Policy discussion
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
Oct 22, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · policy discussion; Immigration · Source
1.1%
of statements discuss policy, in the bottom 5% of State Senate Democrats
1.1% of 3,212 statements discuss policy (35 statements); the average for State Senate Democrats is 43%. Ranks 323rd of 329, where 1st is the highest rate.
An AI model reads each of Zimmer’s posts on X and marks whether it discusses a specific policy. The rate is the share of statements marked; it is compared with the average among State Senate Democrats and ranked against the same group.
At a glance
6 measures against State Senate Democrats. The policy areas Zimmer talks about and legislates on agree at 0.30 on a 0–1 scale, in the bottom 5% of State Senate Democrats. 17% of Zimmer’s statements contain a personal attack, 7.2 times the State Senate Democrat average of 2.4%.
The measures on which Zimmer sits furthest from the middle of State Senate Democrats, each against the same group, with the CSIP score when there is one. Every number is explained in its own section below.
Policy discussion
1.1%
State Senate Democrats average 43% · ranks 323rd of 329
Talk-to-bills agreement
0.30
State Senate Democrats average 0.56 · ranks 225th of 228
Personal attacks
17%
State Senate Democrats average 2.4% · ranks 10th of 329
Extreme labels
6.0%
State Senate Democrats average 0.8% · ranks 8th of 329
Party unity
85%
Iowa Senate average 95.7% · ranks 47th of 49 · 31 votes against the majority of Iowa Senate Democrats
CSIP ideology
−0.35
Left of 0, the centre of the scale · ± 0.05
Peer group: State Senate Democrats. Rank 1 is the highest value in the group; the thick bar is Zimmer, the thin grey bar the peer average. The headline is the measure on which Zimmer is most unusual among peers (Methods, §08).
What Zimmer says
Zimmer claims credit less than 94% of State Senate Democrats. Credit claiming in 0.1% of 3,212 statements, against 16% for the average State Senate Democrat; 312th of 329.
An AI model reads each of Zimmer’s 3,212 statements in the IA 2025–26 session (3,212 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 Democrats and ranked among them.
Kinds of statement
Share of statements carrying each label, the IA 2025–26 session
0%80%
Zimmer
Peers
Rank
Personal attacks551 statements
17%
2%
10th of 329
Policy discussion35 statements
1%
43%
323rd of 329
Policy criticism8 statements
0%
10%
277th of 329
Credit claiming2 statements
0%
16%
312th of 329
Bipartisanship1 statements
0%
3%
257th of 329
Show the data
| Row | Zimmer | Peers |
|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 17% | 2% |
| Policy discussion | 1% | 43% |
| Policy criticism | 0% | 10% |
| Credit claiming | 0% | 16% |
| Bipartisanship | 0% | 3% |
3,212
statements classified
3,212 posts on X.
Show the data
| Part | Value |
|---|---|
| posts on X | 3,212 |
How to read the bars
The thick bar is Zimmer; the thin grey bar is the average State Senate Democrats. A longer thick bar means Zimmer does this more than peers. Rank 1 is the highest rate in the group.
Extreme labels
Zimmer used extreme labels in 6.0% of statements, 7.2 times the peer average. 192 statements, most often aimed at MAGAts; peers 0.8%.
- “MAGA”34
- “fascist”1
Who gets the labels
Targets named alongside an extreme label, by number of statements
- MAGAts45
- MAGA44
- MAGAt12
- GOP6
- MAGACult26
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 IA 2025–26 session
Show the data
| Column | Statements | Personal attacks | Policy criticism | Policy discussion | Bipartisanship | Credit claiming | Extreme labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb ’25 | 0 | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) |
| Mar ’25 | 0 | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) |
| Apr ’25 | 0 | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) |
| May ’25 | 77 | 20.8% | 0.0% | 1.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.3% |
| Jun ’25 | 150 | 18.0% | 0.7% | 1.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 7.3% |
| Jul ’25 | 134 | 19.4% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 5.2% |
| Aug ’25 | 189 | 21.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 5.8% |
| Sep ’25 | 191 | 20.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 4.7% |
| Oct ’25 | 194 | 16.0% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 4.6% |
| Nov ’25 | 127 | 18.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 7.1% |
| Dec ’25 | 127 | 17.3% | 0.8% | 1.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2.4% |
| Jan ’26 | 113 | 9.7% | 0.0% | 2.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.8% |
| Feb ’26 | 106 | 19.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 11.3% |
| Mar ’26 | 278 | 23.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 6.5% |
| Apr ’26 | 112 | 25.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3.6% |
| May ’26 | 155 | 20.6% | 1.3% | 1.9% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 6.5% |
| Jun ’26 | 308 | 20.4% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 9.1% |
| Jul ’26 | 216 | 13.9% | 0.0% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.5% | 8.3% |
| Aug ’26 | 226 | 8.8% | 0.0% | 2.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3.1% |
| Sep ’26 | 242 | 9.9% | 0.0% | 1.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 5.4% |
| Oct ’26 | 267 | 12.0% | 0.0% | 3.8% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 7.5% |
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 IA 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%. 3 months are hatched here; none has any statements.
