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Rep. Val Demings’s 2020 Report Card

Representative from Florida's 10th District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 2017 – Jan 3, 2023


These statistics cover Demings’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare her to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 30, 2021.

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 Demings’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.

 

Was 2nd most present in votes compared to Florida Delegation

Demings missed 0.4% of votes (4 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Demings’s Profile »

Compare to all Florida Delegation (4th percentile); House Sophomores (9th percentile); All Representatives (10th 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.


 

Got their bills out of committee the 3rd most often compared to Florida Delegation (tied with 1 other)

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Demings introduced 5 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.Res. 549: Reaffirming the commitment to media …; H.R. 449: Pathways to Improving Homeland Security …; H.R. 1404: Vladimir Putin Transparency Act; H.R. 2383: Secure Communities and Safe Schools …; H.R. 5062: To designate the facility of …

Compare to all Florida Delegation (85th percentile); House Sophomores (75th percentile); House Democrats (53rd percentile); All Representatives (71st percentile).


 

Ranked 9th most politically left compared to House Sophomores

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 116th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Demings’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Florida Delegation (22nd percentile); House Sophomores (15th percentile); House Democrats (46th percentile); All Representatives (25th percentile).


 

Joined bipartisan bills the 11th least often compared to House Sophomores

Of the 464 bills that Demings cosponsored, 10% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Florida Delegation (22nd percentile); House Sophomores (19th percentile); House Democrats (61st percentile); All Representatives (33rd percentile).

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


 

Introduced the 18th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 5 others)

Demings introduced 13 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Florida Delegation (19th percentile); House Sophomores (18th percentile); House Democrats (7th percentile); All Representatives (24th percentile).


 

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 35th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 9 others)

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 6 of Demings’s 13 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Demings caucused with in the 116th Congress.

Compare to all Florida Delegation (22nd percentile); House Sophomores (24th percentile); House Democrats (14th percentile); All Representatives (29th percentile).

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


 

Ranked the 47th bottom/follower compared to House Democrats

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 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Demings’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Florida Delegation (48th percentile); House Sophomores (47th percentile); House Democrats (19th percentile); All Representatives (44th percentile).


 

Got the 49th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to House Democrats

Demings’s bills and resolutions had 220 cosponsors in the 116th 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 Florida Delegation (37th percentile); House Sophomores (38th percentile); House Democrats (20th percentile); All Representatives (40th percentile).


 

Laws Enacted

Demings introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 116th 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. 5062: To designate the facility of …

Compare to all Florida Delegation (48th percentile); House Sophomores (35th percentile); House Democrats (25th percentile); All Representatives (37th 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.


 

Powerful Cosponsors

5 of Demings’s bills and resolutions in the 116th 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. 549: Reaffirming the commitment to media …; H.R. 1233: Borderland Takings Defense Fund Act; H.R. 2383: Secure Communities and Safe Schools …; H.R. 5227: Technology in Criminal Justice Act …; H.R. 6656: Coronavirus Workers’ Compensation for TSA …

Compare to all Florida Delegation (63rd percentile); House Sophomores (73rd percentile); House Democrats (42nd percentile); All Representatives (61st percentile).


 

Working with the Senate

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 1 of Demings’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. 549: Reaffirming the commitment to media …

Compare to all Florida Delegation (11th percentile); House Sophomores (4th percentile); House Democrats (5th percentile); All Representatives (9th percentile).

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


 

Committee Positions

Demings 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 Demings’s Profile »

Compare to all Florida Delegation (48th percentile); House Sophomores (62nd percentile); House Democrats (40th percentile); All Representatives (42nd percentile).


 

Bills Cosponsored

Demings cosponsored 464 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 Florida Delegation (67th percentile); House Sophomores (73rd percentile); House Democrats (40th percentile); All Representatives (66th 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 116th Congress) 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.