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Democrat · Rhode Island House, district 65

Serving since Jan 3, 2023RI 2025–26 session

Portrait of Matthew Dawson, rendered as a two-tone print
Official portrait
94%
of State House Democrats score to the right of Dawson on the CSIP scale

CSIP score −1.09 (approximate range −1.15 to −1.03, which understates the uncertainty); negative is left of the scale’s centre, positive right. From 227 donors and 560 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 Dawson sits among State House Democrats, not how far from the centre.

At a glance

6 measures against State House Democrats. Dawson missed 12% of 1,359 roll calls, attendance in the bottom half of the Rhode Island House (average 90.9%). 90% of Dawson’s itemized money in the 2026 cycle came from Rhode Island, in the bottom half of State House Democrats.

The measures on which Dawson sits furthest from the middle of State House 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

−1.09

More liberal than 94% of State House Democrats · ± 0.06

Party unity

99.6%

Rhode Island House average 94.0% · ranks 19th of 74 · 1 votes against the majority of Rhode Island House Democrats

Attendance

88%

Rhode Island House average 90.9% · ranks 55th of 74 · 1,359 roll calls

From Rhode Island, 2026

90%

Of itemized individual dollars · ranks 1179th of 1,983 State House Democrats

Out of committee

37%

Rhode Island House average 39% · ranks 40th of 74

Itemized, 2026

$32.0K

State House Democrats’ median $40.4K · ranks 1156th of 2,082

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

Back to topNext: What politicians say

What Dawson says

Dawson criticizes policies less than 93% of State House Democrats. Policy criticism in 0% of 51 statements, against 10% for the average State House Democrat; 717th of 764.

An AI model reads each of Dawson’s 51 statements in the RI 2025–26 session (51 posts on X) and marks the kinds of statement it contains: a personal attack, criticism of a policy, discussion of policy, bipartisanship, credit claiming, and extreme labels. A statement can carry several. Every rate is compared with the average for State House Democrats and ranked among them.

Kinds of statement

Share of statements carrying each label, the RI 2025–26 session

0%80%
Dawson
Peers
Rank
Personal attacks3 statements
6%
3%
118th of 764
Policy discussion1 statements
2%
39%
744th of 764
Credit claiming1 statements
2%
14%
646th of 764
Policy criticism0 statements
0%
10%
717th of 764
Bipartisanship0 statements
0%
3%
676th of 764
Show the data
Dawson's share of statements in each category against the State House Democrats average.
RowDawsonPeers
Personal attacks6%3%
Policy discussion2%39%
Credit claiming2%14%
Policy criticism0%10%
Bipartisanship0%3%
51

statements classified

51 posts on X.

posts on X: 51 (100.0%)posts on X 51
Show the data
Dawson's statements by source
PartValue
posts on X51
How to read the bars

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

Extreme labels

Dawson used extreme labels in 2.0% of statements, 2.0 times the peer average. 1 statement; peers 1.0%.

    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 RI 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 RI 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; 3 of them have no statements.

    In Dawson’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 23, 2026 · 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.

    Oct 20, 2025 · Posts on X (state legislators) · policy discussion; Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues · Source

    Extreme label

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

    Mar 16, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · extreme label “extreme” · 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.

    1. Posts on X (state legislators)

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

      personal attacks · target: Biff TannenSource

    2. Posts on X (state legislators)

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

      personal attacks · target: Bill PolianSource

    3. Posts on X (state legislators)

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

      personal attacks · target: JennySource

    All 51 statements

    Newest first, the RI 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: 51 posts on X.

    Back to topNext: Policy

    Policy

    Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues is what Dawson talks about most: 100% of policy statements, 10.2 times the peer share. Peers give it 9.8%. 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 Dawson talks about. The bills Dawson sponsors and cosponsors carry the same areas, so the two can be compared.

    What Dawson talks about

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

    0%100%
    Dawson
    Peers
    Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues1 statements
    100%
    10%
    Agriculture and Food0 statements
    0%
    5%
    Armed Forces and National Security0 statements
    0%
    3%
    Commerce0 statements
    0%
    3%
    Crime and Law Enforcement0 statements
    0%
    8%
    Show the data
    Policy areas Dawson talks about, as a share of policy statements, against the State House Democrats average.
    RowDawsonPeers
    Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues100%10%
    Agriculture and Food0%5%
    Armed Forces and National Security0%3%
    Commerce0%3%
    Crime and Law Enforcement0%8%
    How to read the bars

    The thick bar is the share of Dawson’s policy statements in an area; the thin grey bar is the average share for State House 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 House Democrats averages.

    Talks aboutLegislates onCivil Rights and Liberties,Minority IssuesCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues, talks about: 100% (State House Democrats 10%)100%Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues, legislates on: 4% (State House Democrats 4%)4%Agriculture and FoodAgriculture and Food, talks about: 0% (State House Democrats 5%)0%Agriculture and Food, legislates on: 1% (State House Democrats 3%)1%Armed Forces and NationalSecurityArmed Forces and National Security, talks about: 0% (State House Democrats 3%)0%Armed Forces and National Security, legislates on: 2% (State House Democrats 1%)2%CommerceCommerce, talks about: 0% (State House Democrats 3%)0%Commerce, legislates on: 2% (State House Democrats 4%)2%Crime and Law EnforcementCrime and Law Enforcement, talks about: 0% (State House Democrats 8%)0%Crime and Law Enforcement, legislates on: 22% (State House Democrats 9%)22%
    Show the data
    Dawson's share of statements against share of bills in each policy area.
    AreaTalks aboutState House Democrats, talks aboutLegislates onState House Democrats, legislates on
    Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues100%10%4%4%
    Agriculture and Food0%5%1%3%
    Armed Forces and National Security0%3%2%1%
    Commerce0%3%2%4%
    Crime and Law Enforcement0%8%22%9%

    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 Dawson legislates on exactly the areas Dawson 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 Dawson sponsored count fully, cosponsored bills a quarter. Shown with at least 20 policy statements and 5 bills.

    Back to topNext: Ideology

    Ideology

    Dawson sits at −1.09 on the CSIP scale, left of 0, more liberal than 94% of State House Democrats. Approximate range −1.15 to −1.03, which understates the uncertainty; from 227 donors and 560 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”.

    −1.09

    CSIP ideal point

    Approximate range −1.15 to −1.03. From 227 donors and 560 roll calls. Run 2026-10-25T215945. Blue is left of 0, red right of 0.

    ← More liberalMore conservative →0Dawson −1.1State House Democrats −0.6Rhode Island House −0.7All State House +0.1

    The outlined dot is Dawson, 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 Dawson’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 Dawson sits

    Every official in each group, on the CSIP scale

    −2.0−1.00.0+1.0+2.0← More liberalMore conservative →State House Democratsmedian −0.6Dawson −1.1Rhode Island Housemedian −0.7All State Housemedian +0.1
    Show the data
    Dawson's CSIP score of −1.09 placed against State House Democrats, Rhode Island House, All State House.
    GroupOfficialsMedianShare left of Dawson
    State House Democrats2392−0.66%
    Rhode Island House74−0.77%
    All State House5324+0.13%
    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 Dawson 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 Dawson.

    Back to topNext: Money

    Money

    Dawson reported $32.0K in the 2026 cycle, below the State House Democrats’ median of $40.4K. State filings report no small-donation total. 90% of itemized individual money came from Rhode Island.

    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
    $32.0K

    itemized in the 2026 cycle

    From 116 itemized donors. State House Democrats’ median $40.4K.

    Where the money came from

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

    Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)Individuals (itemized): $24.4K (76.3%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)PACs and other committees: $5,350 (16.7%)Party committees: $2,250 (7.0%)Party committees: $2,250 (7.0%)Party committees: $2,250 (7.0%)Party committees: $2,250 (7.0%)Party committees: $2,250 (7.0%)Party committees: $2,250 (7.0%)Party committees: $2,250 (7.0%)
    • Individuals (itemized)76 squares$24.4K
    • PACs and other committees17 squares$5,350
    • Party committees7 squares$2,250
    Show the data
    Sources of Dawson's money, 2026 cycle, one square per percent
    SourceAmountShare
    Individuals (itemized)$24.4K76.3%
    PACs and other committees$5,35016.7%
    Party committees$2,2507.0%
    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, 2022 to 2026. The grey line is the State House Democrats’ median for 2026.

    2022 cycle: $26.2K$26.2K20222024 cycle: $17.4K$17.4K20242026 cycle: $32.0K$32.0K2026State House Democrats median $40.4K
    Show the data
    Dawson's receipts by cycle against the 2026 State House Democrats median.
    ItemValue
    2022 cycle$26.2K
    2024 cycle$17.4K
    2026 cycle$32.0K

    Top donor states, 2026

    Itemized contributions by donor state. 90% came from Rhode Island.

    1. Rhode Island$22.0K
    2. Georgia$1,000
    3. Massachusetts$1,000
    4. Pennsylvania$450

    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: no dataWAIdaho: no dataIDMontana: no dataMTNorth Dakota: no dataNDMinnesota: no dataMNIllinois: no dataILWisconsin: no dataWIMichigan: no dataMINew York: no dataNYRhode Island: $22.0KRIMassachusetts: $1,000MAOregon: no dataORNevada: no dataNVWyoming: no dataWYSouth Dakota: no dataSDIowa: no dataIAIndiana: no dataINOhio: no dataOHPennsylvania: $450PANew 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: no dataTXFlorida: no dataFL
    Show the data
    Dawson's itemized individual contributions by donor state, 2026 cycle
    StateValue
    Rhode Island$22.0K
    Massachusetts$1,000
    Georgia$1,000
    Pennsylvania$450
    AlaskaNo data
    MaineNo data
    VermontNo data
    New HampshireNo data
    WashingtonNo data
    IdahoNo data
    MontanaNo data
    North DakotaNo data
    MinnesotaNo data
    IllinoisNo data
    WisconsinNo data
    MichiganNo data
    New YorkNo data
    OregonNo data
    NevadaNo data
    WyomingNo data
    South DakotaNo data
    IowaNo data
    IndianaNo data
    OhioNo 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
    TexasNo data
    FloridaNo data
    116

    itemized donors

    People who gave more than $200

    90%

    from Rhode Island

    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 Rhode Island. 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. EAST PROVIDENCE WARD 4 DEM CITY COMM$1,750
    2. OCEAN STATE FORWARD PAC$1,000
    3. RI HOSPITALITY PAC$750
    4. RI STATE ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS$550
    5. EAST PROVIDENCE WARD ONE DEMOCRATIC CITY COMMITTEE$500

    Top employers

    Itemized, 2026 cycle.

    1. LYNCH & PINE$1,000 3 donors
    2. GOVERNMENT STRATEGIES$650 3 donors

    Aggregates only. Individual donors are never named.

    Back to topNext: Votes

    Votes

    Dawson voted with the majority of Rhode Island House Democrats on 99.6% of party-line votes and missed 12% of 1,359 roll calls. Rhode Island House on average: 94.0% party unity, 90.9% attendance. Across all roll calls, Dawson voted against the majority of Rhode Island House Democrats 1 time.

    1,359 roll calls Dawson could vote on in the RI 2025–26 session, compared with Rhode Island House. Attendance is the share with a vote recorded. Party unity counts only party-line roll calls, where most Democrats and most Republicans voted on opposite sides, and is the share of those where Dawson voted with the majority of Rhode Island House Democrats. The count of votes against that majority covers every roll call where the majority took a side.

    1

    votes against the majority of Rhode Island House Democrats

    Party unity 99.6%, Rhode Island House average 94.0%, ranks 19th of 74. 1,359 roll calls in the RI 2025–26 session.

    Attendance and party unity

    The thick bar is Dawson, the thin grey bar the Rhode Island House average. The scale runs from 80% to 100% to show the gap.

    80%100%
    Dawson
    Peers
    Rank
    Attendance
    88%
    90.9%
    55th of 74
    Party unity
    99.6%
    94.0%
    19th of 74
    Show the data
    Dawson's attendance and party unity against Rhode Island House.
    RowDawsonPeers
    Attendance88%90.9%
    Party unity99.6%94.0%
    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 RI 2025–26 session

    Key votes
    Party split (yea–nay)Why it’s key
    Jun 11, 2026
    HB 7377
    AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- LOCAL CANVASSING AUTHORITIES
    IN CONCURRENCE
    YeaWith majoritypassD 57–0 · R 10–0 · I 1–0Democrats 57 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 10 yea, 0 nay; Independents 1 yea, 0 naybecame law
    Jun 11, 2026
    HR 8351
    JOINT RESOLUTION CREATING A SPECIAL JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO STUDY RHODE ISLAND'S EDUCATION FUNDING FORMULA AND EDUCATION FINANCE SYSTEM
    PASSAGE OF AMENDMENT
    YeaWith majoritypassD 52–0 · R 9–0 · I 1–0Democrats 52 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 9 yea, 0 nay; Independents 1 yea, 0 naybecame law
    Jun 11, 2026
    SB 3358
    AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF CRANSTON TO FINANCE THE ACQUISITION, IMPROVEMENT, RENOVATION AND REPAIR OF FIRE AND PUBLIC SAFETY EQUIPMENT BY THE ISSUANCE OF NOT MORE THAN $8,000,000 GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS AND NOTES THEREFOR
    IN CONCURRENCE
    YeaWith majoritypassD 57–0 · R 10–0 · I 1–0Democrats 57 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 10 yea, 0 nay; Independents 1 yea, 0 naybecame law
    Jun 11, 2026
    SB 3259
    AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS -- UNIFORM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT
    IN CONCURRENCE
    YeaWith majoritypassD 57–0 · R 10–0 · I 1–0Democrats 57 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 10 yea, 0 nay; Independents 1 yea, 0 naybecame law
    Jun 11, 2026
    SR 3353
    JOINT RESOLUTION MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO PAY CERTAIN CLAIMS
    IN CONCURRENCE
    YeaWith majoritypassD 55–0 · R 10–0 · I 1–0Democrats 55 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 10 yea, 0 nay; Independents 1 yea, 0 naybecame 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 Dawson most often

