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Rep. Collin Peterson’s 2020 Report Card

Representative from Minnesota's 7th District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 1991 – Jan 3, 2021

These statistics cover Peterson’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 30, 2021.

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 Peterson’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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Held the most committee positions compared to Minnesota Delegation

Peterson held a leadership position on 1 committee and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. For comparison to other Members of Congress, we assigned a score giving five points for each full committee leadership position and one point for each subcommittee leadership position. View Peterson’s Profile »

Compare to all Minnesota Delegation (88th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (78th percentile); House Democrats (86th percentile); All Representatives (87th percentile).

 

Got the most cosponsors on their bills compared to Minnesota Delegation

Peterson’s bills and resolutions had 593 cosponsors in the 116th 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 Minnesota Delegation (88th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (69th percentile); House Democrats (62nd percentile); All Representatives (77th percentile).

 

Ranked the top leader compared to Minnesota Delegation

Our 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 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Peterson’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Minnesota Delegation (88th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (75th percentile); House Democrats (69th percentile); All Representatives (82nd percentile).

 

Ranked 2nd most politically right compared to House Democrats

Our 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 116th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Peterson’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Minnesota Delegation (50th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (72nd percentile); House Democrats (99th percentile); All Representatives (65th percentile).

 

Joined bipartisan bills the 3rd most often compared to House Democrats

In this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 275 bills that Peterson cosponsored, 37% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Minnesota Delegation (50th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (68th percentile); House Democrats (99th percentile); All Representatives (71st percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
 

Cosponsored the 13th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 1 other)

Peterson cosponsored 275 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 Minnesota Delegation (25th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38th percentile); House Democrats (5th percentile); All Representatives (36th percentile).

 

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 19th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 5 others)

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 26 of Peterson’s 28 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Peterson caucused with in the 116th Congress.

Compare to all Minnesota Delegation (88th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (93rd percentile); House Democrats (92nd percentile); All Representatives (94th percentile).

Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic.
 

Got bicameral support on the 60th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 11 others)

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 8 of Peterson’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the Senate. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Those bills were: H.Res. 381: Recognizing the REALTORS Land Institute …; H.Res. 1133: Honoring the life and legacy …; H.R. 1488: Child Care Workforce and Facilities …; H.R. 4895: CFTC Reauthorization Act of 2019; H.R. 5203: Promoting Rural Exports Act of …; H.R. 6197: CFTC Reauthorization Act of 2019; H.R. 7388: RLF Act; H.J.Res. 95: Proposing an amendment to the …

Compare to all Minnesota Delegation (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (80th percentile); House Democrats (73rd percentile); All Representatives (84th percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.
 

Got their bills out of committee the 59th least often compared to House Democrats (tied with 31 others)

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Peterson introduced 3 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 1379: Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act; H.R. 4895: CFTC Reauthorization Act of 2019; H.R. 7388: RLF Act

Compare to all Minnesota Delegation (50th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (45th percentile); House Democrats (24th percentile); All Representatives (47th percentile).

 

Got influential cosponsors the 80th most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 12 others)

7 of Peterson’s bills and resolutions in the 116th 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. 45: Congratulating the American Farm Bureau …; H.R. 1379: Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act; H.R. 4895: CFTC Reauthorization Act of 2019; H.R. 6035: American Wild Game and Livestock …; H.R. 6197: CFTC Reauthorization Act of 2019; H.R. 7388: RLF Act; H.R. 7490: RAMP–UP Act

Compare to all Minnesota Delegation (75th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (72nd percentile); House Democrats (65th percentile); All Representatives (79th percentile).

 

Laws Enacted

Peterson introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 116th 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. 7388: RLF Act

Compare to all Minnesota Delegation (38th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38th percentile); House Democrats (25th percentile); All Representatives (37th 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.
 

Bills Introduced

Peterson introduced 28 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Minnesota Delegation (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (65th percentile); House Democrats (51st percentile); All Representatives (67th percentile).

 

Missed Votes

Peterson missed 1.8% of votes (17 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Peterson’s Profile »

Compare to all Minnesota Delegation (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (34th percentile); All Representatives (42nd 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 116th Congress) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.