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The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley often brags that he hasn’t missed a vote since 1993, and according to the Pulitzer Prize winning staff of Politifact, he isn’t exaggerating. In fact, the Iowa Republican’s voting record is more consistent than any of his fellow senators with similar tenure, racking up a streak of 5,700 consecutive votes.
According to records compiled by Congressional Quarterly, a publication that annually studies lawmakers’ voting records, and The Washington Post, Grassley hasn’t missed a single roll call vote since he missed four votes on July 14, 1993, when he was in Iowa due to historic floods.
From Politifact:
Indeed, as an average, Grassley has voted about 99.6 percent of the time since he took office in 1981. Other senators elected at the same time cannot tout such near-perfect records. For example, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania has, on average, voted 93 percent of the time in the last 28 years, first as a Republican then as a Democrat. And Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, has voted on average about 90.7 percent of the time.
Grassley’s record was in danger last month, though, when a blizzard threatened the nation’s capital on the eve of a health care vote. To keep his streak alive, Grassley slept in his office, and in typical Grassley fashion, he tweeted his experience: “Bc of potential blizzard I’ve come to office to sleep. Vote at 720am vote Sat. Hv not missed vote 7/93. 5700 votes consecutive.”
UPDATE: Iowa Democratic Party Executive Director Norm Sterzenbach issued a statement in response to Grassley’s voting streak:
“Not missing a vote is only one measure of fulfilling one’s duty in the Senate. Recently, Sen. Grassley seems to be more interested in big insurance or the failed politics of his Republican Party, instead of serving the people of Iowa who sent him there.”
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