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Democrat · Washington Senate, district 46

Serving since Jan 9, 2023WA 2025–26 session

Portrait of Javier Valdez, rendered as a two-tone print
Official portrait
95%
of State Senate Democrats score to the right of Valdez on the CSIP scale

CSIP score −1.16 (approximate range −1.21 to −1.11, which understates the uncertainty); negative is left of the scale’s centre, positive right. From 523 donors and 900 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 Valdez sits among State Senate Democrats, not how far from the centre.

At a glance

4 measures against State Senate Democrats. 95% of Valdez’s itemized money in the 2026 cycle came from Washington, in the top half of State Senate Democrats. Valdez reported $84.4K in the 2026 cycle, in the top half of State Senate Democrats (median $55.5K).

The measures on which Valdez 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.

CSIP ideology

−1.16

More liberal than 95% of State Senate Democrats · ± 0.05

From Washington, 2026

95%

Of itemized individual dollars · ranks 288th of 714 State Senate Democrats

Itemized, 2026

$84.4K

State Senate Democrats’ median $55.5K · ranks 298th of 746

Out of committee

31%

Washington Senate average 29% · ranks 22nd of 49

Statements

7

7 posts on X

Bills sponsored

16

and 320 cosponsored

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

Back to topNext: What politicians say

What Valdez says

Valdez criticizes policies less than 91% of State Senate Democrats. Policy criticism in 0% of 7 statements, against 10% for the average State Senate Democrat; 304th of 330.

An AI model reads each of Valdez’s 7 statements in the WA 2025–26 session (7 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 WA 2025–26 session

0%80%
Valdez
Peers
Rank
Credit claiming2 statements
29%
16%
52nd of 330
Policy discussion1 statements
14%
43%
303rd of 330
Bipartisanship1 statements
14%
3%
10th of 330
Personal attacks0 statements
0%
2%
249th of 330
Policy criticism0 statements
0%
10%
304th of 330
Show the data
Valdez's share of statements in each category against the State Senate Democrats average.
RowValdezPeers
Credit claiming29%16%
Policy discussion14%43%
Bipartisanship14%3%
Personal attacks0%2%
Policy criticism0%10%
7

statements classified

7 posts on X.

posts on X: 7 (100.0%)posts on X 7
Show the data
Valdez's statements by source
PartValue
posts on X7
How to read the bars

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

Extreme labels

Valdez used no extreme labels in 7 statements. The peer average is 0.8%.

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 WA 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 WA 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; 18 of them have no statements.

In Valdez’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.

Jun 6, 2025 · Posts on X (state legislators) · credit claiming · Source

Policy discussion

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

Mar 26, 2025 · Posts on X (state legislators) · policy discussion; credit claiming; Crime and Law Enforcement · Source

Bipartisanship

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

Mar 12, 2025 · Posts on X (state legislators) · bipartisanship · 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 7 statements

Newest first, the WA 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: 7 posts on X.

Back to topNext: Policy

Policy

Crime and Law Enforcement is what Valdez talks about most: 100% of policy statements, 11.9 times the peer share. Peers give it 8.4%. Agreement with legislation needs at least 20 policy statements and 5 bills.

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

What Valdez talks about

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

0%100%
Valdez
Peers
Crime and Law Enforcement1 statements
100%
8%
Agriculture and Food0 statements
0%
5%
Armed Forces and National Security0 statements
0%
3%
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues0 statements
0%
8%
Commerce0 statements
0%
4%
Show the data
Policy areas Valdez talks about, as a share of policy statements, against the State Senate Democrats average.
RowValdezPeers
Crime and Law Enforcement100%8%
Agriculture and Food0%5%
Armed Forces and National Security0%3%
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues0%8%
Commerce0%4%
How to read the bars

The thick bar is the share of Valdez’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 100%. Grey ticks are the State Senate Democrats averages.

Talks aboutLegislates onCrime and Law EnforcementCrime and Law Enforcement, talks about: 100% (State Senate Democrats 8%)100%Crime and Law Enforcement, legislates on: 9% (State Senate Democrats 9%)9%Agriculture and FoodAgriculture and Food, talks about: 0% (State Senate Democrats 5%)0%Agriculture and Food, legislates on: 2% (State Senate Democrats 3%)2%Civil Rights and Liberties,Minority IssuesCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues, talks about: 0% (State Senate Democrats 8%)0%Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues, legislates on: 5% (State Senate Democrats 5%)5%CommerceCommerce, talks about: 0% (State Senate Democrats 4%)0%Commerce, legislates on: 3% (State Senate Democrats 4%)3%Economics and Public FinanceEconomics and Public Finance, talks about: 0% (State Senate Democrats 10%)0%Economics and Public Finance, legislates on: 2% (State Senate Democrats 3%)2%
Show the data
Valdez's share of statements against share of bills in each policy area.
AreaTalks aboutState Senate Democrats, talks aboutLegislates onState Senate Democrats, legislates on
Crime and Law Enforcement100%8%9%9%
Agriculture and Food0%5%2%3%
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues0%8%5%5%
Commerce0%4%3%4%
Economics and Public Finance0%10%2%3%

No agreement score.Needs at least 20 policy statements and 5 bills in the window.

What agreement means, and what it doesn’t

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

Back to topNext: Ideology

Ideology

Valdez sits at −1.16 on the CSIP scale, left of 0, more liberal than 95% of State Senate Democrats. Approximate range −1.21 to −1.11, which understates the uncertainty; from 523 donors and 900 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”.

−1.16

CSIP ideal point

Approximate range −1.21 to −1.11. From 523 donors and 900 roll calls. Run 2026-10-25T215945. Blue is left of 0, red right of 0.

← More liberalMore conservative →0Valdez −1.2State Senate Democrats −0.7Washington Senate −0.6All State Senate +0.1

The outlined dot is Valdez, 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 Valdez’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 Valdez sits

Every official in each group, on the CSIP scale

−2.0−1.00.0+1.0+2.0← More liberalMore conservative →State Senate Democratsmedian −0.7Valdez −1.2Washington Senatemedian −0.6All State Senatemedian +0.1
Show the data
Valdez's CSIP score of −1.16 placed against State Senate Democrats, Washington Senate, All State Senate.
GroupOfficialsMedianShare left of Valdez
State Senate Democrats825−0.74%
Washington Senate49−0.66%
All State Senate1909+0.12%
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 Valdez 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 Valdez.

Back to topNext: Money

Money

Valdez reported $84.4K in the 2026 cycle, above the State Senate Democrats’ median of $55.5K. State filings report no small-donation total. 95% of itemized individual money came from Washington.

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
$84.4K

itemized in the 2026 cycle

From 113 itemized donors. State Senate Democrats’ median $55.5K.

Where the money came from

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

Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)Individuals (itemized): $47.1K (55.8%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)PACs and other committees: $34.9K (41.3%)Party committees: $2,400 (2.8%)Party committees: $2,400 (2.8%)Party committees: $2,400 (2.8%)
  • Individuals (itemized)56 squares$47.1K
  • PACs and other committees41 squares$34.9K
  • Party committees3 squares$2,400
Show the data
Sources of Valdez's money, 2026 cycle, one square per percent
SourceAmountShare
Individuals (itemized)$47.1K55.8%
PACs and other committees$34.9K41.3%
Party committees$2,4002.8%
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 Senate Democrats’ median for 2026.

2020 cycle: $45.0K$45.0K20202022 cycle: $147.0K$147.0K20222024 cycle: $7,600$7,60020242026 cycle: $84.4K$84.4K2026State Senate Democrats median $55.5K
Show the data
Valdez's receipts by cycle against the 2026 State Senate Democrats median.
ItemValue
2020 cycle$45.0K
2022 cycle$147.0K
2024 cycle$7,600
2026 cycle$84.4K

Top donor states, 2026

Itemized contributions by donor state. 95% came from Washington.

