releases: http://susanwbrooks.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/ken-de-la-bastide-column-lugar-index-puts-spotlight-on-bipartisanship
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| http://susanwbrooks.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/ken-de-la-bastide-column-lugar-index-puts-spotlight-on-bipartisanship | Ken de la Bastide column: Lugar index puts spotlight on bipartisanship | 2016-10-30 | 2016 | 2016-10 | Republican | House | IN | Susan Brooks | B001284 | susanwbrooks.house.gov | legacy | Every election cycle candidates for national office profess they are willing, if elected, to work in a bipartisan manner to reach common ground with members of the opposing party. But in reality how does “the rubber meet the road” when it comes to following through with campaign promises. Former Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, a Republican, was recognized as being willing to cross the political aisle and work with Democrats to get legislation passed. In fact it was the perception that Lugar wasn’t partisan enough that led to his defeat in the 2012 Republican Party primary by Richard Mourdock, a darling of the Tea Party movement. Through the Lugar Center there has been a methodology developed to rate members of Congress on the bipartisan index. “The Bipartisan Index measures the frequency with which a Member co-sponsors a bill introduced by the opposite party and the frequency with which a Member’s own bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party,” Lugar wrote on the introduction to the index. “What we are measuring in this Index is not so much the quality of legislation but rather the efforts of legislators to broaden the appeal of their sponsored legislation, to entertain a wider range of ideas, and to prioritize governance over posturing. With this in mind, we regard any score above zero as a good score.” Rep. Susan Brooks, R-5th District, is the only member of the Indiana delegation with a positive score and she is ranked 35th of the 435 members of the U.S. House with a positive score of .75. The next highest member of the Indiana delegation is Rep. Todd Young, R-9th District, who is now running for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Young’s score is a negative .004 for a ranking at 138. Marlin Stutzman, R-3rd District, who lost to Young in the primary election, had a score of 1.81 and ranked 435th, came in last among the House members. Other current members of the House bipartisan index ranking are: Todd Rokita, 246; Jackie Walorski, 210; Pete Viscolosky, 267; Luke Messer, 316 and Andre’ Carson, 351. Looking back to the 111th Congress, which ran from 2009 through 2011, former Sen. Evan Bayh had a positive score of .517 and was ranked 32nd of the 100 senators. Bayh didn’t run for re-election in 2010 citing the partisan nature of the Congress but he’s running for a return to the Senate against Young. Current Republican Sen. Dan Coats, who is not seeking re-election, ranked 75th with a negative score of 81. Democrat Hillary Clinton, now running for president, had a negative score of 30 and was ranked 76th during the 111th Congress. “If a member is disappointed in his or her score, there is a straightforward way to improve it in future congresses: Put more effort into recruiting bipartisan co-sponsors for your bills and consider co-sponsoring bills introduced by the opposite party,” Lugar wrote. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |