How Have All Those Freshman Members We Elected In November Been Voting?

The worst new senator (AZ) and worst new House member (NJ)

First the good news: Although there haven't really been enough controversial votes yet to definitively analyze the voting records of the congressional freshman class, there are mostly pretty good signs. With every day that passes, records are beginning to become somewhat clearer, at least at the extremes. According to ProgressivePunch, 38 freshman House members are tied for the #1 spot-- with 100% perfect scores. There are obvious perfect voters like AOC (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Joe Neguse (D-CO), the Levin Boys (Mike from California and Andy from Michigan), Debra Haaland (D-NM) and Chuy Garcia (D-IL) but even some of the reactionary candidates have been voting exactly the way the Democrats who entrusted them with high office would have wanted them to vote-- crap candidates who will likely soon start disappointing, like Jason Crow (New Dem-CO) and Susie Lee (New Dem-NV), for example. For now... 100%.

But some Democrats have already started slipping over to the Dark Side and finding their comfort zones on the other side of the aisle. Further down the list of freshmen, there are 10 tied for 144th most progressive: Cindy Axne (D-IA), Abby Finkenauer (D-IA), Chrissy Houlahan (New Dem-PA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA), Katie Porter (D-CA), Harley Rouda (New Dem-CA), Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog-NJ), Elissa Slotkin (New Dem-MI) and Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA). Republicans are already starting to look at some of these freshman as obvious targets for 2020 since they are already beginning to show signs of disappointing the Democratic base. For example, in Orange County-- CA-48, the coastal district Rouda won from Dana Rohrabacher last year, 157,837 (53.8%) to 136,899 (46.4%)-- Republican businessman James Bradley, who was the top finishing GOP candidate in last year's U.S. Senate race, declared against Rouda, whose congressional office is said to be in utter turmoil and disarray, last week.

Right-of-center freshmen like Blue Dog Mikey Sherrill, are going to need all the help they can get if they keep voting against progressive bills and refuse to back popular progressive initiatives like Medicare-For-All and the Green New Deal. History has taught us that Democrats like her will wind up without support from a crucial sector of the electorate: committed progressive activists. In NJ-11, former governor Chris Christie has already started pushing his wife to run against Sherrill. It's a very swingy red-leaning district (R+3) and the only thing Sherrill will be able to count on for reelection is suburban revulsion at Trump at the top of the ticket. The Christies have lived in the district for 25 years and are very popular there.

And those ten aren't even the worst problem-children-- not by a loingshot. Tied as the 202nd most progressive (which is not at all progressive) are 7 freshmen who keep finding themselves voting with the GOP an awful lot:

• Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)
• Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS)
• Antonio Delgado (D-NY)
• Jared Golden (D-ME)
• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)
• Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)
• Xochitl Torres Small (Blue Dog-NM)

Now we're in real stinky garbage territory. Those 7 above will all have tough reelection battles, if not primaries. Xochitl Torres Small already has two declared GOP opponents... as her support from progressives activists evaporates. And that brings us to the 3 worst freshmen Democrats-- tied for the 231st "most progressive" and already with voting records better than only 2 sewer lane Democrats, Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX) and Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN). Tied for the worst freshmen of all and just begging to be one termers:

• Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)
• Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)
• Jeff Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ)

The DCCC announced their 2020 frontline program yesterday-- 44 Democratic incumbents, mostly shitty freshmen, who are in trouble for reelection. The only non-freshmen on the list are a couple of truly crap Blue Dogs-- Tom O'Halleran (AZ) and Josh Gottheimer (NJ)-- and a progressive, Matt Cartwright (PA) in a Republican-leaning seat. O'Halleran's biggest political problem is a primary from progressive Democrat, Eva Putzova. As for the freshman members, most of them are Republican-lite types who can count on Trump-hatred to get them over the hump next year, although most of them are likely to be defeated in 2022 after Pelosi leads the Democratic Party into disappointing everyone on everything important... But at least she passed her own top priority: Pay-Go. Which of the freshmen on the list deserve some support? So far I'd say Mike Levin (CA)... but I'm holding out some hope that Katie Porter (CA), Jahana Hayes (CT), Jared Golden (ME), Andy Kim (NJ) and Kim Schrier (WA) are on their way to proving themselves worthwhile members of Congress. The rest have already proven themselves the contrary. Most of the good freshmen are not on the DCCC Frontline list of course.

Over in the Senate, there are are 4 freshmen tied as the 47th most progressive-- two Democrats and two Republicans. The Republicans are Josh Hawley (MO) and Martha McSally (AZ). The Democrats are the only freshmen in the class, both of whom had very right-wing voting records in the House-- Jacky Rosen (NV) and the worst of the worst, the Democrat who applauded the loudest and most often and with the greatest enthusiasm for Trump Tuesday night, Kyrsten Sinema. All four are rated "F," of course. The four pictured below have nothing to do with these four from the Senate-- and do I mean nothing!

Hey, but while we're all here, this is a list of all the House Democratic freshmen and the committees they were assigned to. You might find it useful moving forward... or not, but I'll be using it s a reference for the next couple of years.

Colin Allred (New Dem, TX)

• Foreign Affairs
• Transportation and Infrastructure
• Veterans' Affairs

Cindy Axne (New Dem-IA)

• Agriculture
• Financial Services

Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)

• Agriculture
• Veterans' Affairs

Ed Case (Blue Dog-HI)

• Appropriations
• Natural Resources

Sean Casten (New Dem-IL)

• Foreign Affairs
• Science

Gil Cisneros (D-CA)

• Veterans' Affairs
• Armed Services

T.J. Cox (D-CA)

• Agriculture
• Natural Resources

Angie Craig (New Dem-MN)

• Agriculture
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Jason Crow (New Dem-CO)

• Armed Services
• Small Business

Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)

• Natural Resources
• Veterans' Affairs

Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS)

• Small Business
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Madeleine Dean (New Dem-PA)

• Financial Services
• Judiciary

Antonio Delgado (D-NY)

• Agriculture
• Small Business
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Veronica Escobar (New Dem-TX)

• Armed Services
• Judiciary

Abby Finkenauer (D-IA)

• Small Business
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Lizzie Fletcher (New Dem-TX)

• Science
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Chuy Garcia (D-IL)

• Financial Services
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Sylvia Garcia (D-TX)

• Financial Services
• Judiciary

Jared Golden (D-ME)

• Armed Services
• Small Business

Debra Haaland (D-NM)

• Armed Services
• Natural Resources

Josh Harder (New Dem-CA)

• Agriculture
• Education and Labor

Jahana Hayes (D-CT)

• Agriculture
• Education and Labor

Katie Hill (New Dem-CT)

• Armed Services
• Oversight
• Science

Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)

• Armed Services
• Science

Stephen Horsford (New Dem-NV)

• Budget
• Ways and Means
• Natural Resources

Chrissy Houlahan (New Dem-PA)

• Armed Services
• Small Business
• Foreign Affairs

Andy Kim (D-NJ)

• Armed Services
• Small Business

Ann Kirkpatrick (New Dem-AZ)

• Agriculture
• Appropriations

Susie Lee (New Dem-NV)

• Education and Labor
• Veterans' Affairs

Andy Levin (D-MI)

• Education and Labor
• Foreign Affairs
• Veterans' Affairs

Mike Levin (D-CA)

• Natural Resources

Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA)

• Armed Services
• Veterans' Affairs

Tom Malinowski (New Dem-NJ)

• Veterans' Affairs
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)

• Financial Services
• Science

Lucy McBath (New Dem-GA)

• Education and Labor
• Judiciary

Joseph Morelle (D-NY)

• Budget
• Education and Labor
• Rules

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (New Dem-FL)

• Judiciary
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Joe Neguse (D-CO)

• Judiciary
• Natural Resources

AOC (D-NY)

• Financial Services
• Oversight

Ilhan Omar (D-MN)

• Budget
• Education and Labor
• Foreign Affairs

Chris Pappas (New Dem-NH)

• Veterans' Affairs
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Dean Phillips (New Dem-MN)

• Financial Services
• Foreign Affairs

Katie Porter (D-CA)

• Financial Services

Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)

• Financial Services
• Oversight

The worst Democratic members of Congress-- posing proudly

Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)

• Veterans' Affairs
• Homeland Security

Harley Rouda (New Dem-CA)

• Oversight
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA)

• Judiciary
• Rules

Kim Schrier (New Dem-WA)

• Agriculture
• Education and Labor

Donna Shalala (D-FL)

• Education and Labor
• Rules

Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog-NJ)

• Armed Services
• Space

Elissa Slotkin (New Dem-MI)

• Armed Services
• Homeland Security

Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA)

• Agriculture
• Foreign Affairs

Greg Stanton (New Dem-AZ)

• Judiciary
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Haley Stevens (New Dem-MI)

• Education and Labor
• Science

Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)

• Financial Services
• Oversight

Xochitl Torres Small (Blue Dog-NM)

• Armed Services
• Homeland Security

Lori Trahan (D-MA)

• Armed Services
• Education and Labor

David Trone (D-MD)

• Foreign Affairs
• Education and Labor

Lauren Underwood (D-IL)

• Veterans' Affairs
• Education and Labor
• Homeland Security

Jeff Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ)

• Agriculture
• Natural Resources

Jennifer Wexton (New Dem-VA)

• Financial Services
• Science

Susan Wild (New Dem-PA)

• Foreign Affairs
• Education and Labor