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Senator Brian Zehnder
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 2018
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2018
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2018: 0
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2018: 1

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Sen. Brian Zehnder'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. Zehnder's statistical profile

2018
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber Senate
  District S8
  Party R
Leadership None
Years in chamber 1
Years comparison LowerLower
 
2018
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by Zehnder 4
Chamber average 9.6
Difference -5.6
Comparison LowerLower
 
2018
Bill passage rate (learn more). What percent of Sen. Zehnder's sponsored bills pass and are officially "enrolled"? (I ignore whether the governor signed or vetoted the bill.)
Bills introduced 4
Bills passed 4
Passage rate 100%
Chamber average 83%
Difference +17
Comparison Higher
 
2018
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 12
Chamber average 14
Difference -2.2
Comparison ==
 
2018
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 24
Total votes held 926
Absentee rate 2.6%
Chamber average 13%
Difference -10.5
Comparison Lower
 
2018
"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 30
Total votes held 926
"Nay" rate 3.2%
Chamber average 3.2%
Difference +0.0
Comparison ==
 
2018
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 54%
Chamber average 68%
Difference -14.0
Comparison LowerLower
 
2018
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.
 
2018
Party support score (overall) (learn more). How consistently does Sen. Zehnder 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%
Chamber average 97%
Difference -0.9
Comparison Lower
 
2018
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) 44%
Chamber average 85%
Difference -41.6
Comparison LowerLowerLower

Votes on Sen. Zehnder's bills

Only 4 bills sponsored by Sen. Zehnder have come to a vote. Listed below are all votes held on bills that Sen. Zehnder 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
2018 Zehnder SCR011 66 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2018 Zehnder SCR011 25 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2018 Zehnder SB0153 67 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2018 Zehnder SB0153 26 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2018 Zehnder SB0153 23 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2018 Zehnder SB0150S01 26 0 100% Senate/ concurs with House amendment
2018 Zehnder SB0150S01 69 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2018 Zehnder SB0150S01 27 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2018 Zehnder SB0150S01 22 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2018 Zehnder SB0005S01 72 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading