Policy discussion
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
Oct 26, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · policy discussion; Energy; Environmental Protection · Source

The median for State Senate Republicans is $46.2K. Ranks 3rd of 936, where 1st raised the most. 198 itemized donors.
Itemized contributions reported to the state in the 2026 cycle, ranked among State Senate Republicans. State filings leave small gifts out, and totals depend on whether the seat is up this cycle.
6 measures against State Senate Republicans. 56% of Ward’s statements discuss policy, in the top quarter of State Senate Republicans (average 37%). The policy areas Ward talks about and legislates on agree at 0.41 on a 0–1 scale, in the bottom quarter of State Senate Republicans.
The measures on which Ward sits furthest from the middle of State Senate Republicans, each against the same group, with the CSIP score when there is one. Every number is explained in its own section below.
Itemized, 2026
State Senate Republicans’ median $46.2K · ranks 3rd of 936
Policy discussion
State Senate Republicans average 37% · ranks 60th of 354
Talk-to-bills agreement
State Senate Republicans average 0.52 · ranks 188th of 226
Out of committee
Pennsylvania Senate average 24% · ranks 11th of 49
From Pennsylvania, 2026
Of itemized individual dollars · ranks 653rd of 860 State Senate Republicans
CSIP ideology
Right of 0, the centre of the scale · ± 0.04
Peer group: State Senate Republicans. Rank 1 is the highest value in the group; the thick bar is Ward, the thin grey bar the peer average. The headline is the measure on which Ward is most unusual among peers (Methods, §08).
Ward attacks opponents personally about as often as the median State Senate Republican. Personal attacks in 0.5% of 1,724 statements, against 2.3% for the average State Senate Republican; 161st of 354.
An AI model reads each of Ward’s 1,724 statements in the PA 2025–26 session (1,724 posts on X) and marks the kinds of statement it contains: a personal attack, criticism of a policy, discussion of policy, bipartisanship, credit claiming, and extreme labels. A statement can carry several. Every rate is compared with the average for State Senate Republicans and ranked among them.
Share of statements carrying each label, the PA 2025–26 session
| Row | Ward | Peers |
|---|---|---|
| Policy discussion | 56% | 37% |
| Credit claiming | 13% | 15% |
| Policy criticism | 12% | 9% |
| Bipartisanship | 2% | 2% |
| Personal attacks | 1% | 2% |
statements classified
1,724 posts on X.
| Part | Value |
|---|---|
| posts on X | 1,724 |
The thick bar is Ward; the thin grey bar is the average State Senate Republicans. A longer thick bar means Ward does this more than peers. Rank 1 is the highest rate in the group.
Ward used extreme labels in 0.4% of statements, 28% of the peer average. 6 statements, most often aimed at blue state gov; peers 1.3%.
Targets named alongside an extreme label, by number of statements
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.
Share of statements per month, the PA 2025–26 session
| Column | Statements | Personal attacks | Policy criticism | Policy discussion | Bipartisanship | Credit claiming | Extreme labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan ’25 | 75 | 0.0% | 6.7% | 62.7% | 4.0% | 30.7% | 0.0% |
| Feb ’25 | 51 | 0.0% | 35.3% | 54.9% | 0.0% | 9.8% | 0.0% |
| Mar ’25 | 63 | 7.9% | 4.8% | 41.3% | 0.0% | 9.5% | 0.0% |
| Apr ’25 | 45 | 0.0% | 4.4% | 40.0% | 0.0% | 6.7% | 0.0% |
| May ’25 | 65 | 0.0% | 3.1% | 63.1% | 1.5% | 30.8% | 0.0% |
| Jun ’25 | 48 | 0.0% | 2.1% | 50.0% | 10.4% | 18.8% | 0.0% |
| Jul ’25 | 60 | 0.0% | 3.3% | 55.0% | 3.3% | 13.3% | 0.0% |
| Aug ’25 | 63 | 0.0% | 27.0% | 54.0% | 1.6% | 6.3% | 0.0% |
| Sep ’25 | 60 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 30.0% | 1.7% | 13.3% | 0.0% |
| Oct ’25 | 57 | 0.0% | 10.5% | 49.1% | 0.0% | 22.8% | 0.0% |
| Nov ’25 | 53 | 0.0% | 15.1% | 50.9% | 7.5% | 22.6% | 0.0% |
| Dec ’25 | 32 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 46.9% | 0.0% | 6.3% | 0.0% |
| Jan ’26 | 61 | 0.0% | 1.6% | 41.0% | 0.0% | 6.6% | 0.0% |
| Feb ’26 | 99 | 0.0% | 12.1% | 33.3% | 1.0% | 2.0% | 0.0% |
| Mar ’26 | 107 | 0.0% | 2.8% | 42.1% | 1.9% | 10.3% | 1.9% |
| Apr ’26 | 85 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 36.5% | 0.0% | 2.4% | 0.0% |
| May ’26 | 109 | 0.0% | 9.2% | 51.4% | 0.9% | 5.5% | 0.0% |
| Jun ’26 | 133 | 0.0% | 30.8% | 55.6% | 0.8% | 6.8% | 1.5% |
| Jul ’26 | 143 | 1.4% | 21.7% | 69.9% | 5.6% | 26.6% | 0.0% |
| Aug ’26 | 100 | 0.0% | 16.0% | 88.0% | 5.0% | 19.0% | 0.0% |
| Sep ’26 | 129 | 0.8% | 17.8% | 70.5% | 2.3% | 7.0% | 0.0% |
| Oct ’26 | 86 | 1.2% | 12.8% | 90.7% | 0.0% | 15.1% | 2.3% |
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 PA 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%.
Real statements from the classifier’s example set, with the labels it assigned
Policy discussion
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
Oct 26, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · policy discussion; Energy; Environmental Protection · Source
Personal attacks
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
Oct 16, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · personal attacks; policy discussion; Energy; target: Wes Moore, Shapiro · Source
Extreme label
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
Oct 16, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · policy discussion; Health; extreme label “extreme” aimed at PAHealthDept regulations · Source
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 attacks · policy discussion · Energy · target: Wes Moore, ShapiroSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · policy discussion · Commerce · Science, Technology, Communications · target: Josh ShapiroSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · policy discussion · Crime and Law Enforcement · Law · target: Tequilla FieldsSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · policy discussion · Taxation · Energy · Economics and Public Finance · target: Wes MooreSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · target: Governor ShapiroSource
Newest first, the PA 2025–26 session
Five statements at a time, newest first; filters apply to the statements loaded so far. Export saves the statements that match. Sources: 1,724 posts on X.
Energy is what Ward talks about most: 22% of policy statements, 3.8 times the peer share. Talk and legislation agree at 0.41 on a 0–1 scale (State Senate Republicans average 0.52; 188th of 226).
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 Ward talks about. The bills Ward sponsors and cosponsors carry the same areas, so the two can be compared.
Share of policy statements by area, the PA 2025–26 session
| Row | Ward | Peers |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 22% | 6% |
| Health | 16% | 9% |
| Economics and Public Finance | 16% | 12% |
| Education | 14% | 14% |
| Taxation | 8% | 7% |
The thick bar is the share of Ward’s policy statements in an area; the thin grey bar is the average share for State Senate Republicans. A statement counts once in each of its areas, so shares can add to more than 100%. The five largest areas are shown; the toggle shows the rest.
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 35%. Grey ticks are the State Senate Republicans averages.
| Area | Talks about | State Senate Republicans, talks about | Legislates on | State Senate Republicans, legislates on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 22% | 6% | 0% | 3% |
| Health | 16% | 9% | 12% | 11% |
| Economics and Public Finance | 16% | 12% | 24% | 3% |
| Education | 14% | 14% | 6% | 10% |
| Taxation | 8% | 7% | 0% | 10% |
talk-to-bills agreement, 0 to 1
State Senate Republicans average 0.52. Ranks 188th of 226.
Agreement is 1 minus the distance between the two distributions (Jensen–Shannon): 1 means Ward legislates on exactly the areas Ward 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 Ward sponsored count fully, cosponsored bills a quarter. Shown with at least 20 policy statements and 5 bills.
Ward sits at +0.37 on the CSIP scale, right of 0, more conservative than 52% of State Senate Republicans. Approximate range +0.33 to +0.41, which understates the uncertainty; from 708 donors and 930 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”.
CSIP ideal point
Approximate range +0.33 to +0.41. From 708 donors and 930 roll calls. Run 2026-10-25T215945. Blue is left of 0, red right of 0.
The outlined dot is Ward, 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 Ward’s groups. 0 is the centre of the scale, not “moderate” by definition.
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.
Every official in each group, on the CSIP scale
| Group | Officials | Median | Share left of Ward |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Senate Republicans | 1083 | +0.4 | 52% |
| Pennsylvania Senate | 50 | +0.2 | 58% |
| All State Senate | 1909 | +0.1 | 72% |
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 Ward 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 Ward.
Ward reported $4.2M in the 2026 cycle, 89.9 times the State Senate Republicans’ median of $46.2K. State filings report no small-donation total. 85% of itemized individual money came from Pennsylvania.
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.
itemized in the 2026 cycle
From 198 itemized donors. State Senate Republicans’ median $46.2K.
Each square is one percent of itemized contributions in the 2026 cycle.
| Source | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals (itemized) | $900.1K | 21.7% |
| PACs and other committees | $3.3M | 78.3% |
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.
Itemized contributions, 2020 to 2026. The grey line is the State Senate Republicans’ median for 2026.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2020 cycle | $643.2K |
| 2022 cycle | $3.3M |
| 2024 cycle | $3.3M |
| 2026 cycle | $4.2M |
Itemized contributions by donor state. 85% came from Pennsylvania.
State filings report no total for small gifts.
Not reported in state filings.
Individuals who gave more than $200, by donor state
| State | Value |
|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | $762.1K |
| Ohio | $83.5K |
| New Jersey | $27.5K |
| California | $6,500 |
| Florida | $5,500 |
| Illinois | $3,000 |
| Georgia | $3,000 |
| Virginia | $2,500 |
| Missouri | $2,000 |
| New York | $1,000 |
| Kentucky | $1,000 |
| Maryland | $1,000 |
| North Carolina | $1,000 |
| Massachusetts | $500 |
| Alaska | No data |
| Maine | No data |
| Vermont | No data |
| New Hampshire | No data |
| Washington | No data |
| Idaho | No data |
| Montana | No data |
| North Dakota | No data |
| Minnesota | No data |
| Wisconsin | No data |
| Michigan | No data |
| Rhode Island | No data |
| Oregon | No data |
| Nevada | No data |
| Wyoming | No data |
| South Dakota | No data |
| Iowa | No data |
| Indiana | No data |
| Connecticut | No data |
| Utah | No data |
| Colorado | No data |
| Nebraska | No data |
| West Virginia | No data |
| Delaware | No data |
| Arizona | No data |
| New Mexico | No data |
| Kansas | No data |
| Arkansas | No data |
| Tennessee | No data |
| South Carolina | No data |
| District of Columbia | No data |
| Oklahoma | No data |
| Louisiana | No data |
| Mississippi | No data |
| Alabama | No data |
| Hawaii | No data |
| Texas | No data |
itemized donors
People who gave more than $200
from Pennsylvania
Of itemized individual dollars
Every state the same size. Darker states gave more itemized money; hatched states had no itemized donors; the outlined state is Pennsylvania. Gifts of $200 or less carry no address and are left out.
