Rep. Jefferson Van Drew’s 2019 Report Card
Representative
from New Jersey's 2nd District
Republican
Serving Jan 3, 2019 – Jan 3, 2025
These year-end statistics cover Van Drew’s record during the 2019 legislative year (Jan 3, 2019-Dec 31, 2019) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 18, 2020.
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 Van Drew’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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Cosponsored the 2nd most bills compared to House RepublicansVan Drew cosponsored 409 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 New Jersey Delegation (67th percentile); House Freshmen (88th percentile); House Republicans (99th percentile); All Representatives (85th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 2nd least often compared to New Jersey DelegationMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Van Drew introduced 1 bill in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 3195: Land and Water Conservation Fund … Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (8th percentile); House Freshmen (25th percentile); House Republicans (41st percentile); All Representatives (26th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 3rd most often compared to All RepresentativesIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 409 bills that Van Drew cosponsored, 79% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (92nd percentile); House Freshmen (99th percentile); House Republicans (98th percentile); All Representatives (99th 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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Ranked the 3rd top leader compared to House FreshmenOur 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 2019 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Van Drew’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (50th percentile); House Freshmen (97th percentile); House Republicans (94th percentile); All Representatives (77th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 3rd least often compared to New Jersey Delegation (tied with 3 others)2 of Van Drew’s bills and resolutions in 2019 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.R. 1149: Atlantic Coastal Economies Protection Act; H.R. 3195: Land and Water Conservation Fund … Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (17th percentile); House Freshmen (51st percentile); House Republicans (62nd percentile); All Representatives (40th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 4th fewest bills compared to New Jersey Delegation (tied with 1 other)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 3195: Land and Water Conservation Fund …; H.R. 4777: Protect our Elections Act Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (25th percentile); House Freshmen (51st percentile); House Republicans (63rd percentile); All Representatives (46th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Got the 6th most cosponsors on their bills compared to House FreshmenVan Drew’s bills and resolutions had 332 cosponsors in 2019. 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 New Jersey Delegation (42nd percentile); House Freshmen (93rd percentile); House Republicans (92nd percentile); All Representatives (71st percentile). |
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Introduced the 15th most bills compared to House Freshmen (tied with 4 others)Van Drew introduced 15 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (33rd percentile); House Freshmen (79th percentile); House Republicans (78th percentile); All Representatives (60th percentile). |
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Was 19th most absent in votes compared to House Freshmen (tied with 1 other)Van Drew missed 2.4% of votes (17 of 701 votes) in 2019. View Van Drew’s Profile » Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (67th percentile); House Freshmen (78th percentile); All Representatives (60th 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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Ranked 23rd most politically left compared to House RepublicansOur 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 2019 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Van Drew’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (75th percentile); House Freshmen (66th percentile); House Republicans (11th percentile); All Representatives (59th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 25th most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 3 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 9 of Van Drew’s 15 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Van Drew caucused with in 2019. Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (42nd percentile); House Freshmen (85th percentile); House Republicans (86th percentile); All Representatives (69th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Laws EnactedVan Drew introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2019. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th 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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Committee PositionsVan Drew held a leadership position on 0 committees and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Van Drew’s Profile » Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th 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 2019) 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.
