Republican U.S. Reps. Virginia Foxx and Patrick McHenry topped a congressional scorecard from the Washington, D.C.,-based conservative group Heritage Action for America.
Even though they were the highest ranking among the Tar Heel State’s 15-member House and Senate delegation, Foxx, of the 5th district, and McHenry, of the 10th district, barely eked out a B in the grading, earning 83 percent and 81 percent, respectively.
Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-7th, earned the highest score among Democrats at 29 percent, followed by Reps. Heath Shuler, D-11th, and Larry Kissell, D-8th. Sen. Kay Hagan, took up the rear of the pack with a score of 5 percent.
“We are tough graders and we don’t apologize for it,” said Heritage Action’s CEO Michael A. Needham. “After all, we are conservatives, not tenured university professors.”
The legislative scorecard ranks lawmakers on 30 votes and five co-sponsorships in the House and 19 votes and 4 co-sponsorships in the Senate. Issues covered ranged from tax policy and climate change to defunding ObamaCare and stripping Planned Parenthood of federal funding.
Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. Jeffrey Duncan, both Republicans from South Carolina, scored first (99 percent) and third (98 percent), respectively, in the overall rankings. Utah Sen. Mike Lee, also a Republican, came in second at 98 percent.
Here’s how the remainder of North Carolina’s delegation stacked up:
• Sen. Richard Burr, R, 77 percent
• Rep. Sue Myrick, R-9th, 73 percent
• Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-2nd, 67 percent
• Rep. Howard Coble, R-6th, 63 percent
• Rep. Walter Jones, R-3rd, 46 percent
• Rep. David Price, D-4th, 10 percent
• Rep. Mel Watt, D-12th, 10 percent
• Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-1st, 7 percent
• Rep. Brad Miller, D-13th, 7 percent
David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.