Wyden and Hooley Ranked Most Powerful in Oregon Delegation

An annual report from the website Congress.org has ranked members of Congress according to their power in Washington. The most powerful of Oregon's delegation: Senator Wyden and Representative Hooley.

From the Oregonian:

Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Darlene Hooley are the most powerful members of Oregon's congressional delegation, according to a newly released annual report by Congress.org.

Wyden is the thirty-seventh most powerful member of the U.S. Senate. Republican Gordon Smith is the forty-ninth most powerful senator. Among Senate Republicans, Smith ranked 13. Hooley, who recently announced she is not running for re-election is the seventy-third most powerful U.S. representative.

Overall, Oregon has the seventeenth most powerful congressional delegation, according to the report.

The report considers numerous factors in its rankings, including tenure, the number of bills the members have passed and their committee assignments.

Read the rest. You can find the complete list of rankings at Congress.org.

Discuss.

  • (Show?)

    Any ranking that doesn't list Peter DeFazio as the most influential member of the Oregon delegation in the House of Representatives is bogus per se. He brought home the bacon in the last transportation bill while a member of the minority and is now chairing the committee that is starting to write the next one. No one else in our delegation has that much clout on such a critical issue to Oregon and the country.

  • Junebug (unverified)
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    Interesting to note that Walden ranks higher than Wu, even though he is in the minority party and they entered congress in the same year. Doesn't speak well for Wu.

    Basically, the way Congress works, unless your senator or rep. is a complete moron or is totally corrupt, it pays to re-elect them so they gain seniority and power and can be more effective advocates for your state. Not sure any members of the Oregon delegation meet this criteria.

  • SuperWonk (unverified)
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    Leave it to The Oregonian to give Sen. Gordon Smith more credit than he deserves: a quick visit to the power rankings at Congress.org shows that Smith is actually ranked the 50th most powerful Senator. Bravo, Senator. And bravo, The Oregonian for your fine reporting.

  • David Bean (unverified)
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    <h2>Oh how I love Bean counters. People listen to Peter DeFazio. Watch what he does in transportation. See what he gets accomplished. Big things. Do not waste time on how many bills, no matter how nonsensical or pandering. I am not discounting the delegates named above. I do question the process of rating power that excludes Peter DeFazio.</h2>
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