How Purple Are
U.S. Senators?
We rated U.S. Senators on how well they work across party lines (details provided at the bottom the page). Ratings are classified from purple (highest) to yellow (lowest) and are summarized in the table below by party, followed by the list of individual senators.
Below are the individual rankings. Rankings within each category are in order of their score
Purple
Most bipartisan. Most willing to do what they think is best for the people.
Sen. Rob Portman [R-OH]
Sen. Susan Collins [R-ME]
Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R-AK]
Sen. Todd Young [R-IN]
Sen. Shelley Capito [R-WV]
Lavender
Moderately Bipartisan. Often chooses for what they think is best for the people.
Sen. John Cornyn [R-TX]
Sen. Jerry Moran [R-KS]
Sen. Charles J. Grassley [R-IA]
Sen. Roy Blunt [R-MO]
Sen. Roger Wicker [R-MS]
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema [D