New effectiveness rankings for N.C. legislators are giving ammunition to at least one Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.Greg Dority says he'll use rival Robert Pittenger's ranking against him. Pittenger was ranked 49th in the 50-member Senate by the non-partisan N.C. Center for Public Policy Research, which bases its rankings on surveys of lawmakers, lobbyists and reporters.
"If a guy can't hack it in the state senate, what makes him think he is qualified to be Lieutenant Governor?," Dority said in a statement.
The rankings are skewed to Democrats, who control the General Assembly. Only four Republicans, for example, cracked the top 25 most effective senators.
"95 percent of all legislation passed is by democrats," Pittenger wrote in an email. "They don't allow republicans to passed their legislation. Condidering the (partisanship), I was very effective."
Here's how Charlotte-area lawmakers ranked:
SENATE (50 members)
3. David Hoyle, D-Gaston
4. Dan Clodfelter, D-Mecklenburg
6. Walter Dalton, D-Rutherford
9. Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus
18. Charlie Dannelly, D-Mecklenburg
37. Jim Forrester, R-Gaston
42. Eddie Goodall, R-Union
43. Malcolm Graham, D-Mecklenburg
45. Austin Allran, R-Catawba
49. Robet Pittenger, R-Mecklenburg
HOUSE (120 members)
17. Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg
20. Drew Saunders, D-Mecklenburg
24. Martha Alexander, D-Mecklenburg
37. Joe Kiser, R-Lincoln
41. Jeff Barnhart, R-Cabarrus
48. Debbie Clary, R-Cleveland
53. Beverly Earle, D-Mecklenburg
56. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland
61. Karen Ray, R-Iredell
62. Linda Johnson, R-Cabarrus
75. Pete Cunningham, D-Mecklenburg
85. Tricia Cotham, D-Mecklenburg
89. Mitchell Setzer, R-Catawba
92. Ruth Samuelson, R-Mecklenburg
95. Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg
101. Bill Current, R-Gaston
103. Mark Hilton, R-Catawba
107. Wil Neumann, R-Gaston
109. Ric Killian, R-Mecklenburg
115. Jacob Blackwood, R-Union
117. Jim Gulley, R-Mecklenburg
------ 'WOOOO!' Myrick
U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick got up in Congress recently and talked about wrestler Ric Flair and his "dreaded Figure Four Leglock." She also tried his trademark yell. Check it out.
----- NYU Survey
New York University student Matthew Schottland asked for help on a survey aimed at "understanding voting behavior from a psychological perspective." It's funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
To take the survey, click this link.
2 comments:
As a friend of both Senator Pittenger and Greg Dority, I'm strongly opposed to the NCPP's "Effectiveness" Ratings on principle.
That strong opposition got me in hot water and also won me points over the last decade, and to be consistent, I can't fault Greg for using this against the Senator; that's politics. But in service to a steady opposition to this nakedly partisan "insider's" game, what Greg is doing is lending credibility to something that has no credibility, and in the eyes of voters who, like me in 1997, had never heard of such a thing.
The NNPP's rating system is meaningless. Sorry Greg. But many of the legislators who have stood on their own core beliefs, and been punished for not being subject to bribery, have ended up dead last on this list, and especially otherwise objectively effective members have been marginalized by this rating system time and time again.
Imagine the Ambassadors to the Court of St. James along with the Royal Court being polled as to the effectiveness of King of England.
Heads would roll.
No, I am NOT comparing the legislators to royalty, though many of them take on such airs. But as representatives, this insulting ranking system is both meaningless and useless, and not just an insult to the representative but insulting to the people they represent.
It's a badge of honor to be ranked low, in fact, and my friend Greg Dority is being disingenuous in his attempt to use this against Robert.
Those of us trying to rank the people's interests over the representation of Special Interests are not well-served by this.
Goodness, there is so much useful information above!
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