    1. Justine CaldwellD1,139 shared votes100%
    2. Anthony DeSimoneD1,198 shared votes100%
    3. Susan DonovanD1,189 shared votes100%
    4. Jenni FurtadoD1,185 shared votes100%
    5. Katie KazarianD1,167 shared votes100%

    Votes least often with

    The colleagues who voted the same way as Dawson least often

    1. Sherry RobertsR1,083 shared votes73%
    2. Bob QuattrocchiR961 shared votes73%
    3. David PlaceR1,139 shared votes76%
    4. Paul SantucciR1,161 shared votes77%
    5. George NardoneR1,199 shared votes78%
    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

    RI 2025–26 session, loads in batches

    Back to topNext: Legislation

    Legislation

    Dawson sponsored 274 bills in the RI 2025–26 session; 60 became law. Cosponsored 0 others. 37% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Rhode Island House average 39%; 40th of 74).

    The bills Dawson sponsored and cosponsored in the RI 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 RI 2025–26 session

    Sponsored274 billsSponsored, Introduced: 274274Sponsored, In committee: 274274Sponsored, Passed one chamber: 101101Sponsored, Passed both chambers: 6060Sponsored, Became law: 6060Cosponsored0 billsCosponsored, Introduced: 00Cosponsored, In committee: 00Cosponsored, Passed one chamber: 00Cosponsored, Passed both chambers: 00Cosponsored, Became law: 00IntroducedIncommitteePassed onechamberPassed bothchambersBecamelaw
    Show the data
    Bills Dawson sponsored and cosponsored, by furthest stage reached
    RoleIntroducedIn committeePassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law
    Sponsored2742741016060
    Cosponsored00000
    How to read the blocks

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

    37%

    of sponsored bills got out of committee

    Rhode Island House average 39%. Ranks 40th of 74.

    Cosponsorship partners

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

    1. Carol McEntee69
    2. Bill O'Brien68
    3. Jennifer Boylan65
    4. Katie Kazarian61
    5. Justine Caldwell60
    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 Dawson’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
    HR 8636HOUSE RESOLUTION HONORING REPRESENTATIVE JASON KNIGHT FOR HIS SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLANDSponsorJun 11, 2026Passed one chamberUnassigned06/11/2026 House read and passed Jun 11, 2026
    HR 8633HOUSE RESOLUTION HONORING REPRESENTATIVE ROBERT E. CRAVEN SR. FOR HIS SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLANDSponsorJun 11, 2026Passed one chamberUnassigned06/11/2026 House read and passed Jun 11, 2026
    HB 8627AN ACT RELATING TO SOLEMNIZATION OF MARRIAGESSponsorJun 10, 2026Became lawUnassigned06/26/2026 Effective without Governor's signature Jun 26, 2026
    HB 8614AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- REGISTRATION FEESSponsorJun 4, 2026Became lawArmed Forces and National Security(model)06/19/2026 Signed by Governor Jun 19, 2026
    HB 8578AN ACT RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES -- FAMILY CAREGIVERS SUPPORT ACT OF 2013SponsorMay 22, 2026In committeeLabor and Employment(model)06/02/2026 Committee recommended measure be held for further study Jun 2, 2026

    Back to topNext: Online

    Online

    A site that has not changed in 90 days. Dawson’s official site had 1 page when last crawled on Oct 1, 2026.

    The lab crawls Dawson’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 Dawson 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 Dawson posted

    No images from Dawson’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

    4 turns, Mar 31, 2026 to Jun 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 Dawson is most unusual among State House 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
    bffdb553-5c5c-403e-8e2c-47b34a7b50f5
    Open States
    ocd-person/bffdb553-5c5c-403e-8e2c-47b34a7b50f5

    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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