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Republican · Mississippi Senate, district 4

Serving since Jan 3, 2012MS 2025–26 session

Portrait of Rita Parks, rendered as a two-tone print
Official portrait
13%
of roll calls missed, the lowest attendance of 51 in the Mississippi Senate

Attendance 87%; the average within the Mississippi Senate is 97.1%. Ranks 51st of 51, where 1st has the highest attendance. 2,121 roll calls in the MS 2025–26 session.

Attendance is the share of the roll calls Parks could vote on where a yea, nay or present was recorded, ranked within the Mississippi Senate. A missed vote has many causes, from illness to campaigning; the number says how often, not why.

At a glance

6 measures against the Mississippi Senate. 47% of Parks’s itemized money in the 2026 cycle came from Mississippi, in the bottom tenth of State Senate Republicans. Parks sits at +0.07 on the CSIP scale, more liberal than 87% of State Senate Republicans.

The measures on which Parks sits furthest from the middle of the Mississippi Senate, each against the same group, with the CSIP score when there is one. Every number is explained in its own section below.

Attendance

87%

Mississippi Senate average 97.1% · ranks 51st of 51 · 2,121 roll calls

From Mississippi, 2026

47%

Of itemized individual dollars · ranks 793rd of 860 State Senate Republicans

CSIP ideology

+0.07

More liberal than 87% of State Senate Republicans · ± 0.03

Itemized, 2026

$14.3K

State Senate Republicans’ median $46.2K · ranks 696th of 936

Party unity

94.8%

Mississippi Senate average 88% · ranks 18th of 51 · 19 votes against the majority of Mississippi Senate Republicans

Out of committee

36%

Mississippi Senate average 35% · ranks 18th of 47

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

Back to topNext: What politicians say

What Parks says

No statements for the MS 2025–26 session.No classified statements (posts, press releases, newsletters, floor speeches) in this time window.

Back to topNext: Policy

Policy

No policy statements for the MS 2025–26 session.No classified statements (posts, press releases, newsletters, floor speeches) in this time window.

Back to topNext: Ideology

Ideology

Parks sits at +0.07 on the CSIP scale, right of 0, more liberal than 87% of State Senate Republicans. Approximate range +0.04 to +0.09, which understates the uncertainty; from 11 donors and 1,003 roll calls.

CSIP, the lab’s Common-Space Ideal Point, places every official, federal and state, on one left–right scale, estimated from roll-call votes, who gives money to whom, and the text of statements. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it; 0 is the centre of the scale, not a definition of “moderate”.

+0.07

CSIP ideal point

Approximate range +0.04 to +0.09. From 11 donors and 1,003 roll calls. Run 2026-10-25T215945. Blue is left of 0, red right of 0.

← More liberalMore conservative →0Parks +0.1State Senate Republicans +0.4Mississippi Senate 0.0All State Senate +0.1

The outlined dot is Parks, 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 Parks’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 Parks sits

Every official in each group, on the CSIP scale

−2.0−1.00.0+1.0+2.0← More liberalMore conservative →State Senate Republicansmedian +0.4Parks +0.1Mississippi Senatemedian 0.0All State Senatemedian +0.1
Show the data
Parks's CSIP score of +0.07 placed against State Senate Republicans, Mississippi Senate, All State Senate.
GroupOfficialsMedianShare left of Parks
State Senate Republicans1083+0.413%
Mississippi Senate510.057%
All State Senate1909+0.150%
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 Parks 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 Parks.

Back to topNext: Money

Money

Parks reported $14.3K in the 2026 cycle, 31% of the State Senate Republicans’ median of $46.2K. State filings report no small-donation total. 47% of itemized individual money came from Mississippi.

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
$14.3K

itemized in the 2026 cycle

From 5 itemized donors. State Senate Republicans’ median $46.2K.