Itemized, 2026 cycle.
PAC and committee contributions, 2026 cycle.
Itemized, 2026 cycle.
Aggregates only. Individual donors are never named.
Ward voted with the majority of Pennsylvania Senate Republicans on 97.1% of party-line votes and missed 1.0% of 502 roll calls. Pennsylvania Senate on average: 93.4% party unity, 98.9% attendance. Across all roll calls, Ward voted against the majority of Pennsylvania Senate Republicans 4 times.
502 roll calls Ward could vote on in the PA 2025–26 session, compared with Pennsylvania 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 Ward voted with the majority of Pennsylvania Senate Republicans. The count of votes against that majority covers every roll call where the majority took a side.
votes against the majority of Pennsylvania Senate Republicans
Party unity 97.1%, Pennsylvania Senate average 93.4%, ranks 20th of 50. 502 roll calls in the PA 2025–26 session.
The thick bar is Ward, the thin grey bar the Pennsylvania Senate average. The scale runs from 80% to 100% to show the gap.
| Row | Ward | Peers |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance | 99.0% | 98.9% |
| Party unity | 97.1% | 93.4% |
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.
25 roll calls the lab flagged as key in the PA 2025–26 session
| Party split (yea–nay) | Why it’s key | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 21, 2026 | HB 2187 An Act amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), known as The Administrative Code of 1929, in administrative organization, further providing for criminal history background checks of employees and contractors with access to Federal tax information. FINAL PASSAGE | Yea | With majority | pass | D 23–0 · R 27–0Democrats 23 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 27 yea, 0 nay | became law |
| Oct 21, 2026 | HB 558 An Act amending the act of April 6, 1951 (P.L.69, No.20), known as The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, in creation of leases, statute of frauds and mortgaging of leaseholds, providing for rental applications. FINAL PASSAGE | Yea | Against majority | pass | D 23–0 · R 13–14Democrats 23 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 13 yea, 14 nay | became law · party crossover |
| Oct 21, 2026 | HB 1098 An Act amending the act of November 22, 1978 (P.L.1166, No.274), referred to as the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency Law, providing for Investigation and Prosecution of Internet Crimes Against Children Program. FINAL PASSAGE | Yea | With majority | pass | D 23–0 · R 27–0Democrats 23 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 27 yea, 0 nay | became law |
| Oct 21, 2026 | SB 807 An Act amending the act of November 6, 1987 (P.L.381, No.79), known as the Older Adults Protective Services Act, in preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions; in administration, further providing for investigations of reports of need for protective services, for immunity from civil a FINAL PASSAGE | Yea | With majority | pass | D 15–8 · R 27–0Democrats 15 yea, 8 nay; Republicans 27 yea, 0 nay | party crossover |
| Oct 21, 2026 | HB 2437 An Act amending Title 58 (Oil and Gas) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in unconventional gas well fee, further providing for Statewide initiatives. FINAL PASSAGE | Yea | With majority | pass | D 22–1 · R 27–0Democrats 22 yea, 1 nay; Republicans 27 yea, 0 nay | became law |
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.
The colleagues who voted the same way as Ward most often
The colleagues who voted the same way as Ward least often
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.
PA 2025–26 session, loads in batches
Ward sponsored 5 bills in the PA 2025–26 session; none became law. Cosponsored 25 others. 40% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Pennsylvania Senate average 24%; 11th of 49).
The bills Ward sponsored and cosponsored in the PA 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.
Counts for the PA 2025–26 session
| Role | Introduced | In committee | Passed one chamber | Passed both chambers | Became law |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Cosponsored | 25 | 25 | 17 | 1 | 1 |
Ink blocks are bills Ward sponsored, ochre blocks bills Ward cosponsored; the figure above each block is the count. Most bills in any legislature never leave committee, so a short staircase is the norm.
of sponsored bills got out of committee
Pennsylvania Senate average 24%. Ranks 11th of 49.
