YCT Announces the Release of Legislative Ratings

Manfred Wendt
Executive Director
Young Conservatives of Texas
817-507-8938
[email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 7th, 2020

AUSTIN, TEXAS – Today, the Young Conservatives of Texas (YCT) is proud to announce the release of its legislative ratings for the 86th legislature. These ratings mark the 23rd consecutive installment of the public service offered by YCT as a way for constituents to evaluate the time their representatives spend in Austin. With bi-yearly installments dating back to 1975, YCT issues the most thorough, respected, and consistent legislative ratings in the Lone Star State. Legislators who received an 85 or above in this ratings will receive automatic endorsements from YCT due to their proven defense of liberty.

“We are grateful to the 15 members of the State House and Senate who received an 85 or above on our ratings for waking up everyday and fighting for Principles over Party” – Manfred Wendt, Executive Director of YCT.

For the 86th Legislative Session, the average legislator received a score of 51. The average rating in the House was 50, and the average rating in the Senate was only slightly higher at 59. 

Ratings of the 86th Texas Legislature can be found at https://ratings.yct.org/legislative-sessions.

This year, YCT’s ratings are once again available both in PDF format and on the website as an additional tool for visualizing and reading about each legislator’s votes and the votes used in the ratings. This year, 50 votes in the Senate and 60 in the House were used to calculate the scores.

The highest-scoring House members were Representative Cain, Representative Middleton,  and Representative Tinderholt weighing in at 97 each, respectively. Fifteen members scored an 85 or above. Senator Bob Hall received the highest score in the Senate at 88. YCT applauds these members for their courageous conservative leadership amidst a purple session.

Members who scored an 85 or above receive an automatic endorsement from YCT for 2020. The following members will receive an automatic endorsement from YCT, Representative Cain, Representative Middleton, Representative Tinderholt, Representative Biederman, Representative Schaefer, Representative Wilson, Representative Hefner, Representative Patterson, Representative Swanson, Representative  Krause, and Representative Toth.

The lowest-scoring members were Representative Bernal, Representative Goodwin, Representative Israel, Representative Lopez, Representative Zwiener, Representative Ortega, and Representative Anchia – all scoring 18 or below. The lowest scoring member in the Senate was Senator Kirk Watson of Austin, who scored a 26.

The lowest-scoring Republican were Representative Charlie Geren from Fort Worth, who scored a 43 and  Representative Sarah Davis from Houston, who scored a 42. Senator Kel Seliger was the lowest scoring Republican Senator with a score of 52. 

The highest-scoring Democrats were Representative Ryan Guillen in the House with a 43 and  Eddie Lucio in the Senate with a score of 50. 

“YCT ratings are unique because of our holistic approach to rating the members of the Texas House and Senate on a litany of issues. We believe our ratings will help voters in making an informed decision of who to support during this upcoming  Primary and General Election Season.” -Nick Ciggelakis  Policy and Legislative Director for YCT.

YCT looks forward to the public reviewing its legislative ratings. These legislative ratings serve to inform voters and allow them to make an informed choice at the ballot box.

About The Young Conservatives of Texas: https://www.yct.org

Young Conservatives of Texas, a non-partisan conservative youth organization, has been fighting for conservative values going into its fortieth year in the Lone Star State and publishes the most respected ratings of the Texas Legislature.

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