CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., are two of the most bipartisan members of Congress, according to rankings released on Tuesday.
The Bipartisan Index of the Lugar Center and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy measures how often federal lawmakers cosponsor legislation introduced by members of the opposite party, as well as how often one’s own bills are cosponsored by legislators of different parties.
“What we are measuring in this Index is not so much the quality of legislation but rather the efforts of legislators to broaden the appeal of their sponsored legislation, to entertain a wider range of ideas and to prioritize governance over posturing,” former Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said of the Bipartisan Index.
This year’s ratings took actions during the 115th Congress’ first session — which was the entirety of 2017 — into consideration.
Capito is third among the 98 senators scored, and McKinley ranks 16th out of 438 members of the House of Representatives listed.
The indexes exclude Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wisc.; and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as well as representatives who served fewer than six months in 2017.
“The people of West Virginia’s First District didn’t hire me to just represent one party in Congress. They wanted someone who would work across the aisle to achieve results on the issues that impact them, and that is how I have sought to lead,” McKinley said in a press release of his ranking.
According to Congress’ website, Capito is a listed cosponsor on 245 legislative measures so far this Congress, while McKinley has cosponsored 212 bills as of Wednesday.
Capito was 9th in last year’s Bipartisan Index; McKinley was 22nd.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is 16th in this year’s Senate rankings, compared to fourth in last year’s Bipartisan Index.
Rep. Evan Jenkins, R-W.Va., is 165th in the House of Representatives index, and Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., is 330th in the same rankings. Jenkins and Mooney were 155th and 297th respectively in last year’s Bipartisan Index.