How We Score Officials
Our Principles
- 1.Transparent: Every score is traceable to specific votes. No black boxes. You can see exactly which votes contributed to every grade.
- 2.Texas-focused: Scores reflect what matters to Texas residents specifically, not national partisan scorecards.
- 3.Issue-based: We score on the issues, not on party. Any official who votes to protect Texas interests gets credit regardless of party affiliation.
Issue Categories
Officials are scored across five issue categories, each weighted equally at 20% of the overall score:
Water Rights
Votes on water district authority, reservoir projects, groundwater conservation, and Sabine River Authority issues
20% of overall score
Land & Property Rights
Eminent domain protections, property tax appraisal reform, mineral rights, and land use regulations
20% of overall score
Taxes
Property tax rates, sales tax, school district tax rates, and unfunded mandates
20% of overall score
Government Transparency
Open meetings compliance, public records access, ethics reform, and campaign finance disclosure
20% of overall score
Voting Record
Overall alignment with campaign promises, constitutional principles, and limited government
20% of overall score
How Scores Are Calculated
Step 1: Identify Relevant Bills
We identify bills at the federal and state level that directly impact Texas on each issue category. Each bill is tagged with the "pro-Texas" position -- the vote that best serves Texas residents' interests.
Step 2: Score Each Vote
Each vote is scored: Aligned (voted in East Texas interest) = 100 points. Not Aligned = 0 points. Absent/Abstain = 50 points (neutral).
Step 3: Category Score
The category score is the weighted average of all scored votes in that category. Major legislation is weighted more heavily than procedural votes.
Step 4: Overall Score
The overall score is the weighted average of all category scores. Each category contributes its designated weight (currently 20% each).
Left / Right Ideology Chart
Federal Officials: Official Roll Calls First
For U.S. House and U.S. Senate profiles, RepWatchr loads source snapshots from the official House Clerk and Senate roll-call feeds. Those rows are evidence records first. They do not automatically move the left/right meter until a reviewed issue rule maps that vote to a direction.
Sources: House Clerk roll calls and Senate roll-call XML.
Texas State and Local Officials
State representatives, senators, school board members, county officials, and city officials do not receive an automatic left/right score until RepWatchr has enough source-backed votes, minutes, agendas, or public records to avoid guessing. Texas Legislature Online roll calls and local meeting minutes are the next source lanes.
Constitutional Alignment Meter
What It Measures
The constitutional meter is separate from party ideology. It asks whether reviewed public votes line up with limited government, individual liberty, fiscal restraint, federalism, transparency, and due process. It is a civic accountability signal, not a legal finding.
What Moves the Meter
Only reviewed issue rules move the score. For example, a vote to extend surveillance authority can be scored against individual liberty when the vote text does not show a limiting civil-liberties reform. A vote against waiving budgetary discipline can receive fiscal-restraint credit. Vague amendments, nominations, cloture votes, and broad omnibus bills stay visible but marked "needs policy review" until a human-reviewed rule is added.
Source Path
Federal roll calls are linked to the House Clerk, Senate roll call tables, and Congress.gov where available. Texas state roll-call review will use Texas Legislature Online vote pages and journals. Local official scoring will require meeting minutes, agendas, video, or records requests before the meter moves.
Letter Grade Scale
| Grade | Score Range | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| A+ / A / A- | 90 - 100 | Excellent - Strongly aligned with Texas interests |
| B+ / B / B- | 80 - 89 | Good - Generally supportive of Texas interests |
| C+ / C / C- | 70 - 79 | Average - Mixed record on Texas issues |
| D+ / D / D- | 60 - 69 | Below Average - Often votes against Texas interests |
| F | 0 - 59 | Poor - Consistently votes against Texas interests |
Officials Without Voting Records
County judges, commissioners, mayors, city council members, and school board members often do not have easily accessible roll-call voting records. For these officials, we display "Insufficient Data" rather than a misleading score. As we gather more data from commissioner court votes, city council meetings, and school board minutes, scores will be added.
Campaign Finance Data
Campaign funding data is sourced from:
- Federal officials: Federal Election Commission (FEC) via OpenFEC API
- State officials: Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) electronic filing data
- Local officials: TEC local filer database (where available)
Have questions about our methodology or see an error?
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