Vote descriptions found here.
—–
The ideological splits in the House have been evident since the original post redistricting session of 2001 when termed long-term moderate Democrats and Republicans were replaced by more ideological members many of whom never had or would face competitive general elections. But what has happened in the era of Republican domination of the legislature is that Democrats from urbanized, safe districts have begun gradually shifting towards the GOP positions on many issues while the Republican caucus as a whole has gotten more ideological and conservative. Many Democrats representing areas where President Obama got over 55% of the vote are voting regularly with the GOP on issues of economics and on environmental issues.
Even in the mid 2000s a few moderate Republicans could be counted on to split from the orthodoxy of the party. But in the era of Rick Scott House Republicans have become extreme partisans. Herded like sheep by the leadership, they vote in uniformity on even the most polarizing issues. What is striking is the number of Republicans from moderate districts in places like Pinellas County, Central Florida and southeast Florida that vote lock step with the leadership.
Traditionally, there have been more moderate Republicans from southwest Florida and the Treasure Coast as well but in the 2011, 2012 and 2013 sessions, House members from these areas were strongly conservative.
Most Democrats, on the other hand, have continued the process of voting a moderate line. While the period between 1982 and 2006 was characterized by a House Democratic caucus dominated by liberals who at times fought a conservative rural and small metropolitan area wing of the party, today neither wing really exists. The House lost its last conservative rural Democrat when Leonard Bembry ran for Congres and just a handful of straight down the line liberals exist much of the caucus has abandoned progressive principles and has shifted to a clear policy of accommodation with the majority. While it is fair to say this pragmatic approach may allow individual Democratic legislators to pass more bills and bring more in the way of member projects back to the district, it has done little to improve dialogue and debate in the lower chamber. In fact in many cases it has denied a vibrant debate on issues most important to the future of the state.
The full ratings are below:
| REPS | RATING |
| Adkins | 0 |
| Ahern | 0 |
| Albritton | 0 |
| Artiles | 0 |
| Baxley | 0 |
| Beshears | 15 |
| Bileca | 0 |
| Boyd | 0 |
| Brodeur | 0 |
| Broxson | 0 |
| Caldwell | 0 |
| Coley | 0 |
| Combee | 0 |
| Corcoran | 0 |
| Crisafulli | 0 |
| Cummings | 0 |
| Davis | 0 |
| Diaz, J | 0 |
| Diaz, M | 0 |
| Eagle | 0 |
| Fasano | 40 |
| Fitzenhagen | 5 |
| Ford | 0 |
| Fresen | 0 |
| Gaetz | 0 |
| Gonzalez | 0 |
| Goodson | 10 |
| Grant | 0 |
| Hager | 10 |
| Harrell | 0 |
| Holder | 0 |
| Hood | 0 |
| Hooper | 10 |
| Hudson | 0 |
| Hutson | 10 |
| Ingram | 0 |
| LaRosa | 0 |
| Magar | 5 |
| Mayfield | 0 |
| McBurney | 0 |
| McKeel | 5 |
| Metz | 0 |
| Moraitis | 0 |
| Nelson | 0 |
| Nunez | 0 |
| Oliva | 0 |
| O’Toole | 0 |
| Passidomo | 0 |
| Patronis | 0 |
| Perry | 0 |
| Peters | 5 |
| Pigman | 5 |
| Pilon | 10 |
| Porter | 0 |
| Precourt | 0 |
| Raburn | 0 |
| Raschein | 25 |
| Raulerson | 0 |
| Ray | 0 |
| Renuart | 0 |
| Roberson | 0 |
| Rodrigues | 10 |
| Rooney | 0 |
| Santiago | 10 |
| Schenck | 0 |
| Smith | 0 |
| Spano | 0 |
| Steube | 0 |
| Stone | 0 |
| Tobia | 5 |
| Trujillo | 0 |
| Van Zant | 0 |
| Weatherford | 0 |
| Wood | 0 |
| Workman | 0 |
| Young | 0 |
| DEMS | |
| Antone | 85 |
| Berman | 100 |
| Bracy | 85 |
| Campbell | 80 |
| Castor-Dentel | 100 |
| Clarke-Reed | 90 |
| Clelland | 45 |
| Cruz | 100 |
| Danish | 55 |
| Dudley | 65 |
| Edwards | 35 |
| Fullwood | 75 |
| Gibbons | 75 |
| Jones M | 90 |
| Jones S | 70 |
| Kerner | 75 |
| Lee | 80 |
| McGhee | 80 |
| Moskowitz | 55 |
| Pafford | 100 |
| Powell | 80 |
| Pritchett | 90 |
| Rader | 100 |
| Rangel | 79 |
| Reed | 84 |
| Rehwinkel-Vasilinda | 75 |
| Richardson | 70 |
| Rodriguez | 100 |
| Rogers | 84 |
| Rouson | 95 |
| Saunders | 100 |
| Schwartz | 89 |
| Slosberg | 95 |
| Stafford | 90 |
| Stark | 95 |
| Stewart | 80 |
| Taylor | 85 |
| Thurston | 100 |
| Torres | 100 |
| Waldman | 80 |
| Watson, B | 100 |
| Watson, C | 85 |
| Williams | 95 |
| Zimmerman | 70 |
The Florida Squeeze 
[…] ← 2013 TFS House Scorecard – The Ratings […]
LikeLike
Jared Moskowitz WTF?????
Can he be primaried?
LikeLike
These scores are shocking. Absolutely unacceptable most of the Democrats. I’m looking forward to seeing it hear scores used against the Demos who talk a good game at the next set if town meetings or party gatherings.
LikeLike
The problem is we have a Democratic Party at the state level that is piss poor at messaging and at making it clear that our legislators need to vote a party line. The only votes that Democrats are consistent on are those involving education and vouchers because they are fearful of the teacher’s union putting a primary against them.
Otherwise it is a free for all. Planned Parenthood embarrassed itself this session allowing Ds to run free on choice issues, the environmental lobby is perceived as crazy so they lose Ds and on economics no one holds the line.
It is a sad state of affairs when the son of the longtime state committeeman from your most powerful county barely votes better than many Republicans according to this score-sheet.
Plainly disgusting but we have the FDP elites who values access over ideology to blame.
LikeLike
The Democrats are not normally on the side of FEA. FEA has sold their soul last session but the Ds are scared of them since they can play either way. The group that has embarrassed themselves are actual the elected officials. We saw sessiona and even the ones that got a 100% from this scorecard were a joke. Enough said.
LikeLike
What? FEA sold its soul? What 100 rated legislators are bad? They had perfect scores? Are you inhaling Mike?
LikeLike
Congrats to those with a 100 rating and Shane on those who did otherwise.
LikeLike
I like Katie Edwards. She’s smart, pragmatic and understands she dies best for herself and her district by voting down the middle. Moskowitz similarly smart and he will prove to be an effective legislator.
LikeLike
I find it interesting that Democrats from safe seats vote as badly as those from marginal seats.
Analysis please?
LikeLike
Also notable that the liberal choice Mia Jones had a lower score than the supposed Republican Rouson
hmmm…
LikeLike
Berman, Pafford, Rader perfect scores with Slosberg close. Palm Beach the best delegation.
LikeLike
Honestly do you want to know why so many Democrats ad-lib votes?
1- The party is absent most of session behind on updates and showing a distinct lack of interest in holding members accountable.
2- Local parties are completely disconnected from what is going on
3- The Progressive movement has been hijacked due to this void in messaging by extreme groups who rather than intellectually try and win the battle instead make everything into a game, and us versus them and come across as silly bitter losers. Your friends at Florida Watch Action are the most obvious examples of this
4- Too many Democratic activists are cozy personally with elected officials and choose not to hold them accountable for horrible votes
5- Progressives have become so obsessed with social issues that when things like the foreclosure bill you scored come up they are willing to be bought by lobbyists but still claim to be liberals because they voted right on abortion and vouchers
6- The unions have played ball with the devil and have progressively grown weaker and weaker in the state – The Teachers are the lone exception
7- The trial lawyers are so inept and disreputable these days that nobody cares what they say even though they almost always right on the issues
We lose and lose and lose and yet make matters worse.
LikeLike
Your ilk is holding our party to a standard which they can never meet. It is proposterous that we would subject our Democrats to an ideoloigical litmus test that demand total conformity.
You rate Mark Pafford a 100 and Katie Edwards just a 35 but who is more effective? Who gets more for the district they represent? Who is better respected by the leadership?
The answer is Katie Edwards the new superstar of the Democrats whether you like it or not.
LikeLike
I don’t know how some one can be a superstar of the party if they vote more often than not on key issues with the leadership of the other party. Her score is closer to Weatherford’s than Thurston.
In defense of Edwards I would say she never claimed she was anything but a moderate to conservative. Some of these other members claimed to be liberals but are anything but liberals.
LikeLike
How effective is Katie Edwards? Tell me what she brought back to the district? Her bill passed the House but died in the Senate? She has one aide working out of Dubai and already fired her Tallahassee person. The woman has already been chewed up and spit out by the Republicans who thought that she was their new Joe Abruzzo.
LikeLike
She is no superstar. She is cocky to soon and she think she is being respect she is not. Her district is no happy with her. She needs to wake up a bit and she can redeem herself. She might be pretty but your looks don’t go that far. Ask Will Weatherford.
LikeLike
damn computer button not working again. I was saying she is too cocky and we are not happy here in Broward with her. Shape up or ship out. We vote you in and we can vote you out.
LikeLike
Katie Edwards is a star. Not only is she pretty as Mike says but she is smart enough to know the Dem leadership has no power at all in the body and loud whiny leftist activists and bums in basements who write blogs like this cannot touch her. If we were smart which we are not we would build the party around her. Mike you are an idiot. So is Kartik for that matter and all these leftist hippie jokes that have ruined our party. A true Florida Democrat is conservative. Our history is such.
LikeLike
We have to be able to beat Katie Edwards with this sort of record, right?
LikeLike
The local Democrats in Broward are inept and disorganized. Progressive groups never properly target primaries there. She’s as good as a lock until termed.
LikeLike
[…] inaugural TFS House scorecard which was released yesterday showed that the most conservative members of the Democratic Caucus were in fact members of the new […]
LikeLike
[…] business interests on these matters. Our House scorecard released last week showed many Democrats with poor scores, in many cases due to poor votes on environmental issues which we consider important at this site. […]
LikeLike
[…] House ratings here […]
LikeLike
[…] business interests on these matters. Our House scorecard released last year showed many Democrats with poor scores, in several cases due exclusively to poor votes on environmental issues which we consider important […]
LikeLike
[…] we will score the most prominent votes involving the proliferation of firearms in this state in our annual legislative ratings. We will keep our readers informed of each and every outrageous expansion of the ability to obtain, […]
LikeLike
[…] liberal than Rep. Waldman based on just about every available vote ratings metric including our own scorecard from last session are more aligned with the Rouson faction, if they are to be called that. […]
LikeLike
[…] inaugural TFS House scorecard showed that the most conservative members of the Democratic Caucus in 2014 were in fact members of […]
LikeLike
[…] attempt in as many years to mandate the use of body cameras for Florida law enforcement officers. A 2013 analysis of his freshman voting record by a liberal Florida political blog ranked him among the middle tier […]
LikeLike
[…] attempt in as many years to mandate the use of body cameras for Florida law enforcement officers. A 2013 analysis of his freshman voting record by a liberal Florida political blog ranked him among the middle tier […]
LikeLike