Alabama's known as a conservative state, but there are shades of gray even within its solidly red legislature.
The Sunlight Foundation recently crunched the numbers on voting records from every state legislator. The voting records were then used to calculate how liberal or conservative every Alabama legislator is relative to their peers. You can read the methodology behind the rankings here.
In the Alabama Senate, the analysis shows the polar ends of the partisan spectrum are held by Republican Shadrack McGill on the conservative side and Democrat Bobby Singleton on the liberal side. After a controversial single term, McGill is not seeking reelection to his Senate seat. The second-most conservative Senator, Scott Beason, is also leaving the Senate. Earlier this month, Beason lost out on a bid to replace retiring Rep. Spencer Bachus.
Most of the others fall within a fairly-tight spectrum with the Republicans particularly close when it comes to ideology.
The study's author is quick to note, however, the use of the terms "conservative" and "liberal," aren't the same from legislative body to legislative body. In other words, what's considered "conservative" in California might be considered moderate here.
The rankings also look at how the individual legislators work together and their success in having their legislation co-sponsored and passed. That information is used in effort to determine how partisan each legislative body is. Overall, Alabama's legislature is seen as fairly middle-of-the-road when it comes to political partisanship.
A study by the Washington Post that was used in the Sunlight Foundation's study shows Alabama almost in the middle of the partisan spectrum. According to the study, the least-polarized state legislature is Rhode Island and the most polarized is California.
Here are the 10 most conservative State Senators according to the Sunlight Foundation:
- Shadrack McGill , R- 8th District, DeKalb, Jackson, Madison
- Scott Beason , R- 17th District, Blount, Jefferson, St. Clair
- Rusty Glover , R-34th District, Mobile
- Bill Hightower , R-35th District, Mobile
- Tripp Pittman, R-32nd District, Baldwin
- Paul Sanford , R-7th District, Madison
- Gerald Allen , R-21st District, Hale, Pickens, Tuscaloosa
- Jimmy Holley, R-31st District, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Houston
- Clay Scofield, R-9th District, Blount, Madison, Marshall
- Phil Williams, R-10th District, Cherokee, Etowah
10 most liberal State Senators according to the Sunlight Foundation:
- Bobby Singleton , D-24th District, Bibb, Choctaw, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry, Sumter, Tuscaloosa
- Quinton Ross Jr., D-26th District, Montgomery
- Rodger Smitherman , D-18th District, Jefferson
- Vivian Davis Figures , D-33rd District, Mobile
- Linda Coleman , D-20th District, Jefferson
- Priscilla Dunn, D-19th District, Jefferson
- Billy Beasley, D-28th District, Barbour, Bullock, Henry, Lee, Macon, Russell
- Tammy Irons, D-1st District Colbert, Lauderdale
- Mark Keahey , D-22nd District Baldwin, Choctaw, Clake, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, Washington
- Roger Bedford, D-6th District, Colbert, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lawrence, Marion, Winston
Note: No ranking was given for Hank Sanders, D-Selma.
What are your thoughts? Do you consider your State Senator conservative (or liberal) enough?