Rep. Lee “Most Liberal” House Member; Black, Hispanic Caucus Members Top List
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), was ranked as the most liberal politician in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 112th Congress according to a ranking system created by two university political science professors.
And some of her friends in the Congressional Black Caucus are high on the list too.
The DW-Nominate system, created by University of Georgia Political Science professor Keith Poole and New York University Political Science professor Howard Rosenthal, is designed to rank all members of the U.S. House and Senate from the most liberal to the most conservative. (So the very first person on the list would be the most liberal and the last person on the list would be the most conservative.)
Lee has spent eight consecutive congresses as the most liberal politician in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the rankings.
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), one of the longest serving members of Congress and in office since 1965, was ranked as the most liberal congressman from the 93rd Congress (beginning January 3, 1973) to the 100th Congress (ending January 3, 1989). Currently, he is one spot behind Rep. Lee and has been so for three consecutive congresses. However, Conyers has been in the number two spot for eight consecutive congresses and 14 congresses overall. He spent ten congresses as the most liberal House member, according to the rankings.
The 104th Congress was the last time Conyers was ranked as the most liberal House member.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has been ranked the third most liberal House member for eight consecutive congresses going back to the 105th Congress, and before that was ranked second, third, and third in the 104th, 103rd, and 102nd Congresses respectively.
Overall, thirteen members of the Congressional Black Caucus are ranked in the top 31 on the most liberal side. Two members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Nydia Valázquez (D-NY) were ranked in the top 25 on the liberal side.
Here are the rest:
#7 Rep. Yvette Clark (D-NY)
#9 Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ)
#11 Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
#12 Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)
#13 Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
#15 Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD)
#18 Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL)
#23 Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
#24 Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY)
#28 Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA)
#29 Rep. Melvin Watt (D-NC)
#31 Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)
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