This Org Uses Data To Find Which Politicians Are the Best at Finding Common Ground

America is less than three months out from the 2022 midterms. As Election Day draws closer, most political coverage focuses (and for good reason) on issues where both major parties remain firmly split, such as abortion access or LGBTQ+ rights. However, one nonpartisan, citizen-led organization is looking to highlight individuals in Congress who have demonstrated they can work across the aisle on a consistent basis.

Launched in 2020, the Common Ground Scorecard is a tool that ranks public officials on their willingness to “find common ground” and take a bipartisan approach to a range of issues. The group behind the scorecard, the Common Ground Committee (CGC), says it is “​​devoted to healing polarization and improving public discourse in politics.”

CGC says its scorecard is unique because it is the first-ever model of its kind to “rank politicians … using aggregated data from the Lugar Index, GovTrack, the Bipartisan Policy Center and other data sources.” Conversely, politicians can also have points deducted from their scoreboard for “personal demonizing.” Politicians are ranked on a matrix of 0 to 110, with 110 being basically Peak Bipartisanship.

CGC updated its scores for all candidates and current elected officials ahead of the midterms. Some of its most notable findings include:

President Joe Biden scored a 45/110, ahead of many other key federal leaders like Vice President Kamala Harris (20/110), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (0/110), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (37/110), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (30/110), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (32/110).

The Republican in Congress who scored highest on the scorecard was Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska (104/110). For Democrats, Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia leads her caucus at 100/110. Interestingly, both Rep. Bacon and Rep. Spanberger are also two of the most at-risk incumbents of any House members in the upcoming midterms, per The Cook Political Report, so whether their efforts to find “common ground” will ultimately save their seats has yet to be determined.

“Virginians expect me to find common ground on a wide range of issues — because that’s how long-lasting progress is achieved and effective policies are delivered. With the release of the 2022 Scorecard, I’m proud to be recognized for my efforts to build consensus and actually get things done for the people I serve,” Rep. Spanberger said in a statement.

If you’re interested in finding out more and digging deeper into where your local officials and candidates stand, you can use the Common Ground Scoreboard to search any public official by name, state, zip and office held. A list of other individual officials who scored high on CGC’s rankings can be found here.