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Senator Jim Dabakis
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 2013
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2018
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2018: 0
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2018: 6

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Sen. Jim Dabakis's service in the Utah legislature. I highlight differences from chamber averages using little green and red arrows. The number of arrows is statistically determined. More arrows indicate a larger difference compared to the chamber average, in relation to how much diversity there is among legislators on this metric. If all legislators introduce exactly 5 bills, then a legislator who introduces 10 is very different; if legislators vary wildly in how many bills they introduce (but the average is still 5), then a legislator who introduces 10 bills may be less different from average. The standard deviation measures this diversity.

Sen. Dabakis's statistical profile

201320142015201620172018
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber SenateSenateSenateSenateSenateSenate
  District S2S2S2S2S2S2
  Party DDDDDD
Leadership NoneNoneCaucusMgrCaucusMgrNoneNone
Years in chamber 123456
Years comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
201320142015201620172018
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by Dabakis 156956
Chamber average 11111110119.6
Difference -9.8-5.6-5.4-1.1-5.6-3.6
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLower==LowerLower
 
201320142015201620172018
Bill passage rate (learn more). What percent of Sen. Dabakis's sponsored bills pass and are officially "enrolled"? (I ignore whether the governor signed or vetoted the bill.)
Bills introduced 156956
Bills passed 022001
Passage rate 0.0%40%33%0.0%0.0%17%
Chamber average 65%70%68%68%74%83%
Difference -65.4-29.7-35.2-67.6-73.7-66.3
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
201320142015201620172018
Bills floor sponsored. A "floor sponsor" is like a secondary sponsor of a bill. After a bill passes the sponsor's chamber, its sponsor needs to find a "floor sponsor" in the other chamber to usher it through the other chamber.
Total floor sponsored 013302
Chamber average 111112131314
Difference -11.1-10.5-9.3-9.8-13.4-12.2
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
201320142015201620172018
Missed votes (learn more). Usually missed votes occur because of competing obligations within the legislature, not because the legislator has left the capitol.
Missed votes 75831687655116
Total votes held 940840951860913926
Absentee rate 8.0%9.9%18%8.8%6.0%13%
Chamber average 11%12%12%14%10%13%
Difference -3.1-1.6+6.3-5.2-4.4-0.1
Comparison Lower==HigherLowerLower==
 
201320142015201620172018
"Nay" votes (learn more). Most floor votes pass by overwhelming majorities, since unpopular bills get weeded out long before they reach the floor. As a result, "nay" votes are rare.
"Nay" votes 765764728563
Total votes held 940840951860913926
"Nay" rate 8.1%6.8%6.7%8.4%9.3%6.8%
Chamber average 3.7%3.6%4.8%3.7%2.8%3.2%
Difference +4.4+3.2+1.9+4.7+6.5+3.6
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
201320142015201620172018
Winning side rate (learn more). What percentage of the time (excluding near-unanimous votes) is the legislator on the winning side of a floor vote?
Winning side rate 56%57%58%40%38%57%
Chamber average 69%67%68%67%68%68%
Difference -12.9-9.9-10.2-26.5-30.1-10.8
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
201320142015201620172018
Ideology score (NOMINATE method) (learn more). Using W-NOMINATE algorithm developed by Congressional scholars, I calculate each legislator's relative ideology after each General Session. I describe the method here. Scores have no intrinsic meaning. They are only relative: A legislator with a higher score is to the right ideologically of a legislator with a lower scale. Scores may be compared only within a single chamber and a single year. In most years, a conservative Republican will have a score above 0; a score close to 100 is extreme.
Contact me for scores. They get misinterpreted often enough that I now provide them only to political scientists.
 
201320142015201620172018
Party support score (overall) (learn more). How consistently does Sen. Dabakis support his/her party? That is, what percentage of the time does the legislator vote with the majority of the other members of his/her party? Scores are usually easily above 90%.
Score (overall) 96%96%98%98%96%97%
Chamber average 97%97%96%97%98%97%
Difference -1.2-0.6+2.3+0.6-2.2-0.5
Comparison Lower==Higher==LowerLower==
 
201320142015201620172018
Party support score (party-line only) (learn more). This is the same as the "raw" party support score, but we look only at party-line votes when calculating this. A "party-line" vote occurs when the majority of Democrats votes against the majority of Republicans. Although party-line votes are rare, looking at the legislator's party support score in this setting can be revealing.
Score (party-line only) 92%85%91%98%93%91%
Chamber average 85%84%83%87%86%85%
Difference +7.2+0.5+8.1+11+6.2+5.9
Comparison Higher==HigherHigherHigherHigher

Votes on Sen. Dabakis's bills

Only 8 bills sponsored by Sen. Dabakis have come to a vote. Listed below are all votes held on bills that Sen. Dabakis sponsored. The votes are sorted by vote margin, with the most divisive votes listed first.

Year Sponsor Bill Ayes Nays Margin
(as % of total votes)
Type of vote
2015 Dabakis SB0194S01 44 30 19% House/ passed 3rd reading
2016 Dabakis SB0170 10 15 20% Senate/ failed
2015 Dabakis SB0105 17 10 26% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2015 Dabakis SB0105 20 8 43% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2018 Dabakis SJR016S01 18 54 50% House/ failed
2018 Dabakis SJR016S01 22 6 57% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2018 Dabakis SCR003 55 14 59% House/ passed 3rd reading
2015 Dabakis SR0003 21 5 62% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2014 Dabakis SJR019 61 11 69% House/ passed 3rd reading
2014 Dabakis SB0058 21 3 75% Senate/ passed 3rd reading