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Senator Jani Iwamoto
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 2015
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2022
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2022: 0
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2022: 8

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Sen. Jani Iwamoto'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. Iwamoto's statistical profile

20152016201720182019202020212022
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber SenateSenateSenateSenateSenateSenateSenateSenate
  District S4S4S4S4S4S4S4S4
  Party DDDDDDDD
Leadership NoneNoneCaucusMgrCaucusMgrAsstWhipAsstWhipAsstWhipAsstWhip
Years in chamber 12345678
Years comparison LowerLowerLowerLower========
 
20152016201720182019202020212022
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by Iwamoto 2791212151012
Chamber average 1110119.6109.79.49.6
Difference -9.4-3.1-1.6+2.4+1.8+5.3+0.6+2.4
Comparison LowerLowerLower==Higher==Higher==Higher
 
20152016201720182019202020212022
Bill passage rate (learn more). What percent of Sen. Iwamoto's sponsored bills pass and are officially "enrolled"? (I ignore whether the governor signed or vetoted the bill.)
Bills introduced 2791212151012
Bills passed 158911121011
Passage rate 50%71%89%75%92%80%100%92%
Chamber average 68%68%74%83%78%70%71%71%
Difference -18.2+3.4+15-8.3+14+9.5+29+21
Comparison Lower==HigherLowerHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
20152016201720182019202020212022
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 603431188
Chamber average 1213131414131213
Difference -6.3-12.8-10.4-10.2-10.6-2.3-4.4-5.4
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower==LowerLower
 
20152016201720182019202020212022
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 44394346837404444
Total votes held 951860913926975910919931
Absentee rate 4.6%46%3.7%7.3%3.8%4.4%4.8%4.7%
Chamber average 12%14%10%13%11%11%8.0%12%
Difference -7.1+32-6.7-5.8-7.4-7.1-3.2-7.5
Comparison LowerHigherHigherHigherLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
20152016201720182019202020212022
"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 7929494254316142
Total votes held 951860913926975910919931
"Nay" rate 8.3%3.4%5.4%4.5%5.5%3.4%6.6%4.5%
Chamber average 4.8%3.7%2.8%3.2%2.7%2.5%4.0%2.6%
Difference +3.5-0.3+2.6+1.3+2.8+0.9+2.6+1.9
Comparison HigherHigher==HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
20152016201720182019202020212022
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 47%37%42%59%42%55%49%64%
Chamber average 68%67%68%68%70%71%70%71%
Difference -22.0-30.1-25.8-9.6-28.1-15.9-20.7-6.2
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
20152016201720182019202020212022
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.
 
20152016201720182019202020212022
Party support score (overall) (learn more). How consistently does Sen. Iwamoto 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) 98%99%99%99%99%100%99%99%
Chamber average 96%97%98%97%98%98%97%98%
Difference +2.2+2.3+0.8+1.4+1.1+1.3+1.9+1.3
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
20152016201720182019202020212022
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) 97%100%85%88%100%94%97%100%
Chamber average 83%87%86%85%92%91%88%92%
Difference +15+13-1.5+3.0+8.2+2.9+8.5+8.2
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigher====HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher

Votes on Sen. Iwamoto's bills

Many votes have been held on bills sponsored by Sen. Iwamoto. In the interest of space, I display only the most and least divisive votes held on Sen. Iwamoto's bills.

Sen. Iwamoto's most divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Sen. Iwamoto that had the closest vote margin (as a percent of the total votes cast). When there are ties, I list the most recent bills first.

Year Sponsor Bill Ayes Nays Margin
(as % of total votes)
Type of vote
2017 Iwamoto SB0088 12 13 4.0% Senate/ failed
2021 Iwamoto SB0152 11 16 19% Senate/ failed
2021 Iwamoto SB0010 16 10 23% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2015 Iwamoto SB0049S01 17 10 26% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2017 Iwamoto SB0088 47 27 27% House/ passed 3rd reading
2018 Iwamoto SB0057S01 43 24 28% House/ passed 3rd reading
2019 Iwamoto SB0088 47 24 32% House/ passed 3rd reading
2021 Iwamoto SB0163S03 50 24 35% House/ passed 3rd reading
2022 Iwamoto SB0053S05 49 23 36% House/ passed 3rd reading
2021 Iwamoto SB0163S03 21 7 50% Senate/ passed 2nd reading

Sen. Iwamoto's least divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Sen. Iwamoto that had the widest vote margin (as a percent of the total votes cast). When there are ties, I display the most recent bills first.

Year Sponsor Bill Ayes Nays Margin
(as % of total votes)
Type of vote
2022 Iwamoto SCR006S01 69 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2022 Iwamoto SCR006S01 27 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2022 Iwamoto SCR006S01 25 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2022 Iwamoto SB0126 68 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2022 Iwamoto SB0126 28 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2022 Iwamoto SB0126 26 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2022 Iwamoto SB0096S03 26 0 100% Senate/ concurs with House amendment
2022 Iwamoto SB0096S03 26 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2022 Iwamoto SB0096S03 27 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2022 Iwamoto SB0089 67 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading