2010: KBH is 28th Most Conservative Senator

The National Journal 2009 vote rankings are out, and they label U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison as more conservative than the likes of Tennessee's Lamar Alexander, Utah's Orrin Hatch and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, but less conservative than the vast majority of her Republican colleagues. Hutchison, who's challenging Rick Perry in the gubernatorial primary, is 28th out of 100 on the magazine's ideological continuum, which runs from "most conservative" to "most liberal," with a composite score in the three categories of votes analyzed — economic, foreign, and social — of 72.5. Her junior Texas colleague, John Cornyn, ranks 12th, with a composite score of 87.7. On the House side, the most conservative members of the Texas delegation are also the most conservative members of the entire body: Mac Thornberry, Pete Olson, and Randy Neugebauer tie for 1st with John Shadegg and Trent Franks, both of Arizona, and Doug Lamborn of Colorado; all had composite scores of 94. The least conservative member? Sheila Jackson Lee, who placed 414th, with a composite score of 8.8.