In Zimmer’s words
Real statements from the classifier’s example set, with the labels it assigned
Credit claiming
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
Oct 5, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · credit claiming · Source
Extreme label
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
Oct 20, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · extreme label “extreme” aimed at MAGAts · 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 attacksSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · target: GuySource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · target: Donald TrumpSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · target: copsSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacksSource
All 3,212 statements
Newest first, the IA 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: 3,212 posts on X.
Policy
Immigration is what Zimmer talks about most: 34% of policy statements, 8.2 times the peer share. Talk and legislation agree at 0.30 on a 0–1 scale (State Senate Democrats average 0.56; 225th of 228).
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 Zimmer talks about. The bills Zimmer sponsors and cosponsors carry the same areas, so the two can be compared.
What Zimmer talks about
Share of policy statements by area, the IA 2025–26 session
0%38%
Zimmer
Peers
Immigration12 statements
34%
4%
Crime and Law Enforcement6 statements
17%
8%
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues5 statements
14%
8%
Economics and Public Finance5 statements
14%
10%
Energy4 statements
11%
4%
Show the data
| Row | Zimmer | Peers |
|---|---|---|
| Immigration | 34% | 4% |
| Crime and Law Enforcement | 17% | 8% |
| Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues | 14% | 8% |
| Economics and Public Finance | 14% | 10% |
| Energy | 11% | 4% |
How to read the bars
The thick bar is the share of Zimmer’s policy statements in an area; the thin grey bar is the average share for State Senate Democrats. 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 38%. Grey ticks are the State Senate Democrats averages.
Show the data
| Area | Talks about | State Senate Democrats, talks about | Legislates on | State Senate Democrats, legislates on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immigration | 34% | 4% | 0% | 1% |
| Crime and Law Enforcement | 17% | 8% | 4% | 9% |
| Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues | 14% | 8% | 4% | 5% |
| Economics and Public Finance | 14% | 10% | 0% | 3% |
| Energy | 11% | 4% | 2% | 3% |
0.30
talk-to-bills agreement, 0 to 1
State Senate Democrats average 0.56. Ranks 225th of 228.
What agreement means, and what it doesn’t
Agreement is 1 minus the distance between the two distributions (Jensen–Shannon): 1 means Zimmer legislates on exactly the areas Zimmer 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 Zimmer sponsored count fully, cosponsored bills a quarter. Shown with at least 20 policy statements and 5 bills.
Ideology
Zimmer sits at −0.35 on the CSIP scale, left of 0, more conservative than 88% of State Senate Democrats. Approximate range −0.41 to −0.30, which understates the uncertainty; from 0 donors and 236 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”.
−0.35
CSIP ideal point
Approximate range −0.41 to −0.30. From 0 donors and 236 roll calls. Run 2026-10-25T215945. Blue is left of 0, red right of 0.
The outlined dot is Zimmer, 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 Zimmer’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 Zimmer sits
Every official in each group, on the CSIP scale
State Senate Democrats825 · median −0.7
Iowa Senate49 · median +0.4
All State Senate1,909 · median +0.1
Show the data
| Group | Officials | Median | Share left of Zimmer |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Senate Democrats | 825 | −0.7 | 88% |
| Iowa Senate | 49 | +0.4 | 31% |
| All State Senate | 1909 | +0.1 | 38% |
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 Zimmer 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 Zimmer.
Money
No campaign-finance data.No campaign-finance records are matched to this official.
Votes
Zimmer voted with the majority of Iowa Senate Democrats on 85% of party-line votes and missed 2.0% of 589 roll calls. Iowa Senate on average: 95.7% party unity, 93.9% attendance. Across all roll calls, Zimmer voted against the majority of Iowa Senate Democrats 31 times.
589 roll calls Zimmer could vote on in the IA 2025–26 session, compared with Iowa 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 Zimmer voted with the majority of Iowa Senate Democrats. The count of votes against that majority covers every roll call where the majority took a side.
31
votes against the majority of Iowa Senate Democrats
Party unity 85%, Iowa Senate average 95.7%, ranks 47th of 49. 589 roll calls in the IA 2025–26 session.
Attendance and party unity
The thick bar is Zimmer, the thin grey bar the Iowa Senate average. The scale runs from 80% to 100% to show the gap.
