Jon Johnson File Photo/Gila Herald: Rep. Tom O’Halleran speaks at a previous event at EAC. O’Halleran was named Arizona’s most bipartisan member of the House of Representatives.
Kyrsten Sinema listed as the fourth-most bipartisan senator
Staff Reports
WASHINGTON D.C. – If Arizona is indeed a “purple” state – a solid mix of Republican red and Democrat blue – it makes sense that its politicians are among the most bipartisan in the country.
According to 2021 data from the Bipartisan Index rankings from the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, Rep. Tom O’Halleran, AZ, CD-1, was the most bipartisan House member from the Arizona delegation, and the 28th most bipartisan out of all 435 House members. Arizona Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly were rated two of the most bipartisan Senators in office.
“Since I came to Congress in 2017, I’ve been committed to working with everyone to find commonsense solutions to the problems Arizonans face. To this end, reaching across the aisle on a consistent basis has been key,” O’Halleran said in a press release. “Today, I’m proud to again be ranked the most bipartisan Arizona representative, and to rank in the top 7% of most bipartisan members of the House of Representatives.”
Kelly’s strong bipartisan score landed him the 22nd most bipartisan senator. Maggie Hassan (D) from New Hampshire was the most bipartisan, followed by Susan Collins (R) of Maine. Sinema was listed as the fourth most bipartisan Senator. The annual ranking is based on the number of bills the lawmakers co-sponsored with opposite-party sponsors and the number of opposite-party co-sponsors they attract on their own bills.
“When I took office, I committed to working with Republicans and Democrats to deliver results for Arizonans. Since then, we’ve broken through partisan gridlock to pass our historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will create millions of jobs, fix our roads and bridges, and make our state more resilient to drought without raising taxes. And, in the coming weeks, I’ll be working closely with Republicans and Democrats to pass my plan to increase Arizona microchip manufacturing and tackle supply chain challenges that are driving up costs for hardworking Arizona families. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, and I’ll keep working with anyone to deliver for Arizona families,” Kelly said in a press release.
Kelly has previously been named the most bipartisan freshman Democratic senator, according to data released by Axios, and was recently noted as having “the fourth most conservative voting record among Senate Democrats . . . according to voting scores by the University of California-Los Angeles.”
The non-profit Lugar Center is a platform for informed debate and analysis of global issues, including nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, global food security, foreign assistance effectiveness, and global development, energy security, and enhancing bipartisan governance. The Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy is a top-ranked public policy school located in Washington, D.C.
