Capito is the junior senator from West Virginia and is a Republican. She has served since Jan 6, 2015. Capito is next up for reelection in 2020 and serves until Jan 3, 2021 unless re-elected.
She was previously the representative for West Virginia’s 2nd congressional district as a Republican from 2001 to 2014.
![Photo of Sen. Shelley Capito [R-WV]](/static/legislator-photos/400061-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 Report Card for Capito.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Capito is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate 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 Capito has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Jul 30, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Shelley Capito sits on the following committees:
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Senate Committee on Appropriations
- Department of Homeland Security subcommittee Chair
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies subcommittees -
Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
- Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee Chair
Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife subcommittees - Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
- Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
Enacted Legislation
Capito was the primary sponsor of 8 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 2582: Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2020
- S. 1507: PFAS Release Disclosure and Protection Act of 2019
- S. 94: Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act
- S. 671: Miners Pension Protection Act
- S. 3389 (115th): A bill to redesignate a facility of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
- S. 2872 (114th): NAS Healthy Babies Act
- H.R. 534 (112th): To designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 217 West King Street, Martinsburg, West Virginia, as the “W. Craig Broadwater Federal Building and United ...
Does 8 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
Capito sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Health (37%) Taxation (15%) Environmental Protection (13%) Science, Technology, Communications (11%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (7%) Sports and Recreation (6%) Government Operations and Politics (6%) Emergency Management (6%)
Recent Bills
Some of Capito’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 4075: A bill to amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 ...
- S. 3648: E-BRIDGE Act
- S. 3532: Prescription Digital Therapeutics to Support Recovery Act
- S.Res. 543: A resolution recognizing Girl Scouts of the United States of America on its ...
- S. 3067: Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction In the Nation Act
- S. 2866: Rural Broadband Financial Flexibility Act
- S. 2842: Increasing Access to Quality Cardiac Rehabilitation Care Act of 2019
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2015 to Jul 2020, Capito missed 23 of 1,682 roll call votes, which is 1.4%. This is on par with the median of 1.7% among the lifetime records of senators 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.
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
