Rep. Donald McEachin’s 2018 Report Card
Representative
from Virginia's 4th District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 2017 – Nov 28, 2022
These statistics cover McEachin’s record during the 115th Congress (Jan 3, 2017-Jan 3, 2019) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 20, 2019.
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 McEachin’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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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the fewest bills compared to Virginia Delegation (tied with 1 other)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 5 of McEachin’s 20 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party McEachin caucused with in the 115th Congress. Compare to all Virginia Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (45th percentile); House Democrats (28th percentile); All Representatives (28th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Ranked the 2nd bottom/follower compared to Virginia 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 115th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from McEachin’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Virginia Delegation (9th percentile); House Freshmen (69th percentile); House Democrats (52nd percentile); All Representatives (47th percentile). |
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Introduced the 3rd fewest bills compared to Virginia Delegation (tied with 1 other)McEachin introduced 20 bills and resolutions in the 115th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Virginia Delegation (18th percentile); House Freshmen (69th percentile); House Democrats (54th percentile); All Representatives (55th percentile). |
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Wrote the 3rd fewest laws compared to Virginia Delegation (tied with 3 others)McEachin introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 115th 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. 4820: ASK Act Compare to all Virginia Delegation (18th percentile); House Freshmen (37th percentile); House Democrats (48th percentile); All Representatives (34th 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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Got bicameral support on the 4th most bills compared to House Freshmen (tied with 2 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.Res. 1054: Commemorating Arthur Ashe, a native …; H.R. 3981: Pollution Transparency Act; H.R. 5125: Military Spouse Employment Act of …; H.R. 6432: Advancing Youth Enrollment Act; H.R. 6607: Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation … Compare to all Virginia Delegation (55th percentile); House Freshmen (91st percentile); House Democrats (76th percentile); All Representatives (80th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Got influential cosponsors the 4th most often compared to House Freshmen (tied with 3 others)6 of McEachin’s bills and resolutions in the 115th 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. 284: Expressing support for honoring Earth …; H.R. 4820: ASK Act; H.R. 5056: Confederate Commemorative Works Inventory and …; H.R. 5264: Clean Water Partnership Act; H.R. 6527: Funding Attorneys for Indigent Removal …; H.R. 6607: Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation … Compare to all Virginia Delegation (45th percentile); House Freshmen (90th percentile); House Democrats (74th percentile); All Representatives (78th percentile). |
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Ranked 8th most politically left compared to House FreshmenOur 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 115th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from McEachin’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Virginia Delegation (18th percentile); House Freshmen (10th percentile); House Democrats (34th percentile); All Representatives (15th percentile). |
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Got the 9th most cosponsors on their bills compared to House Freshmen (tied with 1 other)McEachin’s bills and resolutions had 358 cosponsors in the 115th 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 Virginia Delegation (36th percentile); House Freshmen (85th percentile); House Democrats (62nd percentile); All Representatives (69th percentile). |
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Was 12th most absent in votes compared to House FreshmenMcEachin missed 3.7% of votes (45 of 1,210 votes) in the 115th Congress. View McEachin’s Profile » Compare to all Virginia Delegation (55th percentile); House Freshmen (82nd percentile); All Representatives (63rd 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. |
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Cosponsored the 50th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 2 others)McEachin cosponsored 328 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 Virginia Delegation (55th percentile); House Freshmen (70th percentile); House Democrats (24th percentile); All Representatives (61st percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 61st least often compared to All Representatives (tied with 58 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. McEachin introduced 1 bill in the 115th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 4820: ASK Act Compare to all Virginia Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (18th percentile); House Democrats (26th percentile); All Representatives (14th percentile). |
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Committee PositionsMcEachin 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 McEachin’s Profile » Compare to all Virginia Delegation (18th percentile); House Freshmen (72nd percentile); House Democrats (41st percentile); All Representatives (39th percentile). |
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Joining Bipartisan BillsOf the 328 bills that McEachin cosponsored, 24% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Virginia Delegation (73rd percentile); House Freshmen (64th percentile); House Democrats (36th percentile); All Representatives (62nd 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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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether McEachin supported any of 32 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave McEachin 3 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. McEachin cosponsored H.R. 4396: ME TOO Congress Act; H.Res. 630: Requiring each Member, officer, and …; H.R. 4631: Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports … Compare to all Virginia Delegation (55th percentile); House Freshmen (72nd percentile); House Democrats (67th percentile); All Representatives (68th percentile). |
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 115th Congress) was the 115th Congress (freshmen) or 114th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
