Del. ADA’s Progressive Rankings of the General Assembly

Filed in National by on August 26, 2016

Earlier this week, the Delaware Chapter of the ADA released its annual Legislative Report Card, which evaluates each Representative and Senator’s votes on priority progressive legislation and determines which have acted as Progressive Heros, or, alternatively Progressive Zeros. For the 2nd year in a row, Rep. John Kowalko in the House and Sen. Bryan Townsend were the legislators at the top of the list as the most progressive in Delaware.

The legislation that served as the basis for the scores were:

Senate Bill 39: Increase the Minimum Wage
Senate Bill 40: Repeal the Death Penalty
Senate Bill 59: Allow Driving Privilege Cards for Undocumented Immigrants
Senate Bill 111: Implement Same Day Voter Registration
House Bill 50: Permit Opt Out of Certain Standardized Tests
House Bill 181: Add Tax Brackets for Those Earning $125,000 and $250,00 a Year
House Bill 325: Closing Gun Purchase Background Check Loophole
House Joint Resolution 12: Support the Wilmington Education Improvement Commission Recommendations

The Del. ADA only released their executive summary and not the full report, so I cannot break down their numbers further, but here is the list from Most Progressive at the top, to lease, at, naturally, the bottom.

ADA Progressive Heros in the House
John Kowalko (D-25, Newark, New Castle County)
Paul Baumbach (D-23, Newark, New Castle County)
Sean Lynn (D-31, Dover, Kent County)
Helene Keeley (D-3, South-West Wilmington, New Castle County)
J.J. Johnson (D-16, New Castle, New Castle County)
Kim Williams (D-19, Wilmington, New Castle County)
Gerald Brady (D-4, Wilmington, New Castle County)
Sean Matthews (D-10, Talleyville, New Castle County)
Charles Potter (D-1, Wilmington, New Castle County)

ADA Progressive Heros in the Senate
Bryan Townsend (D-11, Newark, New Castle County)
Karen Peterson (D-9, Wilmington, New Castle County)
Margaret Rose Henry (D-2, Wilmington, New Castle County)
David McBride (D-13, New Castle, New Castle County)

Top 40th Percentile in the House
Bryon Short (D-7, Wilmington, New Castle County)
Stephanie Bolden (D-2, Wilmington, New Castle County)
David Bentz (D-18, Newark, New Castle County)
Melanie Smith (D-5, Bear, New Castle County)
Debra Heffernan (D-6, Wilmington, New Castle County)
Ed Osienski (D-24, Newark, New Castle County)
J. Larry Mitchell (D-13, Wilmington, New Castle County)

Top 40th Percentile in the Senate
Harris McDowell (D-1, Wilmington, New Castle County)
Bob Marshall (D-3, Wilmington, New Castle County)
Patti Blevins (D-7, Elsmere, New Castle County)
Dave Sokola (D-8, Newark, New Castle County)

Middle 60th Percentile in the House
Joe Miro (R-22, Newark, New Castle County)
Mike Ramone (R-21, Newark, New Castle County)

John Viola (D-26, Newark, New Castle County)
Valerie Longhurst (D-15, Delaware City, New Castle County)
Pete Schwartzkopf (D-14, Rehoboth Beach, Sussex County)
Earl Jaques (D-27, Newark, New Castle County)
Trey Paradee (D-29, Dover, Kent County)
Michael Mulrooney (D-17, New Castle, New Castle County)
Andria Bennett (D-32, Dover, Kent County)

Middle 60th Percentile in the Senate
Nicole Poore (D-12, New Castle, New Castle County)
Catherine Cloutier (R-5, Wilmington, New Castle County)
Bethany Hall-Long (D-10, Middletown, New Castle County)
Brian Bushweller (D-17, Dover, Kent County)

Bottom 80th Percentile in the House
Jeff Spiegelman (R-11, Clayton, Kent & New Castle Counties)
Lyndon Yearick (R-34, Dover South, Kent County)

Quinn Johnson (D-8, Middletown, New Castle County)
Ruth Briggs King (R-37, Georgetown, Sussex County)
Bill Carson (D-28, Smyrna, Kent County)
Richard Collins (R-41, Millsboro, Sussex County)
Kevin Hensley (R-9, Middletown, New Castle County)
Deborah Hudson (R-12, Wilmington, New Castle County)

Bottom 80th Percentile in the Senate
Ernie Lopez (R-6, Lewes, Sussex County)
Gary Simpson (R-18, Milford, Kent & Sussex Counties)

Bruce Ennis (D-14, Smyrna, Kent & New Castle Counties)
Gerald Hocker (R-20, Ocean View, Sussex County)
Bryant Richardson (R-21, Laurel, Sussex County)

Delaware ADA Zeros in the House
Harvey Kenton (R-36, Milford, Sussex County)
Bobby Outten (R-30, Harrington, Kent County)
Daniel Short (R-39, Seaford, Sussex County)
Steve Smyk (R-20, Milton, Sussex County)
Dave Wilson (R-35, Lincoln, Sussex County)
Ron Gray (R-38, Selbyville, Sussex County)
Tim Dukes (R-40, Laurel, Sussex County)

Delaware ADA Zeros in the Senate
Dave Lawson (R-15, Marydel, Kent County)
Colin Bonini (R-16, Camden, Kent County)
Brian Pettyjohn (R-19, Georgetown, Sussex County)
Greg Lavelle (R-4, Wilmington, New Castle County)

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Comments (7)

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  1. chris says:

    Bethany Hall Long doesn’t rank too well in this………..keep that in mind Election Day!

  2. Jason330 says:

    Bruce Ennis, what a waste.

  3. mouse says:

    Damn Sussex county legislators

  4. Jason330 says:

    El Somnambulo…What is Greg Lavelle doing with lowest score in the Senate (lower than Richardson and Hocker!). Isn’t his a socially moderate/liberal NCCo district?

  5. The district is more moderate to conservative, especially since the last redistricting, which took away a significant portion of his district that was east of Rt. 202, and gave him more territory in the Hockessin area.

    But you’re right. Lavelle is to the right of his district. He’s also a blatant partisan and leaves his brain at the door in exchange for rote sound bites. He’s the go-to R for the lazy press when they want 15 seconds of sound or a newspaper quote.

    The other factor to keep in mind is the specific bills that the ADA used to rate the legislators.

  6. puck says:

    My district acquire Lavelle via redistricting and was too lazy to kick him out.

  7. Kelly says:

    Charles Potter only voted for it because is wife is running for City Treasure and she needs every vote she can get with her past history.