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Senator Ross I. Romero
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 2005
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2012
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2012: 2
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2012: 6

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Sen. Ross I. Romero'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. Romero's statistical profile

200720082009201020112012
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber SenateSenateSenateSenateSenateSenate
  District S7S7S7S7S7S7
  Party DDDDDD
Leadership NoneNoneWhipWhipMinLdrMinLdr
Years in chamber 123456
Years comparison LowerLowerLower======
 
200720082009201020112012
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by Romero 425458
Chamber average 9.69.89.08.9119.8
Difference -5.6-7.8-4.0-4.9-5.6-1.8
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
200720082009201020112012
Bill passage rate (learn more). What percent of Sen. Romero's sponsored bills pass and are officially "enrolled"? (I ignore whether the governor signed or vetoted the bill.)
Bills introduced 425458
Bills passed 311101
Passage rate 75%50%20%25%0.0%13%
Chamber average 63%68%63%69%70%72%
Difference +12-18.0-42.8-43.6-70.2-58.7
Comparison HigherLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
200720082009201020112012
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 532313
Chamber average 121111111112
Difference -6.6-8.5-9.1-8.0-10.4-8.8
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
200720082009201020112012
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 663397128
Total votes held 820806807786940890
Absentee rate 0.7%0.7%0.4%5.0%7.6%3.1%
Chamber average 8.9%9.6%11%12%14%9.9%
Difference -8.2-8.9-10.7-6.9-6.8-6.8
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
200720082009201020112012
"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 6578877010285
Total votes held 820806807786940890
"Nay" rate 7.9%9.7%11%8.9%11%9.6%
Chamber average 4.1%4.1%4.1%4.6%3.4%4.8%
Difference +3.8+5.6+6.9+4.3+7.6+4.8
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
200720082009201020112012
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 48%33%33%40%19%42%
Chamber average 70%69%70%70%72%70%
Difference -22.3-35.8-36.7-30.2-53.1-28.2
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
200720082009201020112012
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.
 
200720082009201020112012
Party support score (overall) (learn more). How consistently does Sen. Romero 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%96%97%96%97%
Chamber average 97%97%97%97%98%96%
Difference -1.0-1.6-1.3+0.2-2.3+0.9
Comparison LowerLowerLower==LowerLowerLowerHigher
 
200720082009201020112012
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) 86%92%97%93%94%94%
Chamber average 83%85%89%89%91%88%
Difference +2.6+7.2+7.0+4.4+3.0+5.8
Comparison ==HigherHigherHigherHigherHigher

Votes on Sen. Romero's bills

Only 16 bills sponsored by Sen. Romero have come to a vote. Listed below are all votes held on bills that Sen. Romero 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
2012 Romero SB0059S01 14 15 3.4% Senate/ failed
2011 Romero SB0045 32 38 8.6% House/ failed
2010 Romero SB0113S01 38 31 10% House/ passed 3rd reading
2010 Romero SB0113S01 12 15 11% Senate/ failed
2010 Romero SB0128S01 11 14 12% Senate/ failed
2009 Romero SB0223 9 17 31% Senate/ failed
2012 Romero SB0128 19 9 36% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2012 Romero SB0128 19 9 36% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2010 Romero SB0113S01 19 8 41% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2010 Romero SB0113S01 18 7 44% Senate/ passed 3rd reading