  1. Washington$44.9K
  2. Texas$1,200
  3. Georgia$1,000

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: $44.9KWAIdaho: 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: $1,000GAHawaii: no dataHITexas: $1,200TXFlorida: no dataFL
Show the data
Valdez's itemized individual contributions by donor state, 2026 cycle
StateValue
Washington$44.9K
Texas$1,200
Georgia$1,000
AlaskaNo data
MaineNo data
VermontNo data
New HampshireNo 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
HawaiiNo data
FloridaNo data
113

itemized donors

People who gave more than $200

95%

from Washington

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

Top donor occupations

Itemized, 2026 cycle.

  1. RETIRED$9,246 9 donors
  2. NOT EMPLOYED$3,150 3 donors
  3. CONSULTANT$2,650 6 donors
  4. ATTORNEY$1,100 4 donors

Top committees

PAC and committee contributions, 2026 cycle.

  1. CREDIT UNION LEG ACTION FUND NW$2,400
  2. JAMESTOWN S'KLALLAM TRIBE$2,400
  3. JUSTICE FOR ALL PAC$2,400
  4. KENNEDY FUND$2,400
  5. WA BEER & WINE DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION$2,400

Top employers

Itemized, 2026 cycle.

No employers reported.

Aggregates only. Individual donors are never named.

Back to topNext: Votes

Votes

No roll-call votes for the WA 2025–26 session.No roll-call votes are recorded for this official in this time window.

Back to topNext: Legislation

Legislation

Valdez sponsored 16 bills in the WA 2025–26 session; 2 became law. Cosponsored 320 others. 31% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Washington Senate average 29%; 22nd of 49).

The bills Valdez sponsored and cosponsored in the WA 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 WA 2025–26 session

Sponsored16 billsSponsored, Introduced: 1616Sponsored, In committee: 1616Sponsored, Passed one chamber: 55Sponsored, Passed both chambers: 22Sponsored, Became law: 22Cosponsored320 billsCosponsored, Introduced: 320320Cosponsored, In committee: 320320Cosponsored, Passed one chamber: 106106Cosponsored, Passed both chambers: 6767Cosponsored, Became law: 6666IntroducedIncommitteePassed onechamberPassed bothchambersBecamelaw
Show the data
Bills Valdez sponsored and cosponsored, by furthest stage reached
RoleIntroducedIn committeePassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law
Sponsored1616522
Cosponsored3203201066766
How to read the blocks

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

31%

of sponsored bills got out of committee

Washington Senate average 29%. Ranks 22nd of 49.

Cosponsorship partners

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

  1. T'wina Nobles260
  2. Bob Hasegawa185
  3. Claire Wilson152
  4. Rebecca Saldaña147
  5. Yasmin Trudeau128
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 Valdez’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
SR 8705Honoring Senator Matt Boehnke.CosponsorMar 12, 2026Passed one chamberUnassignedAdopted. Mar 12, 2026
SR 8702Honoring Senator Judy Warnick.CosponsorMar 11, 2026Passed one chamberUnassignedAdopted. Mar 11, 2026
SR 8703Honoring Senator Steve Conway.CosponsorMar 11, 2026Passed one chamberUnassignedAdopted. Mar 11, 2026
SR 8704Honoring Senator Rebecca Saldaña.CosponsorMar 11, 2026Passed one chamberUnassignedAdopted. Mar 11, 2026
SR 8689Acknowledging March as developmental disabilities awareness month.CosponsorMar 10, 2026Passed one chamberUnassignedAdopted. Mar 10, 2026

Back to topNext: Online

Online

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

The lab crawls Valdez’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 Valdez 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 Valdez posted

No images from Valdez’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

168 turns, Feb 15, 2023 to Mar 11, 2026

Floor speeches

Transcribed from chamber video or captions by the lab. They are not classified for kinds of statement.

Back to topNext: Methods and sources

Methods and sources

How this page was made. Profile built Oct 28, 2026; site last built Oct 28, 2026. Every number on the page is computed from the sources listed here, by the same rules for every official; nothing is written by hand.

The headline

The headline is the measure on which Valdez 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
aba2c522-236c-4553-bda2-c02d72e79981
Open States
ocd-person/aba2c522-236c-4553-bda2-c02d72e79981

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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