Officials — graded scorecards
Public officials graded only on on-the-record acts — authored bills, recorded votes, executive signatures — each linked to a policy graded on this site, weighted by role centrality and how directly the measured outcome flowed from the act. Public records only. No private life, no imputed motive. Individual grades are secondary to jurisdiction grades.
Mayor Ras Baraka
| Public act | Linked policy | Role | Measured outcome | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drove emergency lead-service-line replacement program | newark-lead-lines | Executive sponsor | 23,000+ lines replaced in <3 years; lead to ~0 ppb | +8 |
| Secured county financing to accelerate the work | newark-lead-lines | Executive | Beat the 8-10 year estimate; became a national model | +6 |
Their stated rationale (paraphrased): Argued safe drinking water is a basic government obligation and that speed, financed up front, beats slow incrementalism.
Sen. Juan Barnett
| Public act | Linked policy | Role | Measured outcome | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Authored the Earned Parole Eligibility Act (SB2795) | mississippi-parole-reform | Prime author | ~6,300 made eligible; 98% no new-sentence return at 2 yrs | +8 |
| Built bipartisan coalition for parole expansion | mississippi-parole-reform | Author | Projected $584M-$988M savings | +5 |
Their stated rationale (paraphrased): Framed earned parole as fiscally conservative and redemptive - releasing people who have demonstrably aged out of crime.
Mayor Kirk Watson
| Public act | Linked policy | Role | Measured outcome | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championed the HOME initiative cutting minimum lot size | austin-home-initiative | Executive sponsor | Single-family-zone permits +86% in year one | +8 |
| Backed up-to-three-homes-per-lot reform | austin-home-initiative | Executive | 100+ teardowns to 260+ smaller homes | +5 |
Their stated rationale (paraphrased): Argued letting owners build a little more on their own lots is the cheapest, least coercive way to add homes.
Sen. June Robinson
| Public act | Linked policy | Role | Measured outcome | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored the 7% capital-gains tax on gains over $250k | washington-capital-gains-tax | Prime sponsor | ~$900M year one; survived court and a repeal vote | +7 |
| Defended it through I-2109 repeal effort | washington-capital-gains-tax | Sponsor | Repeal defeated ~64-36 in 2024 | +4 |
Their stated rationale (paraphrased): Argued a narrow tax on large investment gains funds child care and schools without burdening wage earners.
Gov. Tina Kotek
| Public act | Linked policy | Role | Measured outcome | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Authored HB2001 ending single-family-only zoning (as Speaker) | oregon-hb2001-missing-middle | Prime author | Middle housing rose to ~11% of approvals statewide | +7 |
| Pushed statewide housing-production targets | oregon-hb2001-missing-middle | Author/Executive | Portland added ~26% of units as middle housing | +4 |
Their stated rationale (paraphrased): Argued legalizing duplexes and fourplexes statewide is a structural fix for a structural shortage.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
| Public act | Linked policy | Role | Measured outcome | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signed SB8 minimum-wage / tip-credit compromise (2025) | michigan-tipped-minimum-wage-2025 | Executive | Raised wages while preserving the tip credit | +4 |
| Signed universal free school meals | michigan-universal-school-meals | Executive | Breakfast +26%, lunch +20%; ~$850/child saved | +5 |
| Backed presumptive-parole / sentencing reforms | michigan-presumptive-parole | Executive | Prison pop. 17-yr low; recidivism ~21% record low | +5 |
Their stated rationale (paraphrased): Argued targeted relief - meals, parole, wage floors - pays off when designed to avoid disruption.
Contested attribution: Tip-credit compromise disappointed both sides; clean employment effects unmeasured.
Gov. Jared Polis
| Public act | Linked policy | Role | Measured outcome | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signed SB217 qualified-immunity / accountability reform | colorado-sb217-qualified-immunity | Executive | ~82 state suits 2021-23; federal 1983 unchanged | +5 |
| Signed the Prescription Drug Affordability Board law | colorado-pdab-drug-pricing | Executive | First upper-payment limit set; litigation pending, no clean savings yet | +4 |
Their stated rationale (paraphrased): Argued state-level accountability and drug-pricing tools can move where Washington stalls.
Supt. Mike Miles
| Public act | Linked policy | Role | Measured outcome | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imposed the New Education System after state takeover | houston-isd-state-takeover | Appointed superintendent | Large STAAR gains; biology +17-18, Algebra I +23 | +5 |
| Restructured staffing and closed/charterized schools | houston-isd-state-takeover | Executive | Held more students back; routed students to easier tracks; protests | +3 |
Their stated rationale (paraphrased): Argued chronically failing schools justified bold, scripted, accountability-heavy intervention.
Contested attribution: Gains measured on the same tests taught to; retention and democratic-control costs disputed.
Gov. Maura Healey
| Public act | Linked policy | Role | Measured outcome | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Implemented the MBTA Communities Act zoning mandate | mbta-communities-act | Executive | 119+ communities rezoned; upheld with APA rewrite | +5 |
| Managed the right-to-shelter system under strain | massachusetts-right-to-shelter | Executive | Caseload capped from 7,600; 9-mo to 6-mo limit; ~$978M FY25 | +3 |
Their stated rationale (paraphrased): Argued the state must both compel housing capacity and ration an over-subscribed shelter guarantee.
Gov. Ron DeSantis
| Public act | Linked policy | Role | Measured outcome | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signed the Live Local Act preempting local zoning | florida-live-local-act | Executive | Real affordable pipeline; unit counts lag, workforce-not-deep | +4 |
| Signed first-in-nation Canadian drug importation | florida-drug-importation | Executive | Zero drugs imported in 2+ years; $50M+ spent | +3 |
Their stated rationale (paraphrased): Argued deregulating zoning and importing cheaper drugs would expand supply and cut costs.
Gov. Peter Shumlin
| Public act | Linked policy | Role | Measured outcome | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pursued single-payer (Green Mountain Care), then shelved it | vermont-single-payer | Executive | Needed 11.5% payroll + 9.5% income tax; abandoned 2014 | +3 |
| Course-corrected before implementation | vermont-single-payer | Executive | Avoided a fiscally impossible rollout - honest retreat | +3 |
Their stated rationale (paraphrased): Argued single-payer was right in principle but conceded the financing was unworkable - and said so.
Gov. Brian Kemp
| Public act | Linked policy | Role | Measured outcome | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launched Pathways to Coverage Medicaid work requirement | georgia-pathways-medicaid-work-requirements | Executive | ~6,500 covered vs ~100k projected; ~3/4 of $86.9M to consultants | +2 |
Their stated rationale (paraphrased): Argued work-tied coverage encourages employment and limits dependency.
Gov. Sam Brownback
| Public act | Linked policy | Role | Measured outcome | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signed the 2012 income-tax-cut 'experiment' | kansas-tax-cuts-experiment | Executive | Growth offset only 10-30% of revenue loss; repealed over veto 2017 | +2 |
Their stated rationale (paraphrased): Argued deep rate cuts would be a 'shot of adrenaline' for the Kansas economy.