Where the money came from

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

Individuals (itemized): $1,500 (10.5%)Individuals (itemized): $1,500 (10.5%)Individuals (itemized): $1,500 (10.5%)Individuals (itemized): $1,500 (10.5%)Individuals (itemized): $1,500 (10.5%)Individuals (itemized): $1,500 (10.5%)Individuals (itemized): $1,500 (10.5%)Individuals (itemized): $1,500 (10.5%)Individuals (itemized): $1,500 (10.5%)Individuals (itemized): $1,500 (10.5%)Individuals (itemized): $1,500 (10.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)PACs and other committees: $12.8K (89.5%)
  • Individuals (itemized)11 squares$1,500
  • PACs and other committees89 squares$12.8K
Show the data
Sources of Parks's money, 2026 cycle, one square per percent
SourceAmountShare
Individuals (itemized)$1,50010.5%
PACs and other committees$12.8K89.5%
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, 2024 to 2026. The grey line is the State Senate Republicans’ median for 2026.

2024 cycle: $30.3K$30.3K20242026 cycle: $14.3K$14.3K2026State Senate Republicans median $46.2K
Show the data
Parks's receipts by cycle against the 2026 State Senate Republicans median.
ItemValue
2024 cycle$30.3K
2026 cycle$14.3K

Top donor states, 2026

Itemized contributions by donor state. 47% came from Mississippi.

  1. Mississippi$700
  2. Nebraska$400
  3. Wisconsin$200

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: $200WIMichigan: 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: $400NEMissouri: 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: $700MSAlabama: no dataALGeorgia: no dataGAHawaii: no dataHITexas: no dataTXFlorida: no dataFL
Show the data
Parks's itemized individual contributions by donor state, 2026 cycle
StateValue
Mississippi$700
Nebraska$400
Wisconsin$200
AlaskaNo data
MaineNo data
VermontNo data
New HampshireNo data
WashingtonNo data
IdahoNo data
MontanaNo data
North DakotaNo data
MinnesotaNo data
IllinoisNo 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
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
AlabamaNo data
GeorgiaNo data
HawaiiNo data
TexasNo data
FloridaNo data
5

itemized donors

People who gave more than $200

47%

from Mississippi

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 Mississippi. 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. MISSISSIPPI REALTORS PAC$2,500
  2. CAPITAL ADVOCACY GROUP$1,000
  3. ENPAC MISSISSIPPI$1,000
  4. MCA STATE PAC$1,000
  5. MS BREEZE DISTRIBUTION PAC$1,000

Top employers

Itemized, 2026 cycle.

No employers reported.

Aggregates only. Individual donors are never named.

Back to topNext: Votes

Votes

Parks voted with the majority of Mississippi Senate Republicans on 94.8% of party-line votes and missed 13% of 2,121 roll calls. Mississippi Senate on average: 88% party unity, 97.1% attendance. Across all roll calls, Parks voted against the majority of Mississippi Senate Republicans 19 times.

2,121 roll calls Parks could vote on in the MS 2025–26 session, compared with Mississippi 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 Parks voted with the majority of Mississippi Senate Republicans. The count of votes against that majority covers every roll call where the majority took a side.

19

votes against the majority of Mississippi Senate Republicans

Party unity 94.8%, Mississippi Senate average 88%, ranks 18th of 51. 2,121 roll calls in the MS 2025–26 session.

Attendance and party unity

The thick bar is Parks, the thin grey bar the Mississippi Senate average. The scale runs from 80% to 100% to show the gap.

80%100%
Parks
Peers
Rank
Attendance
87%
97.1%
51st of 51
Party unity
94.8%
88%
18th of 51
Show the data
Parks's attendance and party unity against Mississippi Senate.
RowParksPeers
Attendance87%97.1%
Party unity94.8%88%
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 MS 2025–26 session

Key votes
Party split (yea–nay)Why it’s key
Jul 16, 2026
HB 2
Appropriation; Department of Human Services of.
Passage
YeaWith majoritypassD 13–0 · R 25–0Democrats 13 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 25 yea, 0 naybecame law · much discussed
Jul 16, 2026
HB 1
Appropriation; Department of Human Services to establish and implement youth diversion program.
Passage
YeaWith majoritypassD 14–0 · R 25–0Democrats 14 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 25 yea, 0 naybecame law · much discussed
Jul 15, 2026
SB 2001
The Mississippi Youth Court Reform Act of 2026; enact.
Passage as Amended
YeaWith majoritypassD 1–9 · R 24–1Democrats 1 yea, 9 nay; Republicans 24 yea, 1 naybecame law · party crossover
Apr 2, 2026
SB 2474
Rare Disease Task Force; establish within the Mississippi Rare Disease Advisory Council.
Adopt Conference Report
YeaWith majoritypassD 18–0 · R 34–0Democrats 18 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 34 yea, 0 naybecame law
Apr 2, 2026
HB 1761
Alcoholic beverages; extend repealers relating to festival wine permits.
Adopt Conference Report
YeaWith majoritypassD 16–2 · R 32–2Democrats 16 yea, 2 nay; Republicans 32 yea, 2 naybecame law · party crossover
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 Parks most often

  1. Lydia ChassaniolR1,808 shared votes99%
  2. Briggs HopsonR1,772 shared votes99%
  3. Scott DeLanoR1,832 shared votes99%
  4. Chris JohnsonR1,828 shared votes99%
  5. Daniel SparksR1,824 shared votes99%

Votes least often with

The colleagues who voted the same way as Parks least often

  1. Derrick SimmonsD1,714 shared votes90%
  2. David JordanD847 shared votes90%
  3. Bradford BlackmonD1,830 shared votes90%
  4. Reginald JacksonD1,822 shared votes91%
  5. Albert ButlerD1,680 shared votes91%
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

MS 2025–26 session, loads in batches

Back to topNext: Legislation

Legislation

Parks sponsored 42 bills in the MS 2025–26 session; 2 became law. Cosponsored 61 others. 36% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Mississippi Senate average 35%; 18th of 47).

The bills Parks sponsored and cosponsored in the MS 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 MS 2025–26 session

Sponsored42 billsSponsored, Introduced: 4242Sponsored, In committee: 4242Sponsored, Passed one chamber: 1515Sponsored, Passed both chambers: 33Sponsored, Became law: 22Cosponsored61 billsCosponsored, Introduced: 6161Cosponsored, In committee: 6161Cosponsored, Passed one chamber: 6161Cosponsored, Passed both chambers: 5252Cosponsored, Became law: 2828IntroducedIncommitteePassed onechamberPassed bothchambersBecamelaw
Show the data
Bills Parks sponsored and cosponsored, by furthest stage reached
RoleIntroducedIn committeePassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law
Sponsored42421532
Cosponsored6161615228
How to read the blocks

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

36%

of sponsored bills got out of committee

Mississippi Senate average 35%. Ranks 18th of 47.

Cosponsorship partners

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

  1. Briggs Hopson44
  2. Dennis DeBar33
  3. Albert Butler30
  4. Scott DeLano29
  5. John Polk25
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 Parks’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 128Extend condolences of Mississippi Senate on the passing of former Ole Miss Athletic Director Warner Alford, Jr.CosponsorMar 30, 2026Passed one chamberUnassignedAdopted Mar 31, 2026
SR 105Commend Ole Miss Rifle Team for first-ever National Smoothbore Championship.CosponsorMar 24, 2026Passed one chamberUnassignedAdopted Mar 31, 2026
SR 84Commend Kossuth High School Lady Aggies Cheer Team for State and National Championships.SponsorMar 17, 2026Passed one chamberUnassignedAdopted Mar 26, 2026
SR 90Congratulate former State Senator Bobby Chamberlin upon his investiture as United States District Court Judge.CosponsorMar 17, 2026Passed one chamberUnassignedAdopted Mar 26, 2026
SC 534Urge Congress to authorize reliability report on Marine Highway 65.CosponsorMar 16, 2026Passed both chambersTransportation and Public Works(model)Enrolled Bill Signed Apr 6, 2026

Back to topNext: Online

Online

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

The lab crawls Parks’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 Parks 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 Parks posted

No images from Parks’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

No transcribed state floor speeches are matched to this legislator yet.

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 Parks is most unusual among Mississippi Senate, 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
d618a68e-ed3a-47a5-be24-852af75d9ab3
Open States
ocd-person/d618a68e-ed3a-47a5-be24-852af75d9ab3

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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