | 0.0% | 10.2% | 0.0% |
| Sep ’26 | 234 | 6.4% | 5.6% | 27.8% | 0.0% | 1.7% | 0.0% |
| Oct ’26 | 90 | 5.6% | 1.1% | 25.6% | 0.0% | 4.4% | 0.0% |
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 TX 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%.
In Virdell’s words
Real statements from the classifier’s example set, with the labels it assigned
Bipartisanship
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
May 21, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · policy discussion; bipartisanship; Economics and Public Finance; Law · Source
Extreme label
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
May 26, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · extreme label “extreme” aimed at RINO · Source
Examples by category
Up to five recent statements in each category
Overtly questions a named person’s character, integrity or loyalty, or calls them names. Criticising a record or a policy does not count.
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · policy discussion · Government Operations and Politics · target: TalaricoSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · target: WouldtheyspitSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · policy discussion · Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues · target: AnyoneSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · target: TallywackerSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · target: parentsSource
All 1,966 statements
Newest first, the TX 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: 1,966 posts on X.
Policy
Education is what Virdell talks about most: 24% of policy statements, above the peer share. Talk and legislation agree at 0.62 on a 0–1 scale (State House Republicans average 0.53; 108th of 504).
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 Virdell talks about. The bills Virdell sponsors and cosponsors carry the same areas, so the two can be compared.
What Virdell talks about
Share of policy statements by area, the TX 2025–26 session
0%35%
Virdell
Peers
Education101 statements
24%
15%
Government Operations and Politics69 statements
16%
18%
Economics and Public Finance42 statements
10%
12%
Crime and Law Enforcement41 statements
10%
11%
Law33 statements
8%
3%
Show the data
| Row | Virdell | Peers |
|---|---|---|
| Education | 24% | 15% |
| Government Operations and Politics | 16% | 18% |
| Economics and Public Finance | 10% | 12% |
| Crime and Law Enforcement | 10% | 11% |
| Law | 8% | 3% |
How to read the bars
The thick bar is the share of Virdell’s policy statements in an area; the thin grey bar is the average share for State House 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 35%. Grey ticks are the State House Republicans averages.
Show the data
| Area | Talks about | State House Republicans, talks about | Legislates on | State House Republicans, legislates on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Education | 24% | 15% | 7% | 9% |
| Government Operations and Politics | 16% | 18% | 13% | 12% |
| Economics and Public Finance | 10% | 12% | 0% | 2% |
| Crime and Law Enforcement | 10% | 11% | 19% | 11% |
| Law | 8% | 3% | 2% | 3% |
0.62
talk-to-bills agreement, 0 to 1
State House Republicans average 0.53. Ranks 108th of 504.
What agreement means, and what it doesn’t
Agreement is 1 minus the distance between the two distributions (Jensen–Shannon): 1 means Virdell legislates on exactly the areas Virdell 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 Virdell sponsored count fully, cosponsored bills a quarter. Shown with at least 20 policy statements and 5 bills.
Ideology
Virdell sits at +0.59 on the CSIP scale, right of 0, more conservative than 85% of State House Republicans. Approximate range +0.55 to +0.63, which understates the uncertainty; from 702 donors and 235 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”.
+0.59
CSIP ideal point
Approximate range +0.55 to +0.63. From 702 donors and 235 roll calls. Run 2026-10-25T215945. Blue is left of 0, red right of 0.
The outlined dot is Virdell, 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 Virdell’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 Virdell sits
Every official in each group, on the CSIP scale
State House Republicans2,917 · median +0.4
Texas House148 · median +0.3
All State House5,324 · median +0.1
Show the data
| Group | Officials | Median | Share left of Virdell |
|---|---|---|---|
| State House Republicans | 2917 | +0.4 | 85% |
| Texas House | 148 | +0.3 | 80% |
| All State House | 5324 | +0.1 | 92% |
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 Virdell 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 Virdell.
Money
Virdell reported $172.7K in the 2026 cycle, 5.1 times the State House Republicans’ median of $33.7K. State filings report no small-donation total. 98% 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.