Colleagues who most often cosponsor with Ward, by number of shared bills in the PA 2025–26 session; the square shows their party.
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 Ward’s bills; the toggle shows more.
Sponsored and cosponsored, with status and policy area; five are shown, the toggle shows the rest
| SR 403 | A Resolution noting with great sadness the passing of the Honorable Timothy Francis Murphy, whose life greatly benefited all those who lived, served and worked with him; and extending heartfelt condolences to Dr. Murphy's wife, Nanette Missig Murphy, daughter, Bevin DeSantis, grandchildren, Thomasin | Cosponsor | Oct 19, 2026 | Passed one chamber | Unassigned | Introduced and adopted Oct 19, 2026 |
| SR 396 | A Resolution recognizing the week of October 25 through 31, 2026, as "Respiratory Care Week" in Pennsylvania. | Sponsor | Oct 14, 2026 | In committee | Unassigned | Referred to Rules & Executive Nominations Oct 14, 2026 |
| SR 383 | A Resolution recognizing the month of October 2026 as "National Breast Cancer Awareness Month" and October 16, 2026, as "National Mammography Day" in Pennsylvania. | Cosponsor | Oct 1, 2026 | In committee | Unassigned | Referred to Rules & Executive Nominations Oct 1, 2026 |
| SB 1426 | An Act designating the interchange of Interstate 81 with State Route 4007, known as Exit 119, on the border of Cass Township and Butler Township, Schuylkill County, as the PSP Trooper Michael E. Pahira, Jr. Memorial Interchange. | Cosponsor | Aug 10, 2026 | In committee | Unassigned | Referred to Transportation Aug 10, 2026 |
| SB 1400 | An Act amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses), 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) and 61 (Prisons and Parole) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in authorized disposition of offenders, further providing for sentence for murder, murder of unborn child and murder of law enforcement office | Cosponsor | Jun 23, 2026 | Passed one chamber | Crime and Law Enforcement(model) | Referred to Judiciary Jun 26, 2026 |
A site that changed 39 times in 90 days. Ward’s official site had 31 pages when last crawled on Oct 1, 2026.
The lab crawls Ward’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 Ward posts with a vision model.
pages crawled
changes in 90 days
pages crawled
changes in 90 days
“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.
No images from Ward’s posts have been described.
Written by a vision model and may be wrong. Open the post to see the original. Five are shown; the toggle shows the rest.
764 turns, Feb 5, 2020 to Nov 13, 2024
Transcribed from chamber video or captions by the lab. They are not classified for kinds of statement.
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 is the measure on which Ward is most unusual among State Senate Republicans, chosen by one rule for every official of every party. The candidates are the rate of each kind of statement and of extreme labels, party unity, attendance, the small-donor share, the in-state share and total receipts of the latest cycle, the share of sponsored bills that got out of committee, talk-to-bills agreement, and the CSIP score’s place within the party group.
The builder ranks every measure within the same peer group the page compares it with, and writes each official’s percentile: the share of the group below the value, ties counting half, so 0.5 is the median and a value shared by many never ranks first. A measure’s score is how far that percentile sits from the median (0 in the middle, 0.5 at either end), and the highest score leads if it is above 0.25, outside the middle half of the group. Scores within 0.03 of each other are a tie, broken in this order: votes against the party majority, kinds of statement, ideology, roll calls missed, small donations, in-state money, legislation, agreement, extreme labels, receipts.
A measure counts only with at least 200 statements, 100 roll calls or 5 sponsored bills behind it and a peer group of at least 10. Two things never lead: high party unity or attendance, where most members sit, and a high rate of a kind of statement backed by fewer than 10 statements. When nothing qualifies, the headline is a neutral fact instead: statements classified, or years in office. The wording always names the direction (“in the bottom 5% of …”, “votes against the majority of …”).
Bulk files with the same data for every official:
America’s Political Pulse · Polarization Research Lab