EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


During the 2018 Midterm campaign cycle the Democrats won the majority in the House of Representatives by flipping 43 seats mainly in suburban Republican districts. Anti-Trump rhetoric was the major factor in these races. At the same time, Nancy Pelosi consistently polled as a negative Democrat challengers and many candidates worked to differentiate themselves from Pelosi. This report examines whether the Democrat freshmen who won these key seats from Republicans are different from Nancy Pelosi or have fallen in line behind her leadership.

One of the first actions of the new Congress was to install Nancy Pelosi as Speaker. Six months later, data shows despite her unpopularity, the Democrat Majority Makers have voted with Speaker Pelosi 95.66 percent of the time. In addition, the Democrat Majority Makers have voted with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 91.72 percent of the time. 11 out of 43 Majority Makers voted against Pelosi for Speaker. The conclusion is that Democrat Freshmen are thoroughly aligned with Nancy Pelosi and the most radical left elements of the Democrat Majority.

nancy pelosi

Last November, Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats wrestled the House Majority away from Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy by flipping 43 House seats from Republican hands. The ascendant House Democrat Majority brought forth a new era of progressive liberalism with the 43 seats that flipped to the Democrat Majority Makers.

Winning back the House majority was a political battle that Nancy Pelosi worked on for eight years following the 2010 Midterm Election when Republicans won the House Majority. Pelosi promised that the new Democrat House of Representatives would serve as a check and balance against the Trump Administration.

Meanwhile, the liberal political establishment was turned upside-down when a little-known bartender from the Bronx, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, defeated House Democrat Caucus Chair, Joe Crowley in a primary election on June 26, 2018. Ocasio-Cortez’s victory called for an even steeper and more aggressive pivot to socialism. And instead of Pelosi’s more transactional and liberal agenda, Ocasio-Cortez’ Green New Deal became the litmus test of whether a Democrat’s political ideology matched the radical campaign rhetoric that leftist advocates among the Democrat Majority Makers preferred.

Nonetheless, Nancy Pelosi remained politically unpopular among swing voters in Republican districts targeted by Democrats. In 2018, Democrat candidates repeatedly faced the question whether they would support Nancy Pelosi for Speaker if Democrats regained the majority. At least seven of the Democrat Majority Makers stated outright as candidates that they would not vote for Pelosi; at least six other candidates made comments distancing themselves from Pelosi

nancy pelosi

Freshmen Democrat Majority Makers Vote Overwhelmingly with Pelosi

What’s happened in the Roll Call Votes of the first six months of the 116th Congress? All but 11 of the Majority Makers voted for Pelosi for Speaker.

The new Democrat Majority Makers have voted with Pelosi, on average, 95.99 percent of the time. Moreover, 22 Democrat Majority Makers have voted with Pelosi 100 percent of the time. All Majority Makers voted with Pelosi at least 80 percent of the time. While many candidates said they would be voting against Pelosi for Speaker, they are shunning any perceived independence and voting with her on every issue of substance.

22 of 43 Majority Makers Vote with Speaker Pelosi 100 Percent of the Time

"...under no circumstances, would I vote for Nancy Pelosi to again be Speaker of the House."

Abigail Spanberger
VA-07
Voted with Speaker Pelosi 92.86% of the time.

"I won't be supporting Nancy Pelosi."

Jason Crow
CO-06
Voted with Speaker Pelosi 96.43% of the time.
Colin Allred TX-32 100%
Sean Casten IL-06 100%
Gil Cisneros CA-39 100%
TJ Cox CA-21 100%
Sharice Davids KS-03 100%
Lizzie Pannill Fletcher TX-07 100%
Katie Hill CA-25 100%
Chrissy Houlahan PA-06 100%
Ann Kirkpatrick AZ-02 100%
Mike Levin CA-49 100%
Tom Malinowski NJ-07 100%
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell FL-26 100%
Dean Phillips MN-03 100%
Katie Porter CA-45 100%
Harley Rouda CA-48 100%
Mary Gay Scanlon PA-05 100%
Kim Schrier WA-08 100%
Donna Shalala FL-27 100%
Haley Stevens MI-11 100%
Lauren Underwood IL-14 100%
Jennifer Wexton VA-10 100%
Susan Wild PA-07 100%
Jason Crow CO-06 96.43%
Antonio Delgado NY-19 96.43%
Abby Finkenauer IA-01 96.43%
Josh Harder CA-10 96.43%
Andy Kim NJ-03 96.43%
Elaine Luria VA-02 96.43%
Lucy McBath GA-06 96.43%
Cindy Axne IA-03 96.30%
Angie Craig MN-02 92.86%
Conor Lamb PA-17 92.86%
Mikie Sherrill NJ-11 92.86%
Xochitl Torres Small NM-02 92.86%
Abigail Spanberger VA-07 92.86%
Max Rose NY-11 92.00%
Elisa Slotkin MI-08 89.29%
Ben McAdams UT-04 89.29%
Joe Cunningham SC-01 85.71%
Jeff Van Drew NJ-02 85.71%
Kendra Horn OK-05 85.71%
Jared Golden ME-02 82.14%
Anthony Brindisi NY-22 82.14%
Ocasio-Cortez

Freshmen Democrat House Majority Makers Mostly Vote with Ocasio-Cortez

Additionally, Club for Growth analyzed how often the House Democrat Majority Makers voted with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, because we believe Ocasio-Cortez is, in many ways, the new leader of the political left. The Democrat Majority Makers have voted with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 91.72 percent of the time (All 430 Roll Call Votes were evaluated, 2 votes were omitted).

Mike Levin CA-49 95.56%
Donna Shalala FL-27 95.55%
Mary Gay Scanlon PA-05 95.54%
Katie Hill CA-25 95.32%
Tom Malinowski NJ-07 95.08%
Dean Phillips MN-03 94.63%
Lauren Underwood IL-14 94.15%
Sean Caston IL-06 94.13%
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell FL-26 94.13%
TJ Cox CA-21 93.85%
Antonio Delgado NY-19 93.46%
Jennifer Wexton VA-10 93.46%
Lucy McBath GA-06 93.21%
Kim Schrier WA-08 93.21%
Colin Allred TX-32 93.14%
Gil Cisneros CA-49 92.74%
Ann Kirkpatrick AZ-02 92.66%
Haley Stevens MI-11 92.51%
Susan Wild PA-07 92.51%
Chrissy Houlahan PA-06 92.49%
Harley Rouda CA-48 92.33%
Andy Kim NJ-02 92.29%
Abby Finkenauer IA-01 92.27%
Miki Sherrill NJ-11 92.00%
Josh Harder CA-10 91.71%
Elaine Luria VA-02 91.59%
Sharice Davids KS-03 91.57%
Jason Crow CO-06 91.49%
Katie Porter CA-45 91.41%
Lizzie Pannill Fletcher TX-07 91.27%
Angie Craig MN-02 90.89%
Max Rose NY-11 90.69%
Conor Lamb PA-17 90.40%
Xochitl Torres Small NM-02 90.35%
Cindy Axne IA-03 90.02%
Elissa Slotkin MI-08 89.95%
Abigail Spanberger VA-07 89.23%
Kendra Horn OK-05 89.20%
Jared Golden ME-02 86.18%
Ben McAdams UT-04 86.18%
Jeff Van Drew NJ-02 85.51%
Joe Cunningham SC-01 85.01%
Anthony Brindisi NY-22 84.94%

Conclusion

The Six-Month Review of the House Democrat Majority Makers clearly shows there are very few independent or moderate freshman Democrats in the House of Representatives. Instead, the House Democrat Caucus includes Members that are proudly voting with Nancy Pelosi and leftists that are voting with Ocasio-Cortez.

Methodology

This methodology examines the Roll Call Votes where Speaker Pelosi has actually cast a vote (28 votes – See Table I). The Speaker of the House rarely votes, instead usually only casting a vote on a symbolic measure, a policy of great importance, or a close vote. These are, generally speaking, the revealing and defining votes and issues of the House Democrat Majority. The first six months of the 116th Congress includes votes on trillion-dollar appropriations, pay raises for federal employees, President Trump’s national emergency declaration on border security, expanded background checks for individuals purchasing firearms, campaign finance reform, gender pay discrimination, transgender service in the military, maintaining Obamacare, regulation of the Internet, U.S. forces serving in Yemen, prohibiting the Trump Administration from withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on climate change, illegal immigration, and enforcing congressional subpoenas, (among other votes).

If a Member missed a vote when Pelosi voted, the vote was removed from the Member’s profile.



If a Member missed a vote when Ocasio-Cortez voted, the vote was removed from the Member’s profile. Ocasio-Cortez has only missed one vote in the 116th Congress, RC Vote #421; this vote was removed from the study. Additionally, Roll Call Vote #1, the Quorum for the 116th Congress was omitted because all Members voted present.


*Editor’s Note: Because all Roll Call Votes from the first 6 months of the 116th Congress were evaluated, this analysis includes a significant number of votes that are outside of the Club for Growth issue matrix. However, Club for Growth believes it is important to educate the public on the first 6 months of the House Democratic Majority, so we examined all votes.