64th Assembly Halftime Report: Senate Rankings
Yesterday we posted the rankings for the House of Representatives at the halfway mark of the 64th Assembly. The system for ranking was explained in that post, so I won’t go back through it here. Instead we will jump right into the Senate rankings for the 64th Legislative Assembly
Senate Results
Top Ten
The top ten Senators, based on our scoring system, were:
| Rank | Party | District | Name | Total | |
| 1 | R | 3 | Larsen | 64 | |
| 2 | R | 36 | Armstrong | 57 | |
| 3 | R | 10 | Miller | 49 | |
| 4 | R | 33 | Unruh | 44 | |
| 5 | R | 34 | Cook | 37 | |
| 6 | R | 25 | Luick | 37 | |
| 7 | R | 30 | Carlisle | 36 | |
| 8 | R | 38 | Hogue | 36 | |
| 9 | R | 27 | Casper | 34 | |
| 10 | R | 39 | Bowman | 29 |
I am not overly surprised, but I also won’t be surprised if this list has very noticeable changes in the second half (along with the other 37 spots). Frankly speaking, the list of Senate Bills we had to choose from for the ranking were a bit light compared to the House. It will be interesting to see how the Senate rankings adjust as they address a much “edgier” list of legislation from the other chamber.
Bottom Ten
| Rank | Party | District | Name | Total | |
| 38 | D | 20 | Murphy | -12 | |
| 39 | D | 18 | Triplett | -13 | |
| 40 | D | 24 | Robinson | -15 | |
| 41 | D | 35 | Oban | -16 | |
| 42 | D | 16 | Axness | -22 | |
| 43 | D | 46 | Sinner | -22 | |
| 44 | D | 23 | Heckaman | -24 | |
| 45 | D | 21 | Nelson | -24 | |
| 46 | D | 42 | Schneider | -27 | |
| 47 | D | 11 | Mathern | -33 |
The more liberal Senators (granted, the whole chamber is pretty left leaning as we learned last session — the democrats just don’t bother to hide it) are right about where they were supposed to be. About the only pseudo-surprise is Sen. Oban. Considering she tore a page out of Sen Heitkamp’s campaign playbook by presenting the facade of an independent-thinking, well… independent, her ranking is anything but that.
One (or a Few) of These Things is Not Like The Other
| Rank | Party | District | Name | Total | |
| 31 | D | 6 | O’Connell | 0 | |
| 32 | R | 15 | Oehlke | -2 | |
| 33 | D | 26 | Dotzenrod | -6 | |
| 34 | D | 4 | Warner | -6 | |
| 35 | R | 44 | Flakoll | -9 | |
| 36 | D | 9 | Marcellais | -12 | |
| 37 | D | 12 | Grabinger | -12 |
I am sure Sens Flakoll and Oehlke will be in good company soon enough. As mentioned previously, the Senate’s “bill diet” is not going to be that bland anymore now that crossover if completed and the “spicier” house bills await. The Senate may not have as much of a palate for the bold flavors many of the House marker bills contain.
The Bell Curve
The below chart gives you a great fell for where each Legislator falls in comparison to each other, and where the “bell” is in the chamber as a whole:
The Full Ranking
The full ranking can be seen below, including some of the factors which drove the final score. Remember, as discussed yesterday the rows won’t add perfectly to that final tally as there is a bunch of between the lines arithmetic
2015 Senate Halftime by LegitSlater
Senate Marker Bills
| HB or HCR | Topic | First Half Desired Vote |
| 2057 | Study on effectiveness of economic development tax incentives | Y |
| 2088 | Creation of a ND Education Foundation | N |
| 2089 | ND academic scholarship eligibility | N |
| 2090 | ND academic scholarship eligibility | N |
| 2096 | Elimination of sales taxes on internet access | Y |
| 2099 | Increase amounts for sports pools | Y |
| 2108 | Lowering age of compulsory school attendence | N |
| 2126 | Government – funded affordable housing construction appropriation | N |
| 2133 | Exemption of NDUS student information from open records requests | N |
| 2134 | Exempting NDUS president evaluations from open records | N |
| 2150 | Civil Liberties – Univ System Due Process | Y |
| 2151 | Early Childhood education grants | N |
| 2153 | Open records exemption for school districts | N |
| 2162 | Student loan repayment for social workers and addiction counselors | N |
| 2165 | Handing out $5,000 per child for education | N |
| 2174 | Govt Overreach – Health Care Study | N |
| 2184 | Allowing an increase in prize raffles | Y |
| 2208 | Retail leases and agreements and state holidays | N |
| 2210 | Establishing regional education associations | N |
| 2217 | Ending fund balances and reporting requirements | Y |
| 2220 | Housing incentive fund | N |
| 2222 | Open Records – Legislative Assembly reporting | N |
| 2230 | Renters income tax credits | N |
| 2247 | Annual legislative sessions | N |
| 2254 | Early childhood education | N |
| 2259 | Use of experimental drugs for treatments | Y |
| 2260 | Economic impact grants | N |
| 2274 | Time limits on Chief Law Enforcement Officer firearms certifications | Y |
| 2279 | Prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation | N |
| 2290 | Redefining full time status for state employees | N |
| 2299 | Campaign contribution conduit reporting | Y |
| 2309 | Establishing Immigrant Micro Grants | N |
| 2310 | Grenn energy passthrough entity income tax credits | N |
| 2322 | Cigarette Tax increase | N |
| 2326 | Student datamining and SLDS | N |
| 2329 | Renaissance tax zone size increase | N |
| 2330 | Allowing student ID’s as voter identification | Y |
| 2337 | Oil Extraction Tax Exemption | Y |
| 2344 | Creation of a ND Legacy Foundation | N |
| 2351 | Easing restrictions on corporate farming | Y |
| 2353 | Provisional ballots | N |
| 2360 | Prevention of disclosure of student directory information | N |
| 2361 | Eminent domain authority of WAWSA | Y |
| 2366 | Remove authority of the ND Industrial Commission to promote oil industry | N |
| 2369 | Audits of ballots and voting equipment | Y |
| 2378 | Income tax credits for “quality of life” projects | N |
| 4010 | Residency requirements of legislators | Y |
| 4011 | States rights in education | Y |
| 4012 | Study on privacy, security, and data sharing laws | Y |
| 4022 | Election and lobbying law study | Y |
