Collin Peterson, Representative for Minnesota's 7th Congressional District

Peterson is the representative for Minnesota’s 7^th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 1991. Peterson is next up for reelection in 2020.

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2019 Report Card for Peterson.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Peterson is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Peterson has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Jun 1, 2020. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

United States Chamber of Commerce: 82% NumbersUSA: 74% Human Rights Campaign: 67% The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws: B Americans for Prosperity: 54% FreedomWorks: 53% American Civil Liberties Union: 42% The Club for Growth: 41% League of Conservation Voters: 20% NIAC Action: D Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 11%

Committee Membership

Collin Peterson sits on the following committees:

House Committee on Agriculture Chair
House Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Oversight and Investigations subcommittees

Enacted Legislation

Peterson was the primary sponsor of 9 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

View All »

Does 9 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Peterson sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Health (27%) Transportation and Public Works (18%) Science, Technology, Communications (14%) Environmental Protection (14%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (9%) Finance and Financial Sector (9%) Agriculture and Food (9%)

Recent Bills

Some of Peterson’s most recently sponsored bills include...

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

Peterson voted Nay

H.Res. 798: Appointing and authorizing managers for the impeachment trial of Donald John Trump, President of the United States.

Passed 228/193 on Jan 15, 2020.

Peterson voted No

H.R. 4617: SHIELD Act

Passed 227/181 on Oct 23, 2019.

Peterson voted Nay

H.R. 2203: Homeland Security Improvement Act

Passed 230/194 on Sep 25, 2019.

Peterson voted Nay

H.R. 1625: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018

Passed 256/167 on Mar 22, 2018.

This was the House vote on the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (preprint text). With this vote, the House replaced the text of H.R. 1625, formerly ...

Peterson voted Yea

H.R. 2048: Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015

Passed 338/88 on May 13, 2015.

The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of ...

Peterson voted Nay

H.R. 83 (113th): Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015

Passed 219/206 on Dec 11, 2014.

This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 [pdf], which was approved by the House on December ...

Peterson voted Aye

H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015

Passed 319/108 on Sep 17, 2014.

Peterson voted Yea

H.R. 3393 (113th): Student and Family Tax Simplification Act

Passed 227/187 on Jul 24, 2014.

Peterson voted Aye

H.R. 1947 (113th): Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013

Failed 195/234 on Jun 20, 2013.

Peterson voted Aye

H.R. 6233 (112th): Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2012

Passed 223/197 on Aug 2, 2012.

Peterson voted Aye

H.R. 1249 (112th): Leahy-Smith America Invents Act

Passed 304/117 on Jun 23, 2011.

The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack ...

Peterson voted No

H.Res. 801 (110th): Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3688) to implement the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement.

Passed 349/55 on Nov 7, 2007.

Missed Votes

From Jan 1991 to May 2020, Peterson missed 368 of 18,918 roll call votes, which is 1.9%. This is on par with the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1991 Jan-Mar	62	3	4.8%	59^th
1991 Apr-Jun	139	3	2.2%	41^st
1991 Jul-Sep	81	0	0.0%	0^th
1991 Oct-Nov	162	6	3.7%	72^nd
1992 Jan-Mar	66	1	1.5%	41^st
1992 Apr-Jun	185	1	0.5%	12^th
1992 Jul-Sep	196	1	0.5%	19^th
1992 Oct-Oct	41	3	7.3%	66^th
1993 Jan-Mar	127	2	1.6%	33^rd
1993 Apr-Jun	190	6	3.2%	37^th
1993 Jul-Sep	164	1	0.6%	33^rd
1993 Oct-Nov	134	3	2.2%	61^st
1994 Jan-Mar	95	0	0.0%	0^th
1994 Apr-Jun	219	1	0.5%	17^th
1994 Jul-Sep	142	3	2.1%	44^th
1994 Oct-Nov	51	0	0.0%	0^th
1995 Jan-Mar	279	3	1.1%	47^th
1995 Apr-Jun	189	7	3.7%	68^th
1995 Jul-Sep	232	2	0.9%	32^nd
1995 Oct-Dec	185	5	2.7%	60^th
1996 Jan-Mar	110	1	0.9%	25^th
1996 Apr-Jun	182	4	2.2%	44^th
1996 Jul-Sep	163	2	1.2%	40^th
1997 Jan-Mar	71	0	0.0%	0^th
1997 Apr-Jun	174	4	2.3%	59^th
1997 Jul-Sep	232	4	1.7%	50^th
1997 Oct-Nov	163	0	0.0%	0^th
1998 Jan-Mar	89	2	2.2%	52^nd
1998 Apr-Jun	185	0	0.0%	0^th
1998 Jul-Sep	199	1	0.5%	17^th
1998 Oct-Dec	74	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Jan-Mar	77	1	1.3%	34^th
1999 Apr-Jun	184	2	1.1%	26^th
1999 Jul-Sep	204	2	1.0%	41^st
1999 Oct-Nov	146	1	0.7%	25^th
2000 Jan-Mar	95	1	1.1%	21^st
2000 Apr-Jun	277	4	1.4%	38^th
2000 Jul-Sep	130	0	0.0%	0^th
2000 Oct-Dec	101	5	5.0%	40^th
2001 Jan-Mar	75	1	1.3%	44^th
2001 Apr-Jun	135	5	3.7%	74^th
2001 Jul-Sep	149	15	10.1%	92^nd
2001 Oct-Dec	153	3	2.0%	46^th
2002 Jan-Mar	79	0	0.0%	0^th
2002 Apr-Jun	203	16	7.9%	90^th
2002 Jul-Sep	141	0	0.0%	0^th
2002 Oct-Nov	61	2	3.3%	60^th
2003 Jan-Mar	94	7	7.4%	88^th
2003 Apr-Jun	239	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Jul-Sep	193	1	0.5%	14^th
2003 Oct-Dec	151	3	2.0%	30^th
2004 Jan-Mar	104	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Apr-Jun	221	1	0.5%	20^th
2004 Jul-Sep	161	3	1.9%	32^nd
2004 Oct-Dec	58	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Jan-Mar	90	4	4.4%	66^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	3	1.1%	36^th
2005 Jul-Sep	146	2	1.4%	46^th
2005 Oct-Dec	163	2	1.2%	26^th
2006 Jan-Mar	81	7	8.6%	87^th
2006 Apr-Jun	276	6	2.2%	59^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	1	0.6%	28^th
2006 Nov-Dec	27	0	0.0%	0^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	3	1.4%	45^th
2007 Apr-Jun	393	3	0.8%	24^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	5	1.6%	46^th
2007 Oct-Dec	263	2	0.8%	14^th
2008 Jan-Mar	149	6	4.0%	57^th
2008 Apr-Jun	321	10	3.1%	52^nd
2008 Jul-Sep	205	24	11.7%	93^rd
2008 Oct-Dec	15	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	2	1.1%	37^th
2009 Apr-Jun	303	9	3.0%	68^th
2009 Jul-Sep	268	4	1.5%	43^rd
2009 Oct-Dec	246	1	0.4%	10^th
2010 Jan-Mar	195	2	1.0%	24^th
2010 Apr-Jun	219	6	2.7%	44^th
2010 Jul-Sep	151	1	0.7%	20^th
2010 Nov-Dec	99	2	2.0%	36^th
2011 Jan-Mar	212	1	0.5%	24^th
2011 Apr-Jun	281	2	0.7%	33^rd
2011 Jul-Sep	247	1	0.4%	19^th
2011 Oct-Dec	208	18	8.7%	88^th
2012 Jan-Mar	151	2	1.3%	43^rd
2012 Apr-Jun	299	8	2.7%	63^rd
2012 Jul-Sep	152	1	0.7%	31^st
2012 Nov-Dec	51	2	3.9%	55^th
2013 Jan-Jan	5	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Mar	89	1	1.1%	39^th
2013 Apr-Jun	215	1	0.5%	24^th
2013 Jul-Sep	200	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Oct-Dec	137	3	2.2%	55^th
2014 Jan-Mar	148	0	0.0%	0^th
2014 Apr-Jun	219	0	0.0%	0^th
2014 Jul-Sep	147	0	0.0%	0^th
2014 Nov-Dec	49	0	0.0%	0^th
2015 Jan-Mar	144	3	2.1%	48^th
2015 Apr-Jun	244	1	0.4%	26^th
2015 Jul-Sep	139	2	1.4%	52^nd
2015 Oct-Dec	177	0	0.0%	0^th
2016 Jan-Mar	137	1	0.7%	17^th
2016 Apr-Jun	204	2	1.0%	33^rd
2016 Jul-Sep	232	5	2.2%	67^th
2016 Nov-Dec	48	2	4.2%	77^th
2017 Jan-Mar	208	2	1.0%	36^th
2017 Apr-Jun	136	1	0.7%	31^st
2017 Jul-Sep	199	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Oct-Dec	167	2	1.2%	41^st
2018 Jan-Mar	129	3	2.3%	53^rd
2018 Apr-Jun	184	0	0.0%	0^th
2018 Jul-Sep	102	29	28.4%	98^th
2018 Nov-Dec	85	20	23.5%	93^rd
2019 Jan-Mar	136	0	0.0%	0^th
2019 Apr-Jun	294	4	1.4%	54^th
2019 Jul-Sep	125	3	2.4%	76^th
2019 Oct-Dec	146	1	0.7%	27^th
2020 Jan-Mar	102	0	0.0%	0^th
2020 Apr-May	13	0	0.0%	0^th

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:

unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
GPO Member Guide for the photo
GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills

Rep. Collin Peterson

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Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Committee Membership

Enacted Legislation

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Recent Bills

Voting Record

Key Votes

Peterson voted Nay

Peterson voted No

Peterson voted Nay

Peterson voted Nay

Peterson voted Yea

Peterson voted Nay

Peterson voted Aye

Peterson voted Yea

Peterson voted Aye

Peterson voted Aye

Peterson voted Aye

Peterson voted No

Missed Votes

Primary Sources