RALEIGH, N.C. – Today Civitas Action released its annual Freedom Rankings, a scorecard created to inform voters on how their legislators came down on key votes related to limited government, personal responsibility, free-markets, and civic engagement. Civitas Action’s Freedom Rankings enable citizens to discern whether their elected official cast votes that promoted/defended freedom for North Carolinians. Votes specifically related to property rights, government transparency, healthcare, and corporate welfare were among those graded this session.
The Civitas Action Freedom Rankings are the only ranking system in North Carolina that allows citizens to gauge how effective their state legislators are at expanding and defending freedom.
This year’s Civitas Action Freedom Rankings scored a total of 124 House Representatives and 51 Senators (these higher numbers are due to mid-session resignations and appointments). In the House, three representatives tied for first place with a perfect score. It is worth noting, however, that only one of those – Rep. Michael Speciale (R-Craven) – received a true perfect score with no missed votes. Reps. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort) and Kelly Hastings (R-Gaston) also scored 100s, with two and three missed votes, respectively. In the Senate, the highest score went to Sen. John Alexander (R-Franklin) at 90.9.
Rep. Kelly Alexander (D-Mecklenburg) received the lowest score in the state House at 18.8, while Sen. Jeff Jackson (D-Mecklenburg) received the lowest score in the state Senate with the only recorded zero (0).
According to Civitas Action’s Freedom Rankings methodology:
“North Carolina House and Senate members are ranked on an effectiveness scale from zero to 100, with zero being the least supportive of freedom and 100 being the most supportive to freedom.
Cumulative scores are calculated on a rolling basis by awarding a 100 for every freedom-minded vote and a 0 for every freedom-limiting vote, then dividing the total by the number of graded votes up to that point.
If a legislator missed a vote without requesting an excused absence or excused vote, it is counted the same as voting against the freedom-minded position.
If a legislator had an excused absence or excused vote, the missed vote is not counted against his or her total and reduces the number of eligible votes on which he or she is scored. For example, if there are 50 votes graded towards the rankings, and a legislator had an excused absence for one vote, he or she would only be scored on 49 votes.”
Although the scores broke along party lines, Sen. Don Davis (Greene) and Rep. Charles Graham (Robeson) scored the highest among active Democratic legislators. Sen. Davis and Rep. Graham both voted for the repeal of the Map Act and chose to break with their party and vote in favor of overriding Gov. Cooper’s veto of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in May.
Other votes of particular note that were also scored are:
Eminent Domain (HB3)
State Health Plan Design Study (HB184)
Small Business Healthcare Act (SB86)
Combat Absentee Ballot Fraud (SB683)
A full listing of the bills, amendments, and veto overrides that were graded can be found here.
Civitas Action is a 501(c)(4) non-profit that educates and informs North Carolinians on policy issues and the actions of their elected officials.
View the full rankings and see how well your elected representatives fought for freedom here.
Contact: Brooke Medina, [email protected]
Civitas Action is a 501(c)(4) non-profit that educates and informs North Carolinians on policy issues and the actions of their elected officials.