$172.7K
itemized in the 2026 cycle
From 156 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)39 squares$67.6K
- PACs and other committees60 squares$103.6K
- Party committees1 squares$1,500
Show the data
| Source | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals (itemized) | $67.6K | 39.1% |
| PACs and other committees | $103.6K | 60.0% |
| Party committees | $1,500 | 0.9% |
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, 2022 to 2026. The grey line is the State House Republicans’ median for 2026.
Show the data
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2022 cycle | $82.3K |
| 2024 cycle | $373.1K |
| 2026 cycle | $172.7K |
Top donor states, 2026
Itemized contributions by donor state. 98% came from Texas.
- Texas$66.4K
- Maryland$1,000
- Massachusetts$50
- Colorado$50
- Oklahoma$50
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
Show the data
| State | Value |
|---|---|
| Texas | $66.4K |
| Maryland | $1,000 |
| Massachusetts | $50 |
| Colorado | $50 |
| Oklahoma | $50 |
| Illinois | $25 |
| Alaska | No data |
| Maine | No data |
| Vermont | No data |
| New Hampshire | No data |
| Washington | No data |
| Idaho | No data |
| Montana | No data |
| North Dakota | No data |
| Minnesota | No data |
| Wisconsin | No data |
| Michigan | No data |
| New York | No data |
| Rhode Island | No data |
| Oregon | No data |
| Nevada | No data |
| Wyoming | No data |
| South Dakota | No data |
| Iowa | No data |
| Indiana | No data |
| Ohio | No data |
| Pennsylvania | No data |
| New Jersey | No data |
| Connecticut | No data |
| California | No data |
| Utah | No data |
| Nebraska | No data |
| Missouri | No data |
| Kentucky | No data |
| West Virginia | No data |
| Virginia | No data |
| Delaware | No data |
| Arizona | No data |
| New Mexico | No data |
| Kansas | No data |
| Arkansas | No data |
| Tennessee | No data |
| North Carolina | No data |
| South Carolina | No data |
| District of Columbia | No data |
| Louisiana | No data |
| Mississippi | No data |
| Alabama | No data |
| Georgia | No data |
| Hawaii | No data |
| Florida | No data |
156
itemized donors
People who gave more than $200
98%
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.
- RETIRED$28.6K 82 donors
- LAWYER$8,500 3 donors
- CEO$4,150 4 donors
- RANCHER$1,225 5 donors
- OWNER$730 3 donors
Top committees
PAC and committee contributions, 2026 cycle.
- PHYSICIANS FOR FREE MARKET HEALTHCARE PAC$25.0K
- TEXANS FOR TRUTH & LIBERTY PAC$25.0K
- TEXAS TRIAL LAWYERS ASSN PAC$20.0K
- JUSTICE FOR TEXAS VICTIMS PAC$10.0K
- TREPAC-TEXAS REALTORS PAC$5,000
Top employers
Itemized, 2026 cycle.
No employers reported.
Aggregates only. Individual donors are never named.
Votes
Virdell voted with the majority of Texas House Republicans on 92.5% of party-line votes and missed 17% of 3,734 roll calls. Texas House on average: 85% party unity, 93.1% attendance. Across all roll calls, Virdell voted against the majority of Texas House Republicans 450 times.
3,734 roll calls Virdell 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 Virdell 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.
450
votes against the majority of Texas House Republicans
Party unity 92.5%, Texas House average 85%, ranks 61st of 143. 3,734 roll calls in the TX 2025–26 session.
Attendance and party unity
The thick bar is Virdell, the thin grey bar the Texas House average. The scale runs from 80% to 100% to show the gap.
80%100%
Virdell
Peers
Rank
Attendance
83%
93.1%
132nd of 143
Party unity
92.5%
85%
61st of 143
Show the data
| Row | Virdell | Peers |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance | 83% | 93.1% |
| Party unity | 92.5% | 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
| Party split (yea–nay) | Why it’s key | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3, 2025 | Nay | Against majority | pass | D 44–1 · R 46–37Democrats 44 yea, 1 nay; Republicans 46 yea, 37 nay | became law · party crossover · much discussed | |
| Sep 3, 2025 | Nay | Against majority | pass | D 45–0 · R 76–8Democrats 45 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 76 yea, 8 nay | became 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 | Yea | With majority | pass | D 1–40 · R 78–7Democrats 1 yea, 40 nay; Republicans 78 yea, 7 nay | became 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. | Yea | With majority | pass | D 43–0 · R 86–0Democrats 43 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 86 yea, 0 nay | became 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 | — | pass | D 45–1 · R 41–41Democrats 45 yea, 1 nay; Republicans 41 yea, 41 nay | became 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 Virdell most often
- Keresa RichardsonR3,036 shared votes88%
- Joanne ShofnerR3,002 shared votes88%
- Daniel AldersR3,070 shared votes88%
- Janis HoltR2,481 shared votes87%
- Katrina PiersonR3,020 shared votes87%
Votes least often with
The colleagues who voted the same way as Virdell least often
- Ron ReynoldsD2,773 shared votes63%
- Ana-Maria Rodriguez RamosD2,902 shared votes63%
- Terry MezaD2,821 shared votes63%
- Jessica GonzálezD2,907 shared votes63%
- Gina HinojosaD2,700 shared votes64%
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
Legislation
Virdell sponsored 84 bills in the TX 2025–26 session; 8 became law. Cosponsored 186 others. 35% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Texas House average 49%; 120th of 145).
The bills Virdell 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
Show the data
| Role | Introduced | In committee | Passed one chamber | Passed both chambers | Became law |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored | 84 | 70 | 29 | 8 | 8 |
| Cosponsored | 186 | 172 | 56 | 44 | 39 |
How to read the blocks
Ink blocks are bills Virdell sponsored, ochre blocks bills Virdell cosponsored; the figure above each block is the count. Most bills in any legislature never leave committee, so a short staircase is the norm.
35%
of sponsored bills got out of committee
Texas House average 49%. Ranks 120th of 145.
Cosponsorship partners
Colleagues who most often cosponsor with Virdell, by number of shared bills in the TX 2025–26 session; the square shows their party.
- Joanne Shofner66
- Andy Hopper66
- Helen Kerwin64
- Brent Money60
- Mitch Little50
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 Virdell’s bills; the toggle shows more.
Bill list
Sponsored and cosponsored, with status and policy area; five are shown, the toggle shows the rest
| HR 128 | Amending 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. | Cosponsor | Aug 29, 2025 | Passed one chamber | Unassigned | Reported enrolled Sep 4, 2025 |
| HB 298 | Relating to a vacancy in the office of senator or representative due to excessive absence. | Cosponsor | Aug 25, 2025 | In committee | Government Operations and Politics(model) | Referred to State Affairs Aug 26, 2025 |
| HB 295 | Relating 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. | Cosponsor | Aug 25, 2025 | In committee | Government Operations and Politics(model) | Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) Aug 28, 2025 |
| HCR 13 | Urging the federal government to take immediate action to curb the spread of the New World screwworm in Texas. | Cosponsor | Aug 22, 2025 | Became law | Agriculture and Food(model) | Signed by the Governor Sep 17, 2025 |
| HB 291 | Relating to medical school admissions, coursework, academic standards, and employment decisions in this state. | Cosponsor | Aug 22, 2025 | Introduced | Education(model) | Filed Aug 22, 2025 |
Online
A site that changed 1 time in 90 days. Virdell’s official site had 1 page when last crawled on Oct 1, 2026.
The lab crawls Virdell’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 Virdell posts with a vision model.
Websites
- 1
pages crawled
1changes in 90 days
- 7
pages crawled
9changes in 90 days
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
Images Virdell posted
No images from Virdell’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.
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 Virdell is most unusual among State House Republicans, 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
- 436ab2a5-12ca-4a9c-b8ec-73b1bae4ee68
- Open States
- ocd-person/436ab2a5-12ca-4a9c-b8ec-73b1bae4ee68
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