80%100%
Zimmer
Peers
Rank
Attendance
97.9%
93.9%
22nd of 49
Party unity
85%
95.7%
47th of 49
Show the data
| Row | Zimmer | Peers |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance | 97.9% | 93.9% |
| Party unity | 85% | 95.7% |
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 IA 2025–26 session
| Party split (yea–nay) | Why it’s key | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2026 | HF 2801 A bill for an act modifying the major economic growth attraction program, and including effective date provisions. Shall the bill pass? | Yea | Against majority | pass | D 2–13 · R 26–6Democrats 2 yea, 13 nay; Republicans 26 yea, 6 nay | became law · party crossover |
| May 3, 2026 | SF 2472 A bill for an act relating to state and local government taxes, fees, financial authority, and budgets, by modifying property assessment provisions, divisions of revenue, and funding from the secure an advanced vision for education fund, establishing a program for first-time homebuyers, modifying an Shall the bill pass? | Yea | With majority | pass | D 11–1 · R 30–0Democrats 11 yea, 1 nay; Republicans 30 yea, 0 nay | became law |
| May 3, 2026 | HF 2788 A bill for an act relating to abortions including definitions, informed consent, dispensing of abortion-inducing drugs, and other abortion-related provisions. Shall the bill pass? | Nay | With majority | pass | D 0–11 · R 30–0Democrats 0 yea, 11 nay; Republicans 30 yea, 0 nay | became law |
| May 2, 2026 | HF 2765 A bill for an act providing for the regulation of mining, making penalties applicable, and including effective date provisions. Shall the bill pass? | Yea | With majority | pass | D 15–0 · R 31–0Democrats 15 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 31 yea, 0 nay | became law |
| May 2, 2026 | HF 1036 A bill for an act relating to human trafficking, including screening children, civil statutes of limitations, an annual stakeholder meeting and report, depositions of victims, restitution, restorative facilities and protective services, and investigation and prosecution, and including effective date Shall the bill pass? | Yea | With majority | pass | D 14–0 · R 31–0Democrats 14 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 31 yea, 0 nay | became law |
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 Zimmer most often
- Sarah GarriottD521 shared votes95%
- Tom TownsendD565 shared votes95%
- Matt BlakeD549 shared votes95%
- Catelin DreyD296 shared votes94%
- Zach WahlsD294 shared votes94%
Votes least often with
The colleagues who voted the same way as Zimmer least often
- Julian GarrettR228 shared votes69%
- Adrian DickeyR560 shared votes70%
- Dan ZumbachR497 shared votes70%
- Dave RowleyR278 shared votes71%
- Mark CostelloR575 shared votes71%
How to read the agreement lists
The share of roll calls both members voted on where they voted the same way, among colleagues sharing at least 50 such votes. High agreement with members of the other party is common on routine votes.
Full voting record
IA 2025–26 session, loads in batches
Legislation
Zimmer sponsored 53 bills in the IA 2025–26 session; none became law. Cosponsored 0 others. 1.9% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Iowa Senate average 11%; 38th of 48).
The bills Zimmer sponsored and cosponsored in the IA 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 IA 2025–26 session
Show the data
| Role | Introduced | In committee | Passed one chamber | Passed both chambers | Became law |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored | 53 | 53 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Cosponsored | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
How to read the blocks
Ink blocks are bills Zimmer sponsored, ochre blocks bills Zimmer cosponsored; the figure above each block is the count. Most bills in any legislature never leave committee, so a short staircase is the norm.
1.9%
of sponsored bills got out of committee
Iowa Senate average 11%. Ranks 38th of 48.
Cosponsorship partners
Colleagues who most often cosponsor with Zimmer, by number of shared bills in the IA 2025–26 session; the square shows their party.
- Molly Donahue49
- Janet Petersen42
- Sarah Garriott39
- Bill Dotzler39
- Art Staed37
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 Zimmer’s bills; the toggle shows more.
Bill list
Sponsored and cosponsored, with status and policy area; five are shown, the toggle shows the rest
| SF 2360 | A bill for an act relating to partial payments of property taxes and including applicability provisions. | Sponsor | Feb 17, 2026 | In committee | Taxation(model) | Subcommittee: Dawson, Bisignano, and Gruenhagen. Feb 24, 2026 |
| SF 2272 | A bill for an act providing for a veterans’ benefits and services poster for employers to display in the workplace. | Sponsor | Feb 11, 2026 | In committee | Armed Forces and National Security(model) | Subcommittee: Reichman, Costello, and Townsend. Feb 12, 2026 |
| SF 2269 | A bill for an act appropriating moneys to Iowa state university of science and technology for use by the Iowa nutrient research center in supporting the Iowa water quality information systems. | Sponsor | Feb 11, 2026 | In committee | Environmental Protection(model) | Subcommittee: Zumbach, Kraayenbrink, and Staed. Feb 11, 2026 |
| SF 2241 | A bill for an act relating to charter school requirements, including reporting requirements, governance standards, financial accountability, and oversight by the state board of education. | Sponsor | Feb 10, 2026 | In committee | Education(model) | Subcommittee: Sinclair, Donahue, and Pike. Feb 16, 2026 |
| SF 2249 | A bill for an act relating to customer classes for large energy use facilities, and including applicability provisions. | Sponsor | Feb 10, 2026 | In committee | Energy(model) | Subcommittee: Driscoll, Petersen, and Reichman. Feb 12, 2026 |
Online
A site that changed 1 time in 90 days. Zimmer’s official site had 1 page when last crawled on Oct 1, 2026.
The lab crawls Zimmer’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 Zimmer posts with a vision model.
Websites
- 1
pages crawled
1changes 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 Zimmer posted
No images from Zimmer’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
50 turns, Jan 26, 2026 to May 1, 2026
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 Zimmer is most unusual among State Senate 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
- 93034bcb-c3fa-4427-8a1a-d48b8485a8eb
- Open States
- ocd-person/93034bcb-c3fa-4427-8a1a-d48b8485a8eb
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