Personal attacks
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
Oct 1, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · personal attacks; policy discussion; Health; Immigration; target: Donald Trump · Source
92%
of State Senate Democrats score to the right of Lesser on the CSIP scale
CSIP score −1.06 (approximate range −1.10 to −1.02, which understates the uncertainty); negative is left of the scale’s centre, positive right. From 1,509 donors and 399 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 Lesser sits among State Senate Democrats, not how far from the centre.
At a glance
6 measures against State Senate Democrats. 2.1% of Lesser’s statements use an extreme label, 2.6 times the State Senate Democrat average of 0.8%. 19% of Lesser’s statements criticize a policy, 1.8 times the State Senate Democrat average of 10%.
The measures on which Lesser sits furthest from the middle of State Senate Democrats, each against the same group, with the CSIP score when there is one. Every number is explained in its own section below.
CSIP ideology
−1.06
More liberal than 92% of State Senate Democrats · ± 0.04
Extreme labels
2.1%
State Senate Democrats average 0.8% · ranks 44th of 329
Policy criticism
19%
State Senate Democrats average 10% · ranks 58th of 329
Personal attacks
4.3%
State Senate Democrats average 2.4% · ranks 63rd of 329
Talk-to-bills agreement
0.49
State Senate Democrats average 0.56 · ranks 175th of 228
Itemized, 2026
$21.5K
State Senate Democrats’ median $55.5K · ranks 528th of 746
Peer group: State Senate Democrats. Rank 1 is the highest value in the group; the thick bar is Lesser, the thin grey bar the peer average. The headline is the measure on which Lesser is most unusual among peers (Methods, §08).
What Lesser says
Lesser criticizes policies more than 82% of State Senate Democrats. Policy criticism in 19% of 838 statements, against 10% for the average State Senate Democrat; 58th of 329.
An AI model reads each of Lesser’s 838 statements in the CT 2025–26 session (838 posts on X) and marks the kinds of statement it contains: a personal attack, criticism of a policy, discussion of policy, bipartisanship, credit claiming, and extreme labels. A statement can carry several. Every rate is compared with the average for State Senate Democrats and ranked among them.
Kinds of statement
Share of statements carrying each label, the CT 2025–26 session
0%80%
Lesser
Peers
Rank
Policy discussion346 statements
41%
43%
180th of 329
Policy criticism160 statements
19%
10%
58th of 329
Credit claiming90 statements
11%
16%
193rd of 329
Personal attacks36 statements
4%
2%
63rd of 329
Bipartisanship31 statements
4%
3%
113th of 329
Show the data
| Row | Lesser | Peers |
|---|---|---|
| Policy discussion | 41% | 43% |
| Policy criticism | 19% | 10% |
| Credit claiming | 11% | 16% |
| Personal attacks | 4% | 2% |
| Bipartisanship | 4% | 3% |
838
statements classified
838 posts on X.
Show the data
| Part | Value |
|---|---|
| posts on X | 838 |
How to read the bars
The thick bar is Lesser; the thin grey bar is the average State Senate Democrats. A longer thick bar means Lesser does this more than peers. Rank 1 is the highest rate in the group.
Extreme labels
Lesser used extreme labels in 2.1% of statements, 2.6 times the peer average. 18 statements, most often aimed at MAGA Republicans; peers 0.8%.
- “MAGA”12
- “extreme”1
Who gets the labels
Targets named alongside an extreme label, by number of statements
- MAGA Republicans5
- CommieCt1
- DC1
- Joe Biden1
- MAGA policies1
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 CT 2025–26 session
Show the data
| Column | Statements | Personal attacks | Policy criticism | Policy discussion | Bipartisanship | Credit claiming | Extreme labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan ’25 | 66 | 3.0% | 13.6% | 28.8% | 4.5% | 10.6% | 0.0% |
| Feb ’25 | 116 | 8.6% | 25.9% | 47.4% | 2.6% | 2.6% | 0.0% |
| Mar ’25 | 41 | 12.2% | 9.8% | 24.4% | 0.0% | 2.4% | 2.4% |
| Apr ’25 | 127 | 3.9% | 16.5% | 27.6% | 0.8% | 3.9% | 0.0% |
| May ’25 | 48 | 8.3% | 27.1% | 45.8% | 0.0% | 4.2% | 0.0% |
| Jun ’25 | 25 | 0.0% | 16.0% | 40.0% | 20.0% | 16.0% | 8.0% |
| Jul ’25 | 62 | 4.8% | 24.2% | 50.0% | 6.5% | 12.9% | 11.3% |
| Aug ’25 | 53 | 7.5% | 20.8% | 45.3% | 7.5% | 9.4% | 7.5% |
| Sep ’25 | 67 | 0.0% | 29.8% | 47.8% | 4.5% | 13.4% | 1.5% |
| Oct ’25 | 58 | 1.7% | 31.0% | 36.2% | 1.7% | 10.3% | 0.0% |
| Nov ’25 | 45 | 0.0% | 8.9% | 46.7% | 0.0% | 24.4% | 2.2% |
| Dec ’25 | 25 | 0.0% | 16.0% | 76.0% | 12.0% | 28.0% | 0.0% |
| Jan ’26 | 6 | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) |
| Feb ’26 | 29 | 0.0% | 6.9% | 51.7% | 6.9% | 27.6% | 0.0% |
| Mar ’26 | 11 | 0.0% | 9.1% | 72.7% | 0.0% | 45.5% | 0.0% |
| Apr ’26 | 2 | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) |
| May ’26 | 9 | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) |
| Jun ’26 | 10 | 10.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Jul ’26 | 7 | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) |
| Aug ’26 | 7 | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) | — (fewer than 10 statements) |
| Sep ’26 | 12 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Oct ’26 | 12 | 8.3% | 25.0% | 58.3% | 8.3% | 16.7% | 0.0% |
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 CT 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%. 5 months are hatched here.
In Lesser’s words
Real statements from the classifier’s example set, with the labels it assigned
Policy criticism
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
Oct 1, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · policy criticism; policy discussion; Crime and Law Enforcement; Families · Source
Extreme label
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
Aug 4, 2026 · Posts on X (state legislators) · policy discussion; credit claiming; Agriculture and Food; Labor and Employment; extreme label “MAGA” aimed at MAGA policies · Source
Examples by category
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 · Health · Immigration · target: Donald TrumpSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · target: PresidentSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · policy criticism · target: RepublicansSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · extreme label “extreme” aimed at Joe Biden · target: Joe BidenSource
Posts on X (state legislators)
The text of this post is on X; follow the source link to read it.
personal attacks · target: PresidentSource
All 838 statements
Newest first, the CT 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: 838 posts on X.
Policy
Health is what Lesser talks about most: 44% of policy statements, 2.5 times the peer share. Talk and legislation agree at 0.49 on a 0–1 scale (State Senate Democrats average 0.56; 175th of 228).
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 Lesser talks about. The bills Lesser sponsors and cosponsors carry the same areas, so the two can be compared.
What Lesser talks about
Share of policy statements by area, the CT 2025–26 session
0%48%
Lesser
Peers
Health152 statements
44%
17%
Economics and Public Finance63 statements
18%
10%
Government Operations and Politics27 statements
8%
14%
Agriculture and Food25 statements
7%
5%
Housing and Community Development22 statements
6%
7%
Show the data
| Row | Lesser | Peers |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 44% | 17% |
| Economics and Public Finance | 18% | 10% |
| Government Operations and Politics | 8% | 14% |
| Agriculture and Food | 7% | 5% |
| Housing and Community Development | 6% | 7% |
How to read the bars
The thick bar is the share of Lesser’s policy statements in an area; the thin grey bar is the average share for State Senate Democrats. A statement counts once in each of its areas, so shares can add to more than 100%. The five largest areas are shown; the toggle shows the rest.
Talks about · legislates on
Left: share of statements by policy area. Right: share of bills. Areas in order of their share of statements; both sides run from 0 to 48%. Grey ticks are the State Senate Democrats averages.
Show the data
| Area | Talks about | State Senate Democrats, talks about | Legislates on | State Senate Democrats, legislates on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 44% | 17% | 14% | 15% |
| Economics and Public Finance | 18% | 10% | 5% | 3% |
| Government Operations and Politics | 8% | 14% | 5% | 8% |
| Agriculture and Food | 7% | 5% | 7% | 3% |
| Housing and Community Development | 6% | 7% | 0% | 5% |
0.49
talk-to-bills agreement, 0 to 1
State Senate Democrats average 0.56. Ranks 175th of 228.
What agreement means, and what it doesn’t
Agreement is 1 minus the distance between the two distributions (Jensen–Shannon): 1 means Lesser legislates on exactly the areas Lesser 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 Lesser sponsored count fully, cosponsored bills a quarter. Shown with at least 20 policy statements and 5 bills.
Ideology
Lesser sits at −1.06 on the CSIP scale, left of 0, more liberal than 92% of State Senate Democrats. Approximate range −1.10 to −1.02, which understates the uncertainty; from 1,509 donors and 399 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”.
−1.06
CSIP ideal point
Approximate range −1.10 to −1.02. From 1,509 donors and 399 roll calls. Run 2026-10-25T215945. Blue is left of 0, red right of 0.
The outlined dot is Lesser, 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 Lesser’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 Lesser sits
Every official in each group, on the CSIP scale
State Senate Democrats825 · median −0.7
Connecticut Senate36 · median −0.7
All State Senate1,909 · median +0.1
Show the data
| Group | Officials | Median | Share left of Lesser |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Senate Democrats | 825 | −0.7 | 8% |
| Connecticut Senate | 36 | −0.7 | 17% |
| All State Senate | 1909 | +0.1 | 3% |
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 Lesser 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 Lesser.
Money
Lesser reported $21.5K in the 2026 cycle, 39% of the State Senate Democrats’ median of $55.5K. State filings report no small-donation total. 93% of itemized individual money came from Connecticut.
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.
$21.5K
itemized in the 2026 cycle
From 381 itemized donors. State Senate Democrats’ median $55.5K.
Where the money came from
Each square is one percent of itemized contributions in the 2026 cycle.
- Individuals (itemized)100 squares$21.5K
Show the data
| Source | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals (itemized) | $21.5K | 100.0% |
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, 2020 to 2026. The grey line is the State Senate Democrats’ median for 2026.
Show the data
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2020 cycle | $17.1K |
| 2022 cycle | $108.0K |
| 2024 cycle | $18.6K |
| 2026 cycle | $21.5K |
Top donor states, 2026
Itemized contributions by donor state. 93% came from Connecticut.
- Connecticut$20.0K
- District of Columbia$734
- Massachusetts$400
- Maryland$100
- Virginia$100
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
Show the data
| State | Value |
|---|---|
| Connecticut | $20.0K |
| District of Columbia | $734 |
| Massachusetts | $400 |
| Maine | $100 |
| Virginia | $100 |
| Maryland | $100 |
| New York | $50 |
| Alaska | 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 |
| Illinois | 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 |
| Ohio | No data |
| Pennsylvania | No data |
| New Jersey | No data |
| California | No data |
| Utah | No data |
| Colorado | No data |
| Nebraska | No data |
| Missouri | No data |
| Kentucky | 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 |
| North Carolina | No data |
| South Carolina | No data |
| Oklahoma | No data |
| Louisiana | No data |
| Mississippi | No data |
| Alabama | No data |
| Georgia | No data |
| Hawaii | No data |
| Texas | No data |
| Florida | No data |
381
itemized donors
People who gave more than $200
93%
from Connecticut
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 Connecticut. Gifts of $200 or less carry no address and are left out.
Top donor occupations
Itemized, 2026 cycle.
- RETIRED$8,095 115 donors
- ATTORNEY$1,758 18 donors
- TRIAL LAWYER$1,120 4 donors
- LAWYER$545 4 donors
- DIRECTOR$420 4 donors
Top committees
PAC and committee contributions, 2026 cycle.
No committee contributions this cycle.
Top employers
Itemized, 2026 cycle.
- STUDENT$280 7 donors
- CT$255 9 donors
- STATE OF CONNECTICUT$240 9 donors
- STATE OF CT$215 7 donors
- WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY$210 9 donors
Aggregates only. Individual donors are never named.
Votes
Lesser voted with the majority of Connecticut Senate Democrats on 99.2% of party-line votes and missed 0.9% of 863 roll calls. Connecticut Senate on average: 97.9% party unity, 97.8% attendance. Across all roll calls, Lesser voted against the majority of Connecticut Senate Democrats 8 times.
863 roll calls Lesser could vote on in the CT 2025–26 session, compared with Connecticut 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 Lesser voted with the majority of Connecticut Senate Democrats. The count of votes against that majority covers every roll call where the majority took a side.
8
votes against the majority of Connecticut Senate Democrats
Party unity 99.2%, Connecticut Senate average 97.9%, ranks 23rd of 36. 863 roll calls in the CT 2025–26 session.
Attendance and party unity
The thick bar is Lesser, the thin grey bar the Connecticut Senate average. The scale runs from 80% to 100% to show the gap.
80%100%
Lesser
Peers
Rank
Attendance
99.0%
97.8%
13th of 36
Party unity
99.2%
97.9%
23rd of 36
Show the data
| Row | Lesser | Peers |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance | 99.0% | 97.8% |
| Party unity | 99.2% | 97.9% |
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 CT 2025–26 session
| Party split (yea–nay) | Why it’s key | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 2026 | HB 5385 AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY UNDUE DELAY IN WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS BY POLICE OFFICERS AND FIREFIGHTERS. Senate Roll Call Vote | Yea | With majority | pass | D 25–0 · R 11–0Democrats 25 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 11 yea, 0 nay | became law |
| May 6, 2026 | HB 5001 AN ACT CONCERNING ABSENTEE VOTING FOR ALL AND VARIOUS OTHER REFORMS RELATED TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS. Senate Roll Call Vote | Yea | With majority | pass | D 25–0 · R 0–11Democrats 25 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 0 yea, 11 nay | became law · much discussed |
| May 6, 2026 | HB 5043 AN ACT CONCERNING CONVERTIBLE PISTOLS, UNFINISHED FRAMES OR UNFINISHED LOWER RECEIVERS, VOLUNTARY RELINQUISHMENT OF FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION AND REFUNDABILITY OF PERMITS FOR SALE AT RETAIL OF FIREARMS AND FOR CARRYING OF PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS. Senate Roll Call Vote | Nay | With majority | fail | D 0–20 · R 11–0Democrats 0 yea, 20 nay; Republicans 11 yea, 0 nay | became law |
| May 6, 2026 | Yea | With majority | pass | D 25–0 · R 11–0Democrats 25 yea, 0 nay; Republicans 11 yea, 0 nay | became law | |
| May 6, 2026 | HB 5001 AN ACT CONCERNING ABSENTEE VOTING FOR ALL AND VARIOUS OTHER REFORMS RELATED TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS. Senate Roll Call Vote | Nay | With majority | fail | D 0–25 · R 11–0Democrats 0 yea, 25 nay; Republicans 11 yea, 0 nay | became law · much discussed |
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 Lesser most often
- Jan HochadelD819 shared votes99%
- Martha MarxD835 shared votes99%
- Doug McCroryD802 shared votes99%
- Julie KushnerD831 shared votes99%
- John FonfaraD798 shared votes99%
Votes least often with
The colleagues who voted the same way as Lesser least often
- Rob SampsonR851 shared votes62%
- Ryan FazioR836 shared votes67%
- Stephen HardingR844 shared votes68%
- Eric BerthelR850 shared votes69%
- Jeff GordonR827 shared votes70%
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
CT 2025–26 session, loads in batches
Legislation
Lesser sponsored 43 bills in the CT 2025–26 session; 15 became law. Cosponsored 0 others. 42% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Connecticut Senate average 40%; 14th of 35).
The bills Lesser sponsored and cosponsored in the CT 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 CT 2025–26 session
Show the data
| Role | Introduced | In committee | Passed one chamber | Passed both chambers | Became law |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored | 43 | 43 | 18 | 15 | 15 |
| Cosponsored | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
How to read the blocks
Ink blocks are bills Lesser sponsored, ochre blocks bills Lesser cosponsored; the figure above each block is the count. Most bills in any legislature never leave committee, so a short staircase is the norm.
