2013-2014 Political Courage Test and legislative records, by Project Vote Smart

The "Political Courage Test", according to Project Vote-Smart, "measures each candidate’s willingness to provide citizens with their positions on key issues. Most candidates, fearing their opponents might use their positions in attack ads, refuse or only respond to a few questions that their consultants stamp as safe. Each candidate is repeatedly confronted with these issue questions by Vote Smart, national media and political leaders of both major parties."

Unfortunately, few candidates are willing to answer questionnaires anymore. Vote-Smart originally (in the early 1990s) had lots of respondents. Now they have very few -- and hence a few years ago they began to "infer" answers to the key questions that voters want to know.

OnTheIssues has similarly inferred answered since 2000, when we tried to get every incumbent Senator and Senate candidate to respond to our VoteMatch quiz: only one incumbent responded, and some challengers, but we saw the trend then, and began inferring answers instead of asking. OnTheissues still ACCEPTS candidate responses (as does Vote-Smart) if the candidate so chooses, but it is no longer expected.

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Abortion     David Zuckerman: Supports public funds for abortion procedures.     John Katko: All life has worth; and cover prenatal care.     Ted Lieu: 100% pro-choice.     Jason Carter: Voted against restrictions on abortion rights.     Deborah Ross: Allow ObamaCare state exchanges to provide abortion services.     Jim Abeler: Rated 100% by MN Citizens Concerned for Life.     Amy Stephens: NO on penalties for violent offenses against pregnant women.     Randy Baumgardner: Voted YES on penalties for violent offenses against fetuses.     T.W. Shannon: Voted YES on parental approval & adult questionnaires.     Chris McDaniel: Require doctor's prescription to get an abortion.

Budget & Economy     John Katko: Supports stimulus, to promote business growth.

Civil Rights     David Zuckerman: Supports same-sex marriage and inclusion of gender identity.     Norma Torres: Recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages.     John Katko: Same-sex marriage has been decided, so no opinion.     Ted Lieu: On the frontline in the fight for marriage equality.     Napoleon Harris: Ban sexual orientation conversion therapy for minors.     Napoleon Harris: Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.     Marco Rubio: Opposes Paycheck Fairness: don't require equal pay for women.     Jim Oberweis: Voted no on state-level same-sex marriage.     Jim Abeler: No state authorization of same-sex marriage.     Jim Abeler: Rated 0% by MN-OAP on positions on racial equity.     Amy Stephens: Rated 43% on voting positions by Women's Lobby of Colorado.     Randy Baumgardner: Rated 35% on voting positions by Women's Lobby of Colorado.

Crime     David Zuckerman: Alternatives to incarceration; no death penalty.     Gary Palmer: Supports capital punishment.     John Katko: Capital punishment can be an effective deterrent.     Ted Lieu: The death penalty doesn't work.     Amy Stephens: Voted NO on parole violation punishment reduction.     Randy Baumgardner: Voted NO on parole violation punishment reduction.     Amy Stephens: Voted YES on requiring all convicts to submit DNA.     Kathy Szeliga: Voted NO on repealing the death penalty.     Jamie Raskin: Voted YES on repealing the death penalty.     Richard Madaleno: Voted YES on repealing the death penalty.

Drugs     Norma Torres: Food stamps for drug felons; immunity for reporting overdose.     Napoleon Harris: Make marijuana possession a civil violation.     Kathy Szeliga: Voted NO on reducing penalties for possession of marijuana.     Jamie Raskin: Voted YES on reducing penalties for possession of marijuana.     Richard Madaleno: Voted YES on reducing penalties for possession of marijuana.

Education     Jason Conger: Voted NO on in-state tuition for non-resident aliens.     John Katko: Make decisions about public schools at local level.     John Katko: Fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.     Ted Lieu: Fight for more resources & more professionalism.     Napoleon Harris: Supplemental state aid to low-income school districts.     Amy Stephens: Voted NO on expanding comprehensive sex education.     Joe Carr: Prohibit discrimination against college religious groups.     Owen Hill: Voted NO on expanding comprehensive sex education.     Randy Baumgardner: Voted NO on expanding comprehensive sex education.     T.W. Shannon: Voted YES on students expressing religious viewpoints.     Amy Stephens: Voted NO on authorizing same-sex civil unions.     Owen Hill: Voted NO on authorizing same-sex civil unions.     Randy Baumgardner: Voted NO on authorizing same-sex civil unions.     Chris McDaniel: Increase number of charter schools statewide.

Energy & Oil     David Zuckerman: Fund alternative energy; end funding for traditional energy.     Gary Palmer: Supports Keystone XL & offshore oil production.     John Katko: Supports Keystone XL but regulate greenhouse gases.     Ted Lieu: Regulate greenhouse gas; no Keystone & no offshore drilling.     Kathy Szeliga: Voted NO on offshore wind renewable energy credits.     Jamie Raskin: Voted YES on offshore wind renewable energy credits.     Richard Madaleno: Voted YES on offshore wind renewable energy credits.

Environment     David Zuckerman: Led the effort to require GMO labeling.     Gary Palmer: Rein in the EPA.     T.W. Shannon: Consistently rated at 50% & above by Oklahoma Sierra Club.     Joe Carr: Require photographic evidence of animal abuse.     Jim Abeler: Rated 34% on animal rights in 2013; but 100$ in 2011.     Jason Conger: Rated 53% by Conservation Voters; 80% by Humane Society.

Families & Children     Jason Conger: Rated 79% by Oregon Stand for Children.

Government Reform     David Zuckerman: No voter IDs; yes independent redistricting.     Jason Conger: Voted NO on looser campaign finance reporting.     Gary Palmer: Full disclosure of sources of campaign contributions.     John Katko: Regulate campaign contributions from corporations and unions.     Ted Lieu: Replace Citizens United with a Clean Money system.     Napoleon Harris: Allow voter registration on Election Day or at early voting.     Kathy Szeliga: Voted NO to online voter registration & online voting.     Jamie Raskin: Voted YES to online voter registration & online voting.     Richard Madaleno: Voted YES to online voter registration & online voting.

Gun Control     David Zuckerman: Supports background checks, and concealed carry.     Gary Palmer: Repeal unconstitutional gun restrictions.     Ted Lieu: Restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.     Thom Tillis: Concealed carry permits for state parking lots.

Health Care     David Zuckerman: Medicaid expansion under ObamaCare; but no mandate.     John Katko: Complete overhaul of ObamaCare.     Ted Lieu: Support ObamaCare, but work to make it better.     Napoleon Harris: $50M to expand Medicaid services.     T.W. Shannon: Prohibit Oklahoma enforcement of ObamaCare.     Rocky Chavez: Voted NO on expanding eligibility for Medi-Cal.     Deborah Ross: Expand state Medicaid under ObamaCare.

Homeland Security     Gary Palmer: Fully fund the Defense Department.

Immigration     John Katko: Require illegal immigrants to return to country of origin.     Ted Lieu: Comprehensive immigration reform must happen.     Jason Carter: Voted to keep public benefits for undocumented immigrants.

Social Security     John Katko: Honor our promise, but personal retirement accounts ok.     Ted Lieu: I oppose any effort to privatize social security.     Joe Dorman: NO on public employee choice of contributions vs. benefits.     Jim Oberweis: Voted NO on increasing state employees' pension plans.     Amy Stephens: Voted NO on increases to public employee retirement benefits.     Randy Baumgardner: Voted NO on increases to public employee retirement benefits.

Tax Reform     Gary Palmer: Repeal the death tax; adopt the FairTax.     Thom Tillis: Repeal estate tax, except real estate & residents.     Rob Hogg: Increase the earned income tax credit (EITC).     Jim Abeler: Rated 52% by Taxpayers League of Minnesota.

War & Peace     John Katko: Use military force to prevent hostile nuclear nations.     Ted Lieu: No bombing North Korea for possessing nuclear weapons.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Amy Stephens Republican Challenger (withdrawn) Colorado Chris McDaniel Republican challenger Mississippi David Zuckerman Vermont Democratic Gubernatorial Challenger Deborah Ross Democratic Senate candidate North Carolina Gary Palmer Republican House Member U.S. Rep Alabama- 6 Jamie Raskin Democrat U.S. Rep Maryland- 8 Jason Carter Georgia Democratic Gubernatorial Challenger Jason Conger Republican Challenger Oregon Jim Abeler Republican challenger Minnesota Jim Oberweis Republican Senate Challenger Illinois Joe Carr Republican Challenger Tennessee Joe Dorman Oklahoma Democratic Gubernatorial Challenger John Katko Republican House Member U.S. Rep New York- 24 Kathy Szeliga Republican Senate candidate Maryland Marco Rubio FL Senator; Republican Presidential candidate Napoleon Harris Democratic Senate candidate Illinois Norma Torres Democratic House Member U.S. Rep California- 35 Owen Hill Republican Senate Challenger Colorado Randy Baumgardner Republican Challenger Colorado Richard Madaleno Maryland Democratic candidate for governor of Maryland Rob Hogg Democratic Senate challenger Iowa Rocky Chavez Republican Senate candidate California T.W. Shannon Republican Senate Challenger Oklahoma Ted Lieu Democratic House Member U.S. Rep California- 33 Thom Tillis Republican Jr Senator North Carolina