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Rep. Ted Poe’s 2018 Report Card

Representative from Texas's 2nd District
Republican
Served Jan 4, 2005 – Jan 3, 2019

These statistics cover Poe’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 Poe’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 most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 1 other)

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 35 of Poe’s 50 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Poe caucused with in the 115th Congress.

Compare to all Texas Delegation (97th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (99th percentile); House Republicans (99th percentile); All Representatives (100th percentile).

Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic.
 

Was 2nd most absent in votes compared to Texas Delegation

Poe missed 9.2% of votes (111 of 1,210 votes) in the 115th Congress. View Poe’s Profile »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (94th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (86th percentile); All Representatives (90th 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.
 

Introduced the 3rd most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)

Poe introduced 50 bills and resolutions in the 115th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (94th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (96th percentile); House Republicans (98th percentile); All Representatives (97th percentile).

 

Got bicameral support on the 8th most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 5 others)

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 8 of Poe’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the Senate. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Those bills were: H.Res. 594: Supporting the goals and ideals …; H.R. 1035: Extending Justice for Sex Crime …; H.R. 1110: Stopping Mass Hacking Act; H.R. 2437: Back the Blue Act of …; H.R. 2803: Abolish Human Trafficking Act of …; H.R. 4118: Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act; H.R. 5341: Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of …; H.R. 5955: Victims of Child Abuse Act …

Compare to all Texas Delegation (94th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (91st percentile); House Republicans (95th percentile); All Representatives (94th percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.
 

Got influential cosponsors the 17th most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 6 others)

11 of Poe’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. 576: Reaffirming the strategic partnership between …; H.R. 425: FTO Passport Revocation Act of …; H.R. 479: North Korea State Sponsor of …; H.R. 1035: Extending Justice for Sex Crime …; H.R. 1110: Stopping Mass Hacking Act; H.R. 2152: Citizens’ Right to Know Act …; H.R. 2259: Sam Farr and Nick Castle …; H.R. 2829: Jane’s Law; H.R. 3415: Megan Rondini Act; H.R. 3940: Veterans Education Disaster Assistance Act; H.R. 6219: Georgia Support Act

Compare to all Texas Delegation (94th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (91st percentile); House Republicans (95th percentile); All Representatives (95th percentile).

 

Joined bipartisan bills the 22nd most often compared to House Republicans

In this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 322 bills that Poe cosponsored, 28% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (83rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (71st percentile); House Republicans (91st percentile); All Representatives (73rd percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
 

Cosponsored the 23rd most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)

Poe cosponsored 322 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 Texas Delegation (75th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (55th percentile); House Republicans (90th percentile); All Representatives (59th percentile).

 

Ranked 24th most politically right compared to Serving 10+ Years

Our 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 Poe’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Texas Delegation (64th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (87th percentile); House Republicans (64th percentile); All Representatives (80th percentile).

 

Got the 25th most cosponsors on their bills compared to House Republicans

Poe’s bills and resolutions had 593 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 Texas Delegation (81st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (79th percentile); House Republicans (89th percentile); All Representatives (86th percentile).

 

Wrote the 23rd most laws compared to All Representatives (tied with 13 others)

Poe introduced 4 bills 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. 2259: Sam Farr and Nick Castle …; H.R. 2803: Abolish Human Trafficking Act of …; H.R. 5252: Keep Young Athletes Safe Act …; H.R. 5955: Victims of Child Abuse Act …

Compare to all Texas Delegation (81st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (86th percentile); House Republicans (87th percentile); All Representatives (92nd 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.
 

Ranked the 36th top leader compared to All Representatives

Our 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 Poe’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Texas Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (88th percentile); House Republicans (87th percentile); All Representatives (92nd percentile).

 

Got their bills out of committee the 44th most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 8 others)

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Poe introduced 9 bills in the 115th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 425: FTO Passport Revocation Act of …; H.R. 479: North Korea State Sponsor of …; H.R. 620: ADA Education and Reform Act …; H.R. 2152: Citizens’ Right to Know Act …; H.R. 2259: Sam Farr and Nick Castle …; H.R. 2803: Abolish Human Trafficking Act of …; H.R. 5252: Keep Young Athletes Safe Act …; H.R. 5955: Victims of Child Abuse Act …; H.R. 6219: Georgia Support Act

Compare to all Texas Delegation (86th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (83rd percentile); House Republicans (80th percentile); All Representatives (88th percentile).

 

Committee Positions

Poe 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 Poe’s Profile »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (19th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (21st percentile); House Republicans (37th percentile); All Representatives (39th percentile).

 

Government Transparency

GovTrack looked at whether Poe supported any of 32 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Poe 3 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills.

Poe cosponsored H.R. 464: Cameras in the Courtroom Act; H.R. 522: Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act …; H.R. 732: Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act …

Compare to all Texas Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (68th percentile); House Republicans (70th 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.