Menu Adam R Brown

Return to the Guide to the Utah Legislature.

Representative Karen Peterson
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 2022
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2024
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2024: 3
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2024: 0

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Rep. Karen Peterson'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.

Rep. Peterson's statistical profile

202220232024
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber HouseHouseHouse
  District H13H13H13
  Party RRR
Leadership NoneNoneNone
Years in chamber 123
Years comparison LowerLowerLower
 
202220232024
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by Peterson 499
Chamber average 7.18.18.5
Difference -3.1+0.9+0.5
Comparison Lower====
 
202220232024
Bill passage rate (learn more). What percent of Rep. Peterson's sponsored bills pass and are officially "enrolled"? (I ignore whether the governor signed or vetoted the bill.)
Bills introduced 499
Bills passed 475
Passage rate 100%78%56%
Chamber average 58%56%56%
Difference +42+22-0.3
Comparison HigherHigherHigher==
 
202220232024
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 145
Chamber average 3.03.53.3
Difference -2.0+0.5+1.7
Comparison Lower==Higher
 
202220232024
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 443270
Total votes held 711803845
Absentee rate 6.2%4.0%8.3%
Chamber average 5.7%6.4%6.8%
Difference +0.5-2.4+1.5
Comparison ======
 
202220232024
"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 354535
Total votes held 711803845
"Nay" rate 4.9%5.6%4.1%
Chamber average 6.5%7.1%5.7%
Difference -1.6-1.5-1.6
Comparison LowerLowerLower
 
202220232024
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 76%77%78%
Chamber average 67%69%68%
Difference +8.4+7.3+11
Comparison HigherHigherHigher
 
202220232024
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.
 
202220232024
Party support score (overall) (learn more). How consistently does Rep. Peterson 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) 94%96%96%
Chamber average 95%96%96%
Difference -1.2+0.4+0.2
Comparison Lower====
 
202220232024
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) 63%82%81%
Chamber average 84%88%87%
Difference -21.3-5.7-6.1
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLower

Votes on Rep. Peterson's bills

Only 17 bills sponsored by Rep. Peterson have come to a vote. Listed below are all votes held on bills that Rep. Peterson 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
2022 Peterson HB0290 51 18 48% House/ passed 3rd reading
2023 Peterson HB0394S01 21 6 56% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2024 Peterson HB0438S02 22 3 76% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2024 Peterson HB0438S02 63 7 80% House/ concurs with Senate amendment
2024 Peterson HB0515S01 24 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2024 Peterson HB0515S01 70 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2024 Peterson HB0438S02 70 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2024 Peterson HB0367S03 71 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2024 Peterson HB0286S01 23 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2024 Peterson HB0286S01 23 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading