Rankings Of Indiana's Congressional Delegation Offer Some Surprises

The Indiana Legislative Insight this week takes a look at how Indiana's congressional delegation faired under a ranking system of power in Congress. It offers some surprising results. Explaining how the rankings are done, ILI's Ed Feigenbaum writes:

Knowlegis, which describes itself as a Virginia based “knowledge management company that provides services and software for government relations professionals” produces an interesting analysis and ranking system of power in
Congress, measuring various characteristics of power, including tenure, committee assignments, and leadership positions; influence through the media, campaign giving, and caucuses; and substantive legislative activity.

Under the Knowlegis system, Indiana's congressional delegation ranks 23rd out of 50. Not surprisingly, Indiana's senior senator, Richard Lugar (R), ranked high at 14th out of the Senate's 100 members. Shockingly, Sen. Evan Bayh (D) was ranked near the bottom of the Senate at 89th. Feigenbaum explained Bayh's low ranking:

Why did U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh (D), a presidential contender, rank so low? “Senator Bayh doesn’t have strong committee assignments and didn’t have a superstrong legislative record in 2005,” Knowlegis CEO Brad Fitch tells The Hill.

Indiana Democrats are also not going to be pleased at the ranking meted out to Rep. Julia Carson (D). She ranked the lowest of Indiana's House members, coming in at 361st out of 435 members. Surprisingly, Rep. Pete Visclosky (D) received the highest ranking of any Indiana House member, earning a ranking of 28th. Rep. Mike Pence came in a distant second, coming in with a 66th-placed ranking. Rep. Mike Sodrel earned the lowest ranking of Indiana's GOP delegation, finishing in 270th place. Other Indiana House members fell in the middle of the pack in the following order: Rep. John Hostettler (113th); Rep. Chris Chocola (130th), Rep. Dan Burton (150th), Rep. Steve Buyer (155th) and Rep. Mark Souder (161st).