Rep. Thomas “Chet” Edwards

Former Representative forTexas’s 17th District

Edwards was the representative forTexas’s 17th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 2005 to 2010.

He was previously the representative forTexas’s 11th congressional district as a Democrat from 1991 to 2004.

Photo of Rep. Thomas “Chet” Edwards [D-TX17, 2005-2010]

Analysis

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Edwards is shown as a purple triangle▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below.Each dot was a member of the House of Representativesin 2010positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills legislators sponsored and cosponsoredfrom Jan. 4, 2005 to Dec. 21, 2010.See fullanalysis methodology.

Enacted Legislation

Edwards was the primary sponsor of 6 bills that were enacted:

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Does 6 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Edwards sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:

Armed Forces and National Security (30%)Economics and Public Finance (15%)Government Operations and Politics (12%)Finance and Financial Sector (10%)Health (10%)Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (8%)Education (8%)Families (8%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Edwards recently introduced the following legislation:

View All » |View Cosponsors »

Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Edwards votedNay

Edwards votedNo

Edwards votedNo

Edwards votedYea

Passed 240/179 on June 3, 2009.

Edwards votedNo

Missed Votes

From Jan 1991 to Dec 2010, Edwards missed 395 of 12,757 roll call votes, which is 3.1%.This ison par withthe median of 3.1%among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2010.The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absences, major life events, and running for higher office.

Show the numbers...

Time PeriodVotes EligibleMissed VotesPercentPercentile
1991 Jan-Mar6211.6%31st
1991 Apr-Jun13910.7%18th
1991 Jul-Sep8111.2%12th
1991 Oct-Nov16242.5%55th
1992 Jan-Mar6611.5%26th
1992 Apr-Jun18552.7%48th
1992 Jul-Sep19610.5%17th
1992 Oct-Oct4100.0%0th
1993 Jan-Mar12743.1%56th
1993 Apr-Jun19031.6%36th
1993 Jul-Sep16410.6%28th
1993 Oct-Nov13421.5%45th
1994 Jan-Mar9511.1%21st
1994 Apr-Jun21910.5%16th
1994 Jul-Sep14242.8%51st
1994 Oct-Nov5135.9%81st
1995 Jan-Mar279113.9%81st
1995 Apr-Jun18952.6%63rd
1995 Jul-Sep23231.3%41st
1995 Oct-Dec1852211.9%94th
1996 Jan-Mar11000.0%0th
1996 Apr-Jun18210.5%17th
1996 Jul-Sep16363.7%68th
1997 Jan-Mar7100.0%0th
1997 Apr-Jun17421.1%31st
1997 Jul-Sep232177.3%90th
1997 Oct-Nov16353.1%62nd
1998 Jan-Mar8944.5%69th
1998 Apr-Jun18510.5%20th
1998 Jul-Sep19910.5%16th
1998 Oct-Dec7422.7%56th
1999 Jan-Mar7711.3%35th
1999 Apr-Jun18431.6%43rd
1999 Jul-Sep20494.4%81st
1999 Oct-Nov14632.1%42nd
2000 Jan-Mar9522.1%33rd
2000 Apr-Jun27731.1%29th
2000 Jul-Sep13096.9%83rd
2000 Oct-Dec10187.9%54th
2001 Jan-Mar7556.7%84th
2001 Apr-Jun13532.2%46th
2001 Jul-Sep14900.0%0th
2001 Oct-Dec15321.3%36th
2002 Jan-Mar7900.0%0th
2002 Apr-Jun20373.4%58th
2002 Jul-Sep14100.0%0th
2002 Oct-Nov6100.0%0th
2003 Jan-Mar9400.0%0th
2003 Apr-Jun239114.6%75th
2003 Jul-Sep193168.3%87th
2003 Oct-Dec15174.6%63rd
2004 Jan-Mar104109.6%77th
2004 Apr-Jun22194.1%65th
2004 Jul-Sep16110.6%19th
2004 Oct-Dec5800.0%0th
2005 Jan-Mar9033.3%51st
2005 Apr-Jun27241.5%43rd
2005 Jul-Sep14653.4%67th
2005 Oct-Dec16395.5%74th
2006 Jan-Mar8122.5%60th
2006 Apr-Jun27641.4%38th
2006 Jul-Sep15900.0%0th
2006 Nov-Dec2713.7%52nd
2007 Jan-Mar213104.7%79th
2007 Apr-Jun393256.4%87th
2007 Jul-Sep317144.4%79th
2007 Oct-Dec26320.8%15th
2008 Jan-Mar14985.4%61st
2008 Apr-Jun321154.7%66th
2008 Jul-Sep20552.4%49th
2008 Oct-Dec1500.0%0th
2009 Jan-Mar17452.9%59th
2009 Apr-Jun303155.0%76th
2009 Jul-Sep26883.0%68th
2009 Oct-Dec24662.4%45th
2010 Jan-Mar195115.6%72nd
2010 Apr-Jun21994.1%62nd
2010 Jul-Sep15121.3%34th
2010 Nov-Dec991010.1%72nd

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: