Roy Blunt Voting

DW-Nominate Scores

Senator Blunt's DW-Nominate Score for the 113th congress was 0.458.  The DW-Nominate score uses the votes casted by members of congress to rank how conservative and liberal they are.  Senator Blunt's number indicates that he is ranked 84th, with one being the most liberal and 100 being the most conservative.  Therefore, it is safe to say that Senator Blunt is a consistent conservative, but would be considered middle of the pack on the republican side. In Blunt's first session of congress, the 105th, he had a score of 0.592.  

One may ask why Senator Blunt's voting has become less conservative over the years and the answer is probably the fact that he has transitioned from the House to the Senate.  When Senator Blunt was in the House he only had to please the voters of his district, which was obviously a conservative district.  However, moving to the Senate, Blunt has to appeal to the entire state of voters.  Missouri is a state that leans conservative, but also has a significant population of liberals that Blunt must appeal to. 

Party Voting 

Senator Blunt's rate of party voting has changed since his first session of Congress which was the 112th to now.  In the 112th Blunt's rate of voting with the party was 79.630.  Recently, in the 113th session Blunt's rate is at 90.024.  I cannot definitively explain why the increase took place.  However, I think it should be noted that the Democratic Senator from Missouri, Claire McCaskill also showed a very similar trend from the 112th to the 113th congress.  It maybe that as we move towards reelection Blunt wants to align with the party to appeal to his constituents. 

ADA and Interest Group Scores

In 2014, Senator Blunt only agreed with the ADA 5% percent of the time.  He chose to not vote one time and only one time did Blunt vote with the ADA.  Senator Blunt also has knows what things are important to his constituents and interest groups.  The American Farm Bureau Federation in 2011 gave him a 100% approval and an 83% approval in 2014 according to project vote smart. 

Senator Blunt knows that agriculture is a key factor in his state and that he needs the approval of the agricultural interest groups.  It is also likely that the interest groups that support Blunt align well with Blunt also so that they are not backing someone who does not believe the same things they do. 

Crossing Party Lines

Senator Blunt is someone who does cross party lines at times.  For example, many of his bills were cosponsored by Democratic Senators.  However, he introduces bills that are relatively uncontroversial.  Also only one of his bills have been enacted and two others have come to a simple resolution.  Therefore, it looks as if he is crossing party lines simply to gain a favorable image in the eyes of democrats, as well as, in his own party. 

Roy Blunt Committees

Roy Blunt committee assignments:

• Mr. Blunt is currently the chair of the Committee on Rules and Administration 
• This committee is one of the oldest of the Senate.  Much like Roy it is a rather uninteresting committee.  A few examples of things this committee deals with are, office space for the senators, services to the senate including the very important senate restaurant, and the construction of monuments and memorials.  The other purposes of the committees can be found here.
• He also sits on the Committee of Appropriations 
• This committee seems more important and much more interesting with the the rising amount of debt in America.  The committee is currently chaired by a Republican and currently holds 16 Republican members to just 14 Democrat members.  The most recent headline from the the committee highlighted chairman Thad Cochran's ability to create a balanced budget without raising taxes. Four bills have been recently referred to the committee including a plan to end government shut downs, and to ensure payment to veterans. This committee looks good for Roy because it is the largest and it shows his importance, but it also gives him the ability to credit claim on some of the most important issues to Americans today.
• Roy Blunt is also a member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. 
• The chair of this committee is South Dakota Senator John Thune and the republicans currently hold the majority.  The committee has had a lot of activity in 2015 with 65 bills referred to them, but they have only reported on 10 of them.  Based on the bills the  committee has reported on the committee is useful for Mr. Blunt simply because of the ability to credit claim.  Senator Blunt recently sponsored a bill reported on by the committee dealign with railroad safety.  Because he is a member of the majority for the committee he has a higher chance of the bills he sponsors to get looked at.
• Notable Subcommitees
• Senator Blunt is the chair for the Subcommittee of the Department of Labor Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies.  
• Senator Blunt's main interest here would be his background in education.
• Blunt is member of the Agricultural, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies.
• Roy Blunt has a strong interest here because of the agricultural aspect of Missouri.  
• Roy Blunt is a member of the Communications, Technology, Innovations, and the Internet
• This subcommittee supports his committee work on Commerce, Science, and Transportation because they both deal a lot with communication issues.
• Senator Blunt also serves on the Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security 
• Roy's main interest for this subcommittee would also be the involvement with the Commerce Committee he serves on. 

Roy Blunt Electoral Circumstances

Previous Election

• According to the nationally recognized New York Times, Roy Blunt was able to defeat Robin Carnahan by 13.6 percent
• Senator Blunt was able to win comfortably against a Carnahan who comes from a family of politicians
• Early polls indicated that it may have been a close race, and that Carnahan actually had the advantage, but by the end it was clear Roy Blunt would be the winner 

Upcoming Election

• At this point it looks as if Senator Blunt will have a relatively easy primary because no other Republican has declared to run against Blunt 
• According to news-leader, a newspaper based out of Springfield Missouri, Blunt's largest concern is Democrat Jason Kander

Democratic Opponent

• Jason Kander is currently the Secretary of State for Missouri
• Kander is Missouri born with a military background
• He has received vocal support from other Missouri political leaders, including, Senator Claire McCaskill, and Governor Jay Nixon

Concerns for Blunt

• Jason Kander is a young and energetic guy who brings new ideas to the table
• Kander claims to be less partisan and claims to care less about the parties, but rather focus more on bettering the country 
• Kander points out the Blunt may simply be making a career out of his political run and may not have the best interests for Missouri 

Support for Blunt 

• Jason Kander does not have the experience that Roy Blunt does
•  According to opensecret.org Roy Blunt currently has over 2 million dollars on hand 
• Roy has been a representative for Missouri since 1997
• Missouri in recent years has become a more stable Republican state
• The Presidential election may help Blunt because if Missourians vote for a Republican president as predicted, they may want to be consistent with that and support Blunt 

Major Issues

• The candidates will focus on many of the same issues that we repeatedly see in headlines and also the important geographical aspects of Missouri
• Care for Veterans could be an important issue
• Blunt has already advocated his support for an increase in care for our veterans
• However Kander is a former military member and may have the edge here
• Farming and agriculture 
• A large part of Missouri's economy
• Healthcare
• It will be interesting to see the stance Kander takes on this issue because Roy has voiced his opposition of Obamacare, however, Kander will have to find a way to capture some of the conservative leaning voters 

Prediction

• I think Blunt will have a close race in 2016.  Kander is a young guy who seems to have some influence on the Missouri people.  His first speech was given in Columbia, Missouri, and the attendance was large.  I think some Missourians would like to see a new face in office and a young guy like Kander might be the solution.  However, Blunt is a known name in Missouri and has large funding to support his campaign.  Overall I think Roy Blunt will come out with a close win. 
  

Roy Blunt Post 2

Senator Roy Blunt Strategy 

Reelection Strategy 

Senator Blunt has been doing some traveling around his state in recent months.  According to the Senator's Twitter account he has made several trips around the state to talk about numerous things.  Including, Fairfax to meet with farmers and discuss regulations, and Maryville to learn the impact of the EPA's regulations and how it has effected Missouri jobs.  These are not the only places the Senator has traveled to as of recently, however, it is clear that he is trying to make himself recognizable amongst the citizens of Missouri.  Also Senator Blunt has recently made public his disagreement of President Obama's policies.  Including a press release that denounced Obama's decision to veto the Keystone XL pipeline.  Also Senator Blunt has been helping lead a fight to cut funding for Obama's lessened restrictions on immigration.

One of the main focuses recently from the Senator is to Stop Government Overreach.  Senator Blunt has introduced or co-sponsored nine bills in support of cutting back regulations that strain on American businesses and jobs. One of the main reasons the Senator has done this is because of the recent regulations from the EPA that has directly effected agriculture and farming in his state. Agriculture is a large part of Missouri and contains a large number of voters and possible voters that Senator Blunt will look for to achieve reelection. 

Money

Money was an important part of Senator Blunt's last campaign.  He raised and spent almost two million dollars more then the opposing candidate, according to opensecrets.org.  So far the senator has actually raised less then the average senator in the last four years.  However, Blunt's name has become very recognizable in the state and he may not have to raise and spend as much in the upcoming election in order to be reelected. 

Roy Blunt Missouri Senator

Basic Information and Education 

http://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/biography

Roy Blunt is the junior Senator in the state of Missouri and has been since 2011.  He was born in 1950 in Niangua Missouri and is currently 65 years old. 

Roy Blunt received his bachelors degree from Southwest Baptist University, and later his masters from Missouri State University.

Religion 

Baptist

Family 

Roy is married to Abigail Blunt and they have four children together and also six grandchildren.  One of Roy's children, Matt, is a Governor for the state of Missouri.  

Career Before the Senate

After College, Roy became a high school teacher at Marshfield High School in Missouri.  Later, he became President at Southwest Missouri Baptist where he had formerly attended college. Mr. Blunt spent time as a county official and also was the Secretary of State for Missouri in 1984.  In 1997 Roy Blunt began the first of his seven terms served in the House of Representatives.  He had a very successful career as a member of the House.  Blunt was elected as Majority Whip remarkably early in his time spent in the House.

Senate Information

Roy was elected to the United States Senate in 2010 and began serving in January of 2011.  Since becoming a member of the Senate in 2011, Roy has accomplished many things and now holds a leadership role in the U.S. Senate.  He's the Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and also is a part of several other committees, including, the Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, and the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. 

Current Projects and Issues

Some of Roy's current issues listed on http://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/issues include, Agriculture, Defense and Foreign Policy, Economy, Education, Energy, and Health Care.  Relating to energy, recently on Senator Roy Blunt's twitter, the Senator linked an article about the Roy's letter to the EPA fighting against the limitations of the uses of wood stoves.  According to Roy, these policies affect the rural, low, and middle class members of the Missouri population that use these wood stoves to provide heat.  

 Fun Facts about Missouri and Blunt 

Missouri has the second most farms in the United states.  Missouri was admitted to the United States in August of 1821.  The capital is Jefferson City, and it is nick named the Show Me State.  The population is ranked number 18 of 50. 

http://www.50states.com/missouri.htm#.VN2G5ClDTzI