Rep. André Carson’s 2016 Report Card
Representative
from Indiana's 7th District
Democrat
Serving Mar 13, 2008 – Jan 3, 2025
These statistics cover Carson’s record during the 114th Congress (Jan 6, 2015-Jan 3, 2017) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Aug 24, 2017. The statistics were updated on Jan 20, 2017 and Aug 24, 2017 to improve how we counted enacted laws. Originally published on Jan 7, 2017.
A higher or lower number below doesn’t necessarily make this legislator any better or worse, or more or less effective, than other Members of Congress. We present these statistics for you to understand the quantitative aspects of Carson’s legislative career and make your own judgements based on what activities you think are important.
Keep in mind that there are many important aspects of being a legislator besides what can be measured, such as constituent services and performing oversight of the executive branch, which aren’t reflected here.
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Cosponsored the most bills compared to Indiana DelegationCarson cosponsored 392 bills and resolutions introduced by other Members of Congress. Cosponsorship shows a willingness to work with others to advance policy goals. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (89th percentile); House Democrats (59th percentile); All Representatives (81st percentile). |
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Ranked most politically left compared to Indiana DelegationOur unique ideology analysis assigns a score to Members of Congress according to their legislative behavior by how similar the pattern of bills and resolutions they cosponsor are to other Members of Congress. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in the 114th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Carson’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Indiana Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (41st percentile); All Representatives (18th percentile). |
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Supported government transparency the most often compared to Indiana DelegationGovTrack looked at whether Carson supported any of 40 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Carson 5 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Carson cosponsored H.R. 430: DISCLOSE 2015 Act; H.R. 20: Government By the People Act …; H.R. 2173: Redistricting Reform Act of 2015; H.R. 4177: Stop Foreign Donations Affecting Our …; H.R. 6340: Presidential Accountability Act Compare to all Indiana Delegation (89th percentile); House Democrats (70th percentile); All Representatives (85th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 2nd least often compared to Indiana Delegation (tied with 2 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Carson introduced 1 bill in the 114th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 4957: To designate the Federal building … Compare to all Indiana Delegation (11th percentile); House Democrats (43rd percentile); All Representatives (26th percentile). |
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Ranked the 3rd bottom/follower compared to Indiana DelegationOur unique leadership analysis looks at who is cosponsoring whose bills. A higher score shows a greater ability to get cosponsors on bills. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in the 114th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Carson’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Indiana Delegation (22nd percentile); House Democrats (66th percentile); All Representatives (55th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 93rd most often compared to All RepresentativesIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 392 bills that Carson cosponsored, 31% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (78th percentile); House Democrats (54th percentile); All Representatives (79th percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Laws EnactedCarson introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 114th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills » Those bills were: H.R. 4957: To designate the Federal building … Compare to all Indiana Delegation (33rd percentile); House Democrats (55th percentile); All Representatives (49th percentile). The legislator must be the primary sponsor of the bill or joint resolution that was enacted or the primary sponsor of a bill or joint resolution for which at least about one third of its text was incorporated into another bill or joint resolution that was enacted as law, as determined by an automated analysis. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. We also exclude bills where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill. |
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Bills IntroducedCarson introduced 18 bills and resolutions in the 114th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (67th percentile); House Democrats (54th percentile); All Representatives (59th percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors4 of Carson’s bills and resolutions in the 114th Congress had a cosponsor who was a chair or ranking member of a committee that the bill was referred to. Getting support from committee leaders on relevant committees is a crucial step in moving legislation forward. Those bills were: H.Res. 208: Equality for All Resolution of …; H.R. 608: To authorize the President to …; H.R. 1866: Young Americans Financial Literacy Act; H.R. 4957: To designate the Federal building … Compare to all Indiana Delegation (44th percentile); House Democrats (56th percentile); All Representatives (60th percentile). |
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Working with the SenateThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.Res. 109: Expressing support for the designation …; H.Res. 627: Expressing support for the designation … Compare to all Indiana Delegation (33rd percentile); House Democrats (37th percentile); All Representatives (41st percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 5 of Carson’s 18 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 114th Congress. Compare to all Indiana Delegation (33rd percentile); House Democrats (46th percentile); All Representatives (43rd percentile). |
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Committee PositionsCarson held a leadership position on 0 committees and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Carson’s Profile » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (56th percentile); House Democrats (39th percentile); All Representatives (39th percentile). |
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CosponsorsCarson’s bills and resolutions had 346 cosponsors in the 114th Congress. Securing cosponsors is an important part of getting support for a bill, although having more cosponsors does not always mean a bill will get a vote. View Bills » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (67th percentile); House Democrats (66th percentile); All Representatives (69th percentile). |
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Missed VotesCarson missed 1.5% of votes (20 of 1,325 votes) in the 114th Congress. View Carson’s Profile » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (56th percentile); All Representatives (36th percentile). The Speaker of the House, per current House rules, is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings” and is never recorded as missing a vote, and may not be included in the comparison with other representatives if not voting. The delegates from the five island territories and the District of Columbia are not eligible to vote in most roll call votes and so may not appear here if not elligible for any vote during the time period of these statistics. |
Additional Notes
Leadership/Ideology: The leadership and ideology scores are not displayed for Members of Congress who introduced fewer than 10 bills, or, for ideology, for Members of Congress that have a low leadership score, as there is usually not enough data in these cases to compute reliable leadership and ideology statistics.
Missing Bills: We exclude bills from some statistics where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill because the bill’s text was replaced in whole with unrelated provisions (i.e. it became a vehicle for passage of unrelated provisions).
Ranking Members (RkMembs): The chair of a committee is always selected from the political party that holds the most seats in the chamber, called the “majority party”. The “ranking member” (sometimes “RkMembs”) is the title given to the senior-most member of the committee not in the majority party.
Freshmen/Sophomores: Freshmen and sophomores are Members of Congress whose first term (in the same chamber at the end of the 114th Congress) was the 114th Congress (freshmen) or 113th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
