A new survey shows that Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio had the second most bi-partisan record in the U.S. Senate the past two years, trailing only Republican Susan Collins among senators evaluated.
The survey, conducted by the Lugar Center, which was founded by former Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, based the rankings on two criteria. First, how often a senator’s own bill is co-sponsored by a member of the other party. And second, how often a senator co-sponsors a bill introduced by a member of the other party.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, was ranked 58th, well ahead of such prominent Democrats as Pat Leahy of Vermont, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, ranked at the bottom of the list as the least bi-partisan senator.
In the U.S. House, Republican Steve Stivers of Upper Arlington ranked 37th, which earned him the highest bipartisan score among member of the Ohio delegation. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, ranked 128th and Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus, finished 161st.
By contrast, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, was among the least bipartisan lawmakers, earning a record of 422nd while Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, recorded a score of 384.