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Representative Thomas Peterson
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 2023
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2024
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2024: 2
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2024: 0

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Rep. Thomas 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

20232024
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber HouseHouse
  District H1H1
  Party RR
Leadership NoneNone
Years in chamber 12
Years comparison LowerLower
 
20232024
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by Peterson 310
Chamber average 8.18.5
Difference -5.1+1.5
Comparison LowerHigher
 
20232024
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 310
Bills passed 25
Passage rate 67%50%
Chamber average 56%56%
Difference +11-6.3
Comparison Higher==
 
20232024
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 15
Chamber average 3.53.3
Difference -2.5+1.7
Comparison LowerHigher
 
20232024
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 223
Total votes held 803845
Absentee rate 2.7%0.4%
Chamber average 6.4%6.8%
Difference -3.7-6.4
Comparison LowerLower
 
20232024
"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 4229
Total votes held 803845
"Nay" rate 5.2%3.4%
Chamber average 7.1%5.7%
Difference -1.9-2.3
Comparison LowerLower
 
20232024
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 85%85%
Chamber average 69%68%
Difference +15+18
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigher
 
20232024
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.
 
20232024
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) 97%98%
Chamber average 96%96%
Difference +1.5+2.0
Comparison HigherHigherHigher
 
20232024
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) 93%94%
Chamber average 88%87%
Difference +5.0+6.9
Comparison HigherHigher

Votes on Rep. Peterson's bills

Only 9 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
2024 Peterson HB0047S02 16 11 19% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2024 Peterson HB0047S02 10 18 29% Senate/ failed
2023 Peterson HB0409S01 21 1 91% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2024 Peterson HB0537S01 25 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2024 Peterson HB0537S01 69 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2024 Peterson HB0518S02 71 0 100% House/ concurs with Senate amendment
2024 Peterson HB0518S02 26 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2024 Peterson HB0518S02 72 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2024 Peterson HB0309S02 70 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2024 Peterson HB0206 23 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading