Ranked in the Top Conservative Echelons
The leading grassroots organizations rate the Texas legislative bodies after each session in order to give voters a meaningful picture of each legislator’s voting record. Most of these groups have now posted their ratings. These independent evaluation confirm that I did what I said I was going to do: champion conservative principles. (Read my position on common issues here.)
Ranked Most Conservative Texas Senator in Rice University Study
The Texas Tribune published an analysis of the Texas senators, and it ranks all Texas Senators on a liberal-to-conservative spectrum based on all role-call votes. The analysis was led by Mark P. Jones, a political science fellow at Rice University.1 The analysis ranks Texas Senators by how conservative or liberal we are relative to other senators, and it ranked me at the top of the conservative chain as the most conservative Texas State Senator. (See the article here.)
I was glad to see other freshmen and sophomore senators ranked in the upper conservative echelon. In fact, all of the freshmen Liberty 8 Senators were in the top 10. I look forward to working with them to advance policies that secure the rights of the people and facilitate prosperity for all Texans.
Rated 100% Fiscally Responsible by Empower Texans’ Fiscal Responsibility Index
The group Empower Texans rates legislators on their fiscal responsibility index to show Texans a clear picture of their legislators’ positions on fiscal matters. The index measures how we voted on budgetary items and issues that relate to the size and role of government. Empower Texans promotes maximum economic opportunity for everyone through lighter government burdens and taxes. Reporting a tie of the top three, Empower Texans rated me as 100% fiscally responsible.2 (See the article here.)
Texas does not have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem. We must promote a moderate government that leaves a small foot print on the individual and the economy. We must not burden the people with excessive regulations and taxes, but rather we must facilitate opportunity by ensuring peace, individual rights, and economic liberty.
Rated 100% Pro-Life by Texas Right to Life
Texas Right to Life diligently watches all bills that hold human life as sacred, both of the young and the elderly. After every session, they score each legislator by their support of such bills, or alternatively, their support for bills that show disregard for life, As was my goal, I was graded as 100% pro-life. I believe that we are created by God in his image, which bestows sanctity on every life, but whatever your religious position, our society cannot improve until we regard all human life as sacred.3 (See the scorecard here.)
Ranked One of the Top Conservative Leaders Texas Eagle Forum
Texas Eagle Forum (TEF) champions the rights espoused in the Bill of Rights of our U.S. Constitution. They grade legislators according to their votes on a wide range of bills that relate to those rights, including religious freedom, border security, the right to life, moderate government, and sound fiscal policy. TEF ranked my voting record in the top one percent of senators who advanced constitutional rights.4 (See the scorecard here.)
Ranked One of the Top Conservative Leaders by Concerned Women for America of Texas (CWA) selected bills that were aimed at advancing religious freedoms, social-conservatism, parental rights, and the rule of law. Senators were scored according to their votes on those bills and those they authored. CWA scored my voting record in the top one percent of senators who supported those conservative efforts.5 (See the scorecard here.)
What the Scores Mean for Texas
I did what I said I was going to do because I care. The policies of socialism, which the liberals have adopted into their agenda, place all power and money into the hands of a few in government, usurping constitutional rights guaranteed to the citizens. Our citizens need opportunity, not redistribution of wealth. Texans need jobs, not government handouts. In order for our society to maintain its blessing of freedom, our government must be moderate in size, it must leave a minimal footprint on the individual and the economy. Join me in the movement to achieve that goal for Texans.