# Joseph Underwood

Joseph Underwood is a Republican member of the Maine House for district 5.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Maine House, district 5
- Serving since: 2022-12-07
- Current term: ME 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/b6102f7e-216a-4632-901c-25b2b446f080

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/b6102f7e-216a-4632-901c-25b2b446f080 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Underwood missed 40% of 804 roll calls, attendance in the bottom 5% of the Maine House (average 94.9%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.63 (standard error 0.04), from 22 donors and 719 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 88% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Votes (ME 2025–26 session)

804 roll calls. Attendance 60% (Maine House 94.9%). Party unity 99.5% (95.9%). 23 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-04-29 · voted nay · reconsideration-veto · LD 307 An Act Regarding Energy, Utilities And Technology · fail · https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD307/
- 2026-04-29 · voted yea · Move the Previous Question · LD 307 An Act Regarding Energy, Utilities And Technology · fail · https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD307/
- 2026-04-14 · voted nay · Acc Maj Ought Not to Pass Rep · LD 555 An Act To Create A Separate Department Of Child And Family Services · pass · https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD555/
- 2026-04-14 · voted not voting · Enactment - Bond Issue · LD 299 An Act To Support Investment In Agriculture · fail · https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD299/
- 2026-04-14 · voted not voting · suspension of house rule 515 · LD 127 An Act To Strengthen Legislative Oversight Of Government Agencies And Programs By Reaffirming The Legislature'S Access To Confidential Records · fail · https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD127/
- 2026-04-14 · voted not voting · suspend house rule 515 · LD 127 An Act To Strengthen Legislative Oversight Of Government Agencies And Programs By Reaffirming The Legislature'S Access To Confidential Records · fail · https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD127/
- 2026-04-14 · voted not voting · SUSPEND RULES - · LD 1009 An Act To Restore Full Civil Rights To Possess Firearms To Persons Previously Convicted Of Certain Nonviolent Felony Crimes · fail · https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD1009/
- 2026-04-14 · voted not voting · recon of maj rep otp-am by ca-a · LD 127 An Act To Strengthen Legislative Oversight Of Government Agencies And Programs By Reaffirming The Legislature'S Access To Confidential Records · pass · https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD127/
- 2026-04-14 · voted not voting · RECEDE AND CONCUR · LD 299 An Act To Support Investment In Agriculture · pass · https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD299/
- 2026-04-14 · voted nay · Enactment · LD 1519 An Act To Create A Stewardship Program For Electronic Smoking Devices And Related Products · pass · https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD1519/

## Legislation (ME 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 5 bills: 5 reached committee, 2 passed one chamber, 0 passed both, 0 became law. Cosponsored 14. 40.0% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Maine House 64.1%; rank 85 of 96).

Recent sponsored bills:

- LD 78: An Act To Require Elementary School Students To Learn Cursive Writing (passed one chamber, 2026-04-29) https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD78/
- LD 298: An Act To Employ Mental Health Personnel Within The Maine State Police (passed one chamber, 2026-04-29) https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD298/
- LD 1278: An Act To Change The Property Tax Appeal Process (in committee, 2025-04-29) https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD1278/
- LD 668: An Act To Abolish Ranked-Choice Voting (in committee, 2025-03-13) https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD668/
- LD 227: An Act Regarding Liability For Acts Of Violence Occurring In The State House Or Legislative Space In The Burton M. Cross Building (in committee, 2025-03-11) https://openstates.org/me/bills/132/LD227/
- LD 1868: Resolve, To Name 2 Brooks In The Town Of Orient (became law, 2023-06-15) https://openstates.org/me/bills/131/LD1868/
- LD 1025: An Act To Improve Maine'S Economy By Changing The Hours Of Operation For Oversize Loads (in committee, 2023-05-23) https://openstates.org/me/bills/131/LD1025/
- LD 964: An Act To Eliminate The Paint Stewardship Assessment Paid By Consumers (in committee, 2023-03-21) https://openstates.org/me/bills/131/LD964/
- LD 59: An Act To Prohibit Inclusion Of The Covid-19 Vaccine In The Universal Childhood Immunization Program (passed both chambers, 2023-06-13) https://openstates.org/me/bills/131/LD59/
- LD 401: An Act To Provide A Sales And Use Tax Exemption For Certain Nonprofit Cemeteries (became law, 2021-07-08) https://openstates.org/me/bills/130/LD401/

## Campaign money (2024 cycle)

Itemized receipts $525 (State House Republicans median $10.7K). 100% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://legislature.maine.gov/house/house/MemberProfiles/Details/1444
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RepJosephUnderwood/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-underwood-6950574/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/b6102f7e-216a-4632-901c-25b2b446f080