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Senator Stephen H. Urquhart
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 2001
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2016
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2016: 8
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2016: 8

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Sen. Stephen H. Urquhart'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. Urquhart's statistical profile

2007200820092010201120122013201420152016
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber HouseHouseSenateSenateSenateSenateSenateSenateSenateSenate
  District H75H75S29S29S29S29S29S29S29S29
  Party RRRRRRRRRR
Leadership NoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNone
Years in chamber 7812345678
Years comparison HigherHigherLowerLowerLowerLower========
 
2007200820092010201120122013201420152016
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by Urquhart 136914191113101511
Chamber average 6.16.19.08.9119.811111110
Difference +6.9-0.1+0.0+5.1+8.4+1.2+2.2-0.6+3.6+0.9
Comparison HigherHigher====HigherHigherHigherHigher==Higher==Higher==
 
2007200820092010201120122013201420152016
Bill passage rate (learn more). What percent of Sen. Urquhart's sponsored bills pass and are officially "enrolled"? (I ignore whether the governor signed or vetoted the bill.)
Bills introduced 136914191113101511
Bills passed 958111285596
Passage rate 69%83%89%79%63%73%38%50%60%55%
Chamber average 51%53%63%69%70%72%65%70%68%68%
Difference +18+30+26+10-7.2+1.3-27.4-19.7-8.2-12.6
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigher====LowerLowerLowerLower
 
2007200820092010201120122013201420152016
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 1217161616141314117
Chamber average 3.13.21111111211111213
Difference +8.9+14+4.9+5.0+4.6+2.2+1.9+2.5-1.3-5.8
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher========Lower
 
2007200820092010201120122013201420152016
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 20513494101136177214158207316
Total votes held 602616807786940890940840951860
Absentee rate 34%22%12%13%14%20%23%19%22%37%
Chamber average 8.3%8.3%11%12%14%9.9%11%12%12%14%
Difference +26+14+0.9+1.1-0.4+10+12+7.5+10+23
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigher======HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
2007200820092010201120122013201420152016
"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 1817924252517152113
Total votes held 602616807786940890940840951860
"Nay" rate 3.0%2.8%1.1%3.1%2.7%2.8%1.8%1.8%2.2%1.5%
Chamber average 7.2%6.0%4.1%4.6%3.4%4.8%3.7%3.6%4.8%3.7%
Difference -4.2-3.2-3.0-1.5-0.7-2.0-1.9-1.8-2.6-2.2
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower==LowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
2007200820092010201120122013201420152016
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 84%86%91%79%81%79%79%80%79%81%
Chamber average 67%69%70%70%72%70%69%67%68%67%
Difference +17+17+22+9.2+9.4+8.1+10+13+11+15
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
2007200820092010201120122013201420152016
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.
 
2007200820092010201120122013201420152016
Party support score (overall) (learn more). How consistently does Sen. Urquhart 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%97%99%97%98%97%97%98%98%97%
Chamber average 95%95%97%97%98%96%97%97%96%97%
Difference +2.5+1.9+1.8-0.5-0.2+0.1+0.4+0.8+1.8+0.1
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigher========HigherHigher==
 
2007200820092010201120122013201420152016
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) 88%89%91%83%90%90%74%80%83%81%
Chamber average 79%82%89%89%91%88%85%84%83%87%
Difference +8.4+7.4+1.4-5.5-1.5+2.0-11.1-4.10.0-6.5
Comparison HigherHigher==Lower====LowerLowerLower==Lower

Votes on Sen. Urquhart's bills

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

Sen. Urquhart's most divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Sen. Urquhart 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
2007 Urquhart HB0148 38 37 1.3% House/ passed 3rd reading
2012 Urquhart SB0210 38 36 2.7% House/ passed 3rd reading
2009 Urquhart SB0172 34 38 5.6% House/ failed
2009 Urquhart SB0208S03 38 32 8.6% House/ passed 3rd reading
2016 Urquhart SB0189 15 12 11% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2012 Urquhart SB0210 16 12 14% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2009 Urquhart SB0053S01 42 30 17% House/ passed 3rd reading
2016 Urquhart SB0107 17 12 17% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2014 Urquhart SB0253S01 41 28 19% House/ passed 3rd reading
2016 Urquhart SB0107 11 17 21% Senate/ failed

Sen. Urquhart's least divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Sen. Urquhart 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
2016 Urquhart SJR013S01 29 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2016 Urquhart SB0232S01 25 0 100% Senate/ concurs with House amendment
2016 Urquhart SB0215S01 22 0 100% Senate/ concurs with House amendment
2016 Urquhart SB0215S01 69 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2016 Urquhart SB0215S01 27 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2016 Urquhart SB0209 22 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2016 Urquhart SB0209 27 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2016 Urquhart SB0146 69 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2016 Urquhart SB0146 22 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2016 Urquhart SB0146 28 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading