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Rep. Debbie Lesko

Representative for Arizona’s 8th District

pronounced DE-bee // LESS-koh

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Lesko is the representative for Arizona’s 8th congressional district (view map) and is a Republican. She has served since May 7, 2018. Lesko is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.

Lesko is among the Republican legislators who, by calling for entire states to be disenfranchised in the 2020 presidential election, fomented the terrorist attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 that aimed to prevent the determination of the next president of the United States. Shortly after the 2020 election, Lesko joined a case before the Supreme Court calling for all the votes for president in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — states that were narrowly won by Democrats — to be discounted, claiming that some voters there followed procedures set by the wrong state officials. The case amplified lies and conspiracy theories that fueled the movement that led to the attack on the Capitol. The Supreme Court rejected the case. Following the rejection of several cases before the Supreme Court, one legislator called for violence. On January 6, 2021 in the hours after the attack on the Capitol, Lesko voted for the exclusion of Arizona and/or Pennsylvania — states narrowly won by Democrats — from the count of Electoral College votes that determined the next President of the United States.
Photo of Rep. Debbie Lesko [R-AZ8]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2020 Report Card for Lesko.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Lesko 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 ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Lesko has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Feb 23, 2021. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

The Club for Growth: 90% United States Chamber of Commerce: 60% League of Conservation Voters: 2% Human Rights Campaign: 0% Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 0%

Enacted Legislation

Lesko was the primary sponsor of 2 bills that were enacted:

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Does 2 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 110th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Lesko sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Immigration (28%) Crime and Law Enforcement (16%) Health (12%) Law (12%) Government Operations and Politics (8%) Education (8%) Emergency Management (8%) Armed Forces and National Security (8%)

Recent Bills

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

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Voting Record

Key Votes

Lesko voted Yea

Passed 327/85 on Dec 21, 2020.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, a major government funding bill, which also included economic stimulus provisions due ...

Lesko voted Yea

Lesko voted Nay

Passed 373/45 on Feb 5, 2020.

Lesko voted Nay

Passed 404/21 on Mar 26, 2019.

Lesko voted Nay

Passed 315/48 on Dec 21, 2018.
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has approximately 5 million flood insurance policies providing more than $1.3 trillion in coverage, primarily in Texas and Louisiana. ...

Lesko voted Nay

Lesko voted Nay

Passed 369/47 on Dec 12, 2018.
See the Congressional Research Service's 122-page summary of the bill. * * * H.R. 2 amends and extends major programs for income support, food and ...

Lesko voted Yea

Passed 361/61 on Sep 26, 2018.
H.R. 6157 provides $674.6 billion in total discretionary budget authority for the Department of Defense for fiscal year (FY) 2019. The bill provides $606.5 billion ...

Lesko voted Nay

Passed 366/52 on Jul 25, 2018.
The House Amendment to S. 1182 extends the National Flood Insurance Program, which is set to expire July 31, 2018, through November 30, 2018. This ...

Lesko voted No

Failed 121/301 on Jun 27, 2018.
H.R. 6136 enhances enforcement of existing immigration law, closes immigration enforcement loopholes, ends the catch and release policy, provides $25 billion in funding to secure ...

Missed Votes

From May 2018 to Feb 2021, Lesko missed 33 of 1,324 roll call votes, which is 2.5%. This is on par with the median of 2.0% 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...

Primary Sources

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