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Republican · Idaho Senate, district 25

Serving since Dec 1, 2024ID 2025–26 session

Portrait of Josh Kohl, rendered as a two-tone print
Official portrait
99%
of State Senate Republicans score to the left of Kohl on the CSIP scale

CSIP score +1.00 (approximate range +0.93 to +1.07, which understates the uncertainty); negative is left of the scale’s centre, positive right. From 121 donors and 300 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 Kohl sits among State Senate Republicans, not how far from the centre.

At a glance

5 measures against State Senate Republicans. 87% of Kohl’s itemized money in the 2026 cycle came from Idaho, in the bottom half of State Senate Republicans. Kohl reported $33.5K in the 2026 cycle, in the bottom half of State Senate Republicans (median $46.2K).

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

CSIP ideology

+1.00

More conservative than 99% of State Senate Republicans · ± 0.07

Attendance

99.7%

Idaho Senate average 97.3% · ranks 5th of 35 · 791 roll calls

From Idaho, 2026

87%

Of itemized individual dollars · ranks 616th of 860 State Senate Republicans

Itemized, 2026

$33.5K

State Senate Republicans’ median $46.2K · ranks 540th of 936

Party unity

88%

Idaho Senate average 87% · ranks 19th of 35 · 220 votes against the majority of Idaho Senate Republicans

Statements

4

4 posts on X

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

Back to topNext: What politicians say

What Kohl says

Kohl criticizes policies less than 92% of State Senate Republicans. Policy criticism in 0% of 4 statements, against 9.5% for the average State Senate Republican; 331st of 355.

An AI model reads each of Kohl’s 4 statements in the ID 2025–26 session (4 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 ID 2025–26 session

0%80%
Kohl
Peers
Rank
Policy discussion2 statements
50%
37%
92nd of 355
Credit claiming2 statements
50%
15%
5th 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
Show the data
Kohl's share of statements in each category against the State Senate Republicans average.
RowKohlPeers
Policy discussion50%37%
Credit claiming50%15%
Personal attacks0%2%
Policy criticism0%9%
Bipartisanship0%2%
4

statements classified

4 posts on X.

posts on X: 4 (100.0%)posts on X 4
Show the data
Kohl's statements by source
PartValue
posts on X4
How to read the bars

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

Extreme labels

Kohl used no extreme labels in 4 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 ID 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 ID 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; 20 of them have no statements.

In Kohl’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.

Mar 2, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · policy discussion; credit claiming; Armed Forces and National Security · Source

Credit claiming

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

Apr 20, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · policy discussion; credit claiming; Taxation; Commerce · 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 4 statements

Newest first, the ID 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: 4 posts on X.

Back to topNext: Policy

Policy

Armed Forces and National Security is what Kohl talks about most: 50% of policy statements, 7.7 times the peer share. Peers give it 6.5%.

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 Kohl talks about. The bills Kohl sponsors and cosponsors carry the same areas, so the two can be compared.

What Kohl talks about

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

0%55%
Kohl
Peers
Armed Forces and National Security1 statements
50%
6%
Commerce1 statements
50%
4%
Taxation1 statements
50%
7%
Agriculture and Food0 statements
0%
6%
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues0 statements
0%
5%
Show the data
Policy areas Kohl talks about, as a share of policy statements, against the State Senate Republicans average.
RowKohlPeers
Armed Forces and National Security50%6%
Commerce50%4%
Taxation50%7%
Agriculture and Food0%6%
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues0%5%
How to read the bars

The thick bar is the share of Kohl’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 55%. Grey ticks are the State Senate Republicans averages.

No sponsored or cosponsored bills with a policy area in this window.

What agreement means, and what it doesn’t

Agreement is 1 minus the distance between the two distributions (Jensen–Shannon): 1 means Kohl legislates on exactly the areas Kohl 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 Kohl sponsored count fully, cosponsored bills a quarter. Shown with at least 20 policy statements and 5 bills.

Back to topNext: Ideology

Ideology

Kohl sits at +1.00 on the CSIP scale, right of 0, more conservative than 99% of State Senate Republicans. Approximate range +0.93 to +1.07, which understates the uncertainty; from 121 donors and 300 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”.

+1.00

CSIP ideal point

Approximate range +0.93 to +1.07. From 121 donors and 300 roll calls. Run 2026-10-25T215945. Blue is left of 0, red right of 0.

← More liberalMore conservative →0Kohl +1.0State Senate Republicans +0.4Idaho Senate +0.1All State Senate +0.1

The outlined dot is Kohl, 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 Kohl’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 Kohl 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 +0.4Kohl +1.0Idaho Senatemedian +0.1All State Senatemedian +0.1
Show the data
Kohl's CSIP score of +1.00 placed against State Senate Republicans, Idaho Senate, All State Senate.
GroupOfficialsMedianShare left of Kohl
State Senate Republicans1083+0.499%
Idaho Senate35+0.197%
All State Senate1909+0.199%
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 Kohl 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 Kohl.

Back to topNext: Money

Money

Kohl reported $33.5K in the 2026 cycle, below the State Senate Republicans’ median of $46.2K. State filings report no small-donation total. 87% of itemized individual money came from Idaho.

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
$33.5K

itemized in the 2026 cycle

From 72 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): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)Individuals (itemized): $26.5K (79.1%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)PACs and other committees: $6,000 (17.9%)Party committees: $1,000 (3.0%)Party committees: $1,000 (3.0%)Party committees: $1,000 (3.0%)
  • Individuals (itemized)79 squares$26.5K
  • PACs and other committees18 squares$6,000
  • Party committees3 squares$1,000
Show the data
Sources of Kohl's money, 2026 cycle, one square per percent
SourceAmountShare
Individuals (itemized)$26.5K79.1%
PACs and other committees$6,00017.9%
Party committees$1,0003.0%
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, 2024 to 2026. The grey line is the State Senate Republicans’ median for 2026.

2024 cycle: $24.7K$24.7K20242026 cycle: $33.5K$33.5K2026State Senate Republicans median $46.2K
Show the data
Kohl's receipts by cycle against the 2026 State Senate Republicans median.
ItemValue
2024 cycle$24.7K
2026 cycle$33.5K

Top donor states, 2026

Itemized contributions by donor state. 87% came from Idaho.

  1. Idaho$23.2K
  2. Washington$2,500
  3. Utah$500
  4. Alaska$333

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: $333AKMaine: no dataMEVermont: no dataVTNew Hampshire: no dataNHWashington: $2,500WAIdaho: $23.2KIDMontana: 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: $500UTColorado: 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: no dataTXFlorida: no dataFL
Show the data
Kohl's itemized individual contributions by donor state, 2026 cycle
StateValue
Idaho$23.2K
Washington$2,500
Utah$500
Alaska$333
MaineNo data
VermontNo data
New HampshireNo 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
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
TexasNo data
FloridaNo data
72

itemized donors

People who gave more than $200

87%

from Idaho

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 Idaho. 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. IDAHO SUMMIT PAC$1,000
  2. MVLA PAC, INC.$1,000
  3. SENATE REPUBLICAN PAC OF IDAHO$1,000
  4. ZUIDERVELD, GLENNEDA$1,000
  5. DEN HARTOG, LORI$500

Top employers

Itemized, 2026 cycle.

No employers reported.

Aggregates only. Individual donors are never named.

Back to topNext: Votes

Votes

Kohl voted with the majority of Idaho Senate Republicans on 88% of party-line votes and missed 0.2% of 791 roll calls. Idaho Senate on average: 87% party unity, 97.3% attendance. Across all roll calls, Kohl voted against the majority of Idaho Senate Republicans 220 times.

