Beaver State News

Common Cause has released its 2024 "Democracy Scorecard," evaluating every member of Congress on their support for voting rights, Supreme Court ethics, and other reforms. According to Virginia Kase Solomón, President & CEO of Common Cause, the scorecard indicates a significant increase in congressional support for pro-democracy reforms.

"Our 2024 Democracy Scorecard shows a surge of support in Congress for reforms that strengthen the right to vote, take back the Supreme Court, and break big money’s grip on our politics," said Solomón. "The number of members of Congress with perfect scores increased more than 100% from 2020, with 58 members in our 2020 Scorecard to 117 in this year’s Scorecard. As we see the wealthy and well-connected try to influence our politics and our very livelihoods, we must demand our leaders deliver on the people’s pro-democracy agenda."

Since 2016, Common Cause has monitored support and co-sponsorship of democracy-related legislation. This year's scorecard includes ten legislative items in the U.S. Senate and thirteen in the U.S. House, including the Freedom to Vote Act, John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act.

"The 2024 Democracy Scorecard empowers voters with information to hold their leaders in Washington accountable for a government that works for all," said Kate Titus, Executive Director of Common Cause Oregon. "Five of Oregon's members of Congress earned a perfect or near-perfect score for their support for pro-democracy legislation. With this year’s pivotal election, we must drive these key reforms to the top of the agenda so everyone is afforded an accountable government, no matter what state we call home."

Oregon is one of eight states where both U.S. Senators received perfect scores. The other states include California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Oregon members of Congress with perfect or near-perfect scores are:

- Senator Jeff Merkley: 10/10

- Senator Ron Wyden: 10/10

- Representative Val Hoyle: 13/13

- Representative Earl Blumenauer: 12/13

- Representative Suzanne Bonamici: 12/13

Oregon members of Congress with the lowest scores are:

- Representative Cliff Bentz: 2/13

- Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer: 2/13

Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization and does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office.