Empire State Today

Common Cause, the nonpartisan watchdog organization, has released its 2024 "Democracy Scorecard," evaluating every member of Congress on their support for voting rights, Supreme Court ethics, and other 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 Virginia Kase Solomón, President & CEO of Common Cause. "The number of members of Congress with perfect scores increased 101% from 2020, with 58 members in 2020 to 117 today. As we see the wealthy and well-connected try and 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 tracked 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 Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York. "Eight of New York’s members of Congress earned a 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."

New York Members of Congress with perfect or near-perfect scores include:

- Senator Kirsten Gillibrand: 9/10

- Representative Yvette Clarke: 13/13

- Representative Adriano Espaillat: 13/13

- Representative Dan Goldman: 13/13

- Representative Grace Meng: 13/13

- Representative Joe Morelle: 13/13

- Representative Jerry Nadler: 13/13

- Representative Paul Tonko: 13/13

- Representative Ritchie Torres: 13/13

New York's Members of Congress with scores of zero are:

- Representative Elise Stefanik: 0/13

- Representative Claudia Tenney: 0/13

Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization that does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office. House and Senate leadership were not scored due to sometimes needing to change their votes for procedural reasons.

To view the full details of the 2024 Democracy Scorecard, visit Common Cause's official website.

Common Cause is dedicated to upholding core values such as creating open and accountable government that serves public interest; promoting equal rights; opportunity; representation for all; and empowering people to make their voices heard in political processes.

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