791 roll calls Kohl could vote on in the ID 2025–26 session, compared with Idaho 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 Kohl voted with the majority of Idaho Senate Republicans. The count of votes against that majority covers every roll call where the majority took a side.

220

votes against the majority of Idaho Senate Republicans

Party unity 88%, Idaho Senate average 87%, ranks 19th of 35. 791 roll calls in the ID 2025–26 session.

Attendance and party unity

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

80%100%
Kohl
Peers
Rank
Attendance
99.7%
97.3%
5th of 35
Party unity
88%
87%
19th of 35
Show the data
Kohl's attendance and party unity against Idaho Senate.
RowKohlPeers
Attendance99.7%97.3%
Party unity88%87%
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 ID 2025–26 session

Key votes
Party split (yea–nay)Why it’s key
Apr 2, 2026
H 974
APPROPRIATIONS – IDAHO STATE POLICE – Relates to the appropriation to the Idaho State Police for fiscal year 2027.
Rules Suspended (2/3 Vote Read in full as required) – Read third time in full –
YeaWith majoritypassD 4–0 · R 29–0Democrats 4 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 29 yea, 0 naybecame law
Apr 2, 2026
H 972
APPROPRIATIONS – HEALTH AND WELFARE – DIVISION OF WELFARE – Relates to the appropriation to the Department of Health and Welfare for fiscal year 2027.
Rules Suspended (2/3 Vote Read in full as required) – Read third time in full –
NayAgainst majoritypassD 4–0 · R 21–8Democrats 4 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 21 yea, 8 naybecame law · party crossover
Apr 2, 2026
H 973
APPROPRIATIONS – MILITARY DIVISION – Relates to the appropriation to the Military Division for fiscal year 2026.
Rules Suspended (2/3 Vote Read in full as required) – Read third time in full –
YeaWith majoritypassD 5–0 · R 24–2Democrats 5 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 24 yea, 2 naybecame law
Apr 2, 2026
H 959
TAXATION – Amends and adds to existing law to provide for an initiative petition to raise or lower the property tax budgets for fire protection districts and ambulance service districts and to revise provisions regarding certain property tax budget limits.
Rules Suspended (2/3 Vote Read in full as required) – Read third time in full –
YeaWith majoritypassD 4–0 · R 29–0Democrats 4 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 29 yea, 0 naybecame law
Apr 2, 2026
H 896
SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS – Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding compliance with the law.
Read third time in full –
NayWith majorityfailD 0–6 · R 8–21Democrats 0 yea, 6 nay; Republicans 8 yea, 21 nayparty 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 Kohl most often

  1. Christy ZitoR789 shared votes99%
  2. Glenneda ZuiderveldR786 shared votes98%
  3. Tammy NicholsR787 shared votes89%
  4. Brian LenneyR691 shared votes87%
  5. Phil HartR762 shared votes86%

Votes least often with

The colleagues who voted the same way as Kohl least often

  1. Melissa WintrowD778 shared votes54%
  2. Ron TaylorD771 shared votes55%
  3. Ali RabeD429 shared votes55%
  4. Carrie SemmelrothD730 shared votes56%
  5. James RuchtiD717 shared votes57%
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

ID 2025–26 session, loads in batches

Back to topNext: Legislation

Legislation

No bills for the ID 2025–26 session.No sponsored or cosponsored bills are recorded for this official in this time window.

Back to topNext: Online

Online

A site that has not changed in 90 days. Kohl’s campaign site had 4 pages when last crawled on Oct 1, 2026.

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

Websites

  • Campaign site

    kohl4idaho.com

    Last crawled Oct 1, 2026

    4

    pages crawled

    0

    changes 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.

Images Kohl posted

No images from Kohl’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 Kohl is most unusual among State Senate 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
7ea55825-b942-4464-bb86-878113e524fe
Open States
ocd-person/7ea55825-b942-4464-bb86-878113e524fe

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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