42%
of sponsored bills got out of committee
Connecticut Senate average 40%. Ranks 14th of 35.
Cosponsorship partners
Colleagues who most often cosponsor with Lesser, by number of shared bills in the CT 2025–26 session; the square shows their party.
- Nick Gauthier9
- Tom Delnicki7
- Gary Turco5
- Saud Anwar5
- M.J. Shannon5
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 Lesser’s bills; the toggle shows more.
Bill list
Sponsored and cosponsored, with status and policy area; five are shown, the toggle shows the rest
| SB 1 | AN ACT MAKING ADJUSTMENTS TO THE STATE BUDGET FOR THE BIENNIUM ENDING JUNE 30, 2027, MAKING DEFICIENCY APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2026, AUTHORIZING AND ADJUSTING BONDS OF THE STATE AND CONCERNING PROVISIONS RELATING TO REVENUE, SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND OTHER ITEMS TO IMPLEMENT | Sponsor | Apr 1, 2026 | Became law | Economics and Public Finance(model) | SIGNED BY GOVERNOR May 26, 2026 |
| SB 2 | AN ACT SUPPORTING LOCAL COMMERCE. | Sponsor | Apr 1, 2026 | In committee | Commerce(model) | FILE NO. 693 Apr 20, 2026 |
| SB 293 | AN ACT CONCERNING THE STATUTE OF LIMITATION FOR INJURY CAUSED BY FRAUD IN THE PROVISION OF FERTILITY CARE AND TREATMENT. | Sponsor | Mar 30, 2026 | Passed one chamber | Law(model) | HOUSE CALENDAR NUMBER 534 Apr 30, 2026 |
| SB 397 | AN ACT CONCERNING DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE USE AND RETENTION OF DATA DERIVED FROM AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READER SYSTEMS. | Sponsor | Mar 24, 2026 | Became law | Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues(model) | TRANSMITTED TO SECRETARY OF THE STATE May 6, 2026 |
| HB 5531 | AN ACT CONCERNING FAITHFUL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS. | Sponsor | Mar 23, 2026 | Passed one chamber | Government Operations and Politics(model) | SENATE CALENDAR NUMBER 486 Apr 29, 2026 |
Online
A site that changed 3 times in 90 days. Lesser’s official site had 1 page when last crawled on Oct 1, 2026.
The lab crawls Lesser’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 Lesser posts with a vision model.
Websites
- 1
pages crawled
3changes in 90 days
- 2
pages crawled
1changes in 90 days
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.
Social accounts
Images Lesser posted
No images from Lesser’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
907 turns, Feb 5, 2020 to May 6, 2026
Floor speeches
Transcribed from chamber video or captions by the lab. They are not classified for kinds of statement.
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 Lesser is most unusual among State Senate Democrats, chosen by one rule for every official of every party. The candidates are the rate of each kind of statement and of extreme labels, party unity, attendance, the small-donor share, the in-state share and total receipts of the latest cycle, the share of sponsored bills that got out of committee, talk-to-bills agreement, and the CSIP score’s place within the party group.
The builder ranks every measure within the same peer group the page compares it with, and writes each official’s percentile: the share of the group below the value, ties counting half, so 0.5 is the median and a value shared by many never ranks first. A measure’s score is how far that percentile sits from the median (0 in the middle, 0.5 at either end), and the highest score leads if it is above 0.25, outside the middle half of the group. Scores within 0.03 of each other are a tie, broken in this order: votes against the party majority, kinds of statement, ideology, roll calls missed, small donations, in-state money, legislation, agreement, extreme labels, receipts.
A measure counts only with at least 200 statements, 100 roll calls or 5 sponsored bills behind it and a peer group of at least 10. Two things never lead: high party unity or attendance, where most members sit, and a high rate of a kind of statement backed by fewer than 10 statements. When nothing qualifies, the headline is a neutral fact instead: statements classified, or years in office. The wording always names the direction (“in the bottom 5% of …”, “votes against the majority of …”).
Identifiers
- Profile id
- f55ef0f9-f0ed-48ba-80b9-23ac643626cc
- Open States
- ocd-person/f55ef0f9-f0ed-48ba-80b9-23ac643626cc
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