For the sixth time since 2011, Mark P. Jones, the political science fellow at Rice University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, released his voting record analysis for the Texas legislature’s 2021 session.
The study is conducted based on 1,235 “non-lopsided” votes cast in the House and 934 in the Senate during the legislative session — unanimous or near-unanimous votes are not included.
Members are then ranked from most conservative to most liberal. While some Republicans trended more liberal and some Democrats leaned more conservative, none overlapped.
Below, the full rankings for each chamber are listed with the lowest number denoting a more conservative assessment and the higher number denoting more liberal positioning. The third column indicates the legislator’s ranking change from 2019 — a positive number shows the member rose in the rankings while a negative number shows they dropped.
To find out who represents which district in the Texas legislature, visit here.
Texas House
The 2021 Texas House rankings highlighted some new faces on the high and low ends and some significant shifts from last session. While the House makeup didn’t change at all — with 83 Republicans and 67 Democrats returning to the chamber — both parties featured marked shifts amongst their members.
According to the analysis, the most liberal Republican, Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio), was still significantly more right-leaning than the most conservative Democrat, Rep. Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grande City).
Larson has publicly feuded with statewide GOP leadership, even suggesting the need for a third party, and was the main Republican proponent of expanding Medicaid in the state. Guillen, meanwhile, voted for both the Heartbeat bill and constitutional carry — and joint-authored the latter.
The top five most conservative House members were, in order, Reps. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler), Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park), Bryan Slaton (R-Royse City), Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands), and Cody Vasut (R-Angleton). Cain held the most conservative ranking in 2019 while Schaefer jumped five spots to number one.
By contrast, the five most liberal House members were Michelle Beckley (D-Carrollton), Ana-Maria Ramos (D-Richardson), Jasmine Crockett (D-Dallas), Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin), and Toni Rose (D-Dallas). Like Cain, Hinojosa fell from her top spot since last session, but down to the fourth most liberal position. Beckley, meanwhile, climbed 10 spots to the top position.
The five most liberal House GOP members were Larson, Dan Huberty (R-Houston), Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas), Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth), and Kyle Kacal (R-College Station).
And the five most conservative House Democrats were Guillen, Richard Peña Raymond (D-Laredo), Tracy King (D-Uvalde), Terry Canales (D-Edinburg), and Abel Hererro (D-Robstown).
The biggest movers were Victoria Neave (D-Dallas) who climbed 35 spots toward the center and Steve Allison (R-San Antonio) who moved 28 spots toward the center.
2021 Rank Representative +/- Rank
1 Matt Schaefer (R) +5
2 Briscoe Cain (R) -1
3 Bryan Slaton (R) N/A
4 Steve Toth (R) +9
5 Cody Vasut (R) N/A
6 Tony Tinderholt (R) -4
7 Terry Wilson (R) +3
8 Cole Hefner (R) -1
9 Mayes Middleton (R) -6
10 Jared Patterson (R) -2
11 Jeff Cason (R) N/A
12 Shelby Slawson (R) N/A
13 Valoree Swanson (R) -4
14 Kyle Biedermann (R) -2
15 Matt Shaheen (R) -1
16 Matt Krause (R) -3
17 Justin Holland (R) +1
18 Ben Leman (R) +5
19 Andrew Murr (R) +2
20 Will Metcalf (R) +6
21 Cody Harris (R) -4
22 Jeff Leach (R) +12
23 Candy Noble (R) -7
24 David Cook (R) N/A
25 Tom Oliverson (R) -3
26 Scott Sanford (R) +6
27 Brooks Landgraf (R) +2
28 Gary Gates (R) N/A
29 Reggie Smith (R) +2
30 Dennis Paul (R) +7
31 Cecil Bell, Jr. (R) +7
32 Jay Dean (R) -13
33 John Cyrier (R) -6
34 David Spiller (R) N/A
35 Greg Bonnen (R) -11
36 Lacey Hull (R) N/A
37 James White (R) -4
38 Craig Goldman (R) -13
39 Mike Schofield (R) N/A
40 Phil King (R) -10
41 DeWayne Burns (R) -6
42 Stephanie Klick (R) +9
43 Giovanni Capriglione (R) -3
44 Tan Parker (R) -12
45 Lynn Stucky (R) 0
46 Keith Bell (R) -18
47 Tom Craddick (R) -5
48 John Smithee (R) +2
49 Jake Ellzey (R) N/A
50 Brad Buckley (R) -3
51 Sam Harless (R) -7
52 Gary VanDeaver (R) +11
53 James Frank (R) +14
54 Glenn Rogers (R) N/A
55 Trent Ashby (R) +4
56 Charles "Doc" Anderson (R) -2
57 Walter "Four" Price (R) 0
58 Ed Thompson (R) -12
59 Hugh Shine (R) -3
60 Dustin Burrows (R) -2
61 Stan Lambert (R) +5
62 Jacey Jetton (R) N/A
63 John Frullo (R) +2
64 John Kuempel (R) +3
65 Travis Clardy (R) -24
66 Phil Stephenson (R) -5
67 Geanie Morrison (R) +4
68 Ernest Bailes (R) +9
69 Drew Darby (R) -7
70 Chris Paddie (R) -6
71 Steve Allison (R) -28
72 Angie Chen Button (R) -4
73 John Raney (R) -4
74 Ken King (R) +1
75 Todd Hunter (R) -22
76 Jim Murphy (R) -6
77 J.M. Lozano (R) +2
78 Kyle Kacal (R) -4
79 Charlie Geren (R) -1
80 Morgan Meyer (R) -4
81 Dan Huberty (R) -1
82 Lyle Larson (R) -9
83 Ryan Guillen (D) 0
84 Richard Peña Raymond (D) 0
85 Tracy King (D) 0
86 Terry Canales (D) 0
87 Abel Herrero (D) +3
88 Eddie Morales (D) N/A
89 Leo Pacheco (D) 0
90 Harold Dutton (D) +4
91 Sergio Muñoz (D) 0
92 Bobby Guerra (D) -5
93 Philip Cortez (D) 0
94 Armando Martinez (D) +8
95 Alex Dominguez (D) +12
96 Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (D) +5
97 Eddie Lucio, III (D) +2
98 Joe Deshotel (D) -6
99 Oscar Longoria (D) -11
100 Mary Ann Perez (D) +6
101 Garnet Coleman (D) -3
102 Joe Moody (D) +2
103 Victoria Neave (D) +35
104 Liz Campos (D) N/A
105 Senfronia Thompson (D) +6
106 Julie Johnson (D) +18
107 Ina Minjarez (D) +2
108 Claudia Ordaz Perez (D) N/A
109 Hubert Vo (D) -9
110 Shawn Thierry (D) -2
111 Art Fierro (D) -6
112 Ramon Romero (D) +9
113 Alma Allen (D) -10
114 Ana Hernandez (D) +2
115 Jarvis Johnson (D) -20
116 Trey Martinez Fischer (D) -6
117 Mary González (D) +17
118 John Turner (D) +5
119 Ray Lopez (D) -4
120 Armando Walle (D) -7
121 Yvonne Davis (D) -3
122 James Talarico (D) +3
123 Diego Bernal (D) +17
124 Terry Meza (D) +4
125 John Rosenthal (D) +20
126 Penny Morales Shaw (D) N/A
127 Donna Howard (D) +14
128 Rhetta Bowers (D) -9
129 Lina Ortega (D) +13
130 Carl Sherman (D) +3
131 Christina Morales (D) -1
132 Ann Johnson (D) N/A
133 Sheryl Cole (D) -21
134 Eddie Rodriguez (D) -14
135 Ron Reynolds (D) +1
136 Gene Wu (D) -4
137 John Bucy (D) -8
138 Chris Turner (D) -7
139 Celia Israel (D) -2
140 Erin Zwiener (D) +4
141 Nicole Collier (D) +15
142 Vikki Goodwin (D) +1
143 Rafael Anchía (D) -8
144 Jessica González (D) +3
145 Toni Rose (D) +1
146 Gina Hinajosa (D) +3
147 Jasmine Crockett (D) N/A
148 Ana-Maria Ramos (D) 0
149 Michelle Beckley (D) +10
Texas Senate
Touting itself as the more conservative body, the 31-member Texas Senate this session featured a wider deviation from its mean on the conservative-liberal score. That means, based on this analysis, the GOP caucus stretched more conservative, and the Democratic caucus stretched more liberal than their respective counterparts in the lower chamber.
Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) took the most conservative position, moving up one from 2019, while freshman Sarah Eckhardt claims the most liberal. The most conservative Democrat is Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville) — the lone Senate Democrat to vote for the Heartbeat bill. And his counterpart across parties is Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) who for the third consecutive session holds the most liberal Republican position.
With a smaller body, there isn’t as much room to move than in the House. But the Senate’s biggest movers were Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) and Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) who each shifted nine spots — Nichols in the more conservative direction and Bettencourt in the more liberal.
Winner of the one seat that flipped during the 2020 election, Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) staked out a middling position within the caucus but was still significantly more liberal than his GOP predecessor Pete Flores.
2021 Rank Representative +/- Rank
1 Bryan Hughes (R) +1
2 Drew Springer (R) N/A
3 Brandon Creighton (R) +1
4 Bob Hall (R) -3
5 Brian Birdwell (R) +6
6 Charles Schwertner (R) +5
7 Robert Nichols (R) +9
8 Dawn Buckingham (R) +7
9 Angela Paxton (R) -1
10 Kelly Hancock (R) -4
11 Charles Perry (R) +3
12 Paul Bettencourt (R) -9
13 Lois Kolkhorst (R) -4
14 Jane Nelson (R) -2
15 Donna Campbell (R) -8
16 Joan Huffman (R) 0
17 Larry Taylor (R) -2
18 Kel Seliger (R) +1
19 Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D) +2
20 Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D) 0
21 Beverly Powell (D) +3
22 Judith Zaffrini (D) +1
23 Royce West (D) -1
24 César Blanco (D) N/A
25 José Menéndez (D) +6
26 Roland Gutierrez (D) N/A
27 Nathan Johnson (D) +2
28 Carol Alvarado (D) -2
29 John Whitmire (D) -2
30 Borris Miles (D) -5
31 Sarah Eckhardt (D) N/A
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Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson is a senior reporter for The Texan and an Ohio native who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. He is an avid sports fan who most enjoys watching his favorite teams continue their title drought throughout his cognizant lifetime. In his free time, you may find Brad quoting Monty Python productions and trying to calculate the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.
