Esty was the representative for Connecticut’s 5th congressional district and was a Democrat. She served from 2013 to 2018.
Alleged misconduct & resolution
In April of 2018, Rep. Esty announced she would not seek reelection after she admitted that she had failed to address sexual harassment by one staffer against another in a timely manner. She said she had also asked for a review of her office's actions by the House Committee on Ethics. In December of 2018, the House Committee on Ethics found that Esty had broken no House rules but that she could have handled the situation better.
| Apr. 2, 2018 | Esty announced she would not seek re-election in 2018. |
| Dec. 20, 2018 | House Committee on Ethics found that Esty had not acted quickly to remove the staffer as she should have, but that she did not break any rules. |
![Photo of Rep. Elizabeth Esty [D-CT5, 2013-2018]](/static/legislator-photos/412524-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2018 Report Card for Esty.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Esty is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2018 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 Esty sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2013 to Dec 21, 2018. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Enacted Legislation
Esty was the primary sponsor of 7 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 6335 (115th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 322 Main Street in Oakville, Connecticut, as the “Oakville Veterans Memorial Post Office”.
- H.R. 3813: Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act
- H.R. 255: Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act
- H.R. 4697 (114th): Prevent Drug Addiction Act of 2016
- H.R. 1375 (114th): Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act of 2015
- H.R. 1222 (114th): Gold Star Fathers Act
- H.R. 316 (113th): Collinsville Renewable Energy Production Act
Does 7 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
Esty sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Armed Forces and National Security (24%) Government Operations and Politics (18%) Commerce (11%) Taxation (11%) Crime and Law Enforcement (11%) Transportation and Public Works (11%) Science, Technology, Communications (7%) Environmental Protection (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of Esty’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 7094 (115th): Get to a Yes or No Faster Act
- H.Res. 1121: Remembering the 20th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death and expressing Congress’s continued support ...
- H.Res. 1115 (115th): Expressing support for the designation of October 8, 2018, as “National Hydrogen ...
- H.R. 6653: IMAGINE Act
- H.Con.Res. 131 (115th): Recognizing the need to improve physical access to many federally funded facilities ...
- H.R. 6418: VA Website Accessibility Act of 2018
- H.R. 6419: Justice for ALS Veterans Act of 2018
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2013 to Dec 2018, Esty missed 34 of 3,739 roll call votes, which is 0.9%. This is better than the median of 2.5% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2018. 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.
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
