Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) started out his campaign for Senate arguing that incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is actually a liberal. Now a Cornyn’s campaign spokesman is using National Journal rankings to peg his primary opponent as the “3rd least conservative” House member in Texas.
Cornyn spokesman Drew Brandewie tweeted out facts about National Journal’s 2013 House rankings as they apply to Stockman.
Of Texas House GOPers, Rep. Stockman is the 3rd least conservative: http://t.co/0demznGQki
— Drew Brandewie (@DBrandewie) February 6, 2014
There are 137 members more conservative than ‘Tea Party’ Rep. Steve Stockman: http://t.co/0demznGQki
— Drew Brandewie (@DBrandewie) February 6, 2014
Stockman has repeatedly accused Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, of being a secret liberal who actually supports Obamacare. National Journal ranks Cornyn the 14th most conservative member of the Senate in 2013.
Among Cornyn and Stockman’s state delegation the Texas congressman falls into the lower half of conservative lawmakers. By TPM’s count, National Journal’s composite conservative score puts only Texas Reps. Blake Farenthold and Ted Poe as less conservative, leaving 20 other Republican House members in the Texas delegation as more conservative than Stockman.
To compile the ratings, National Journal examines roll-call votes for the 113th session of Congress and identifies which votes illustrate the ideological differences between members of Congress. The conservative percentile rating is meant to show “the member voted more conservative than that percentage of his or her colleagues.” The rankings have sometimes come under criticism due to the fact that they are largely determined by the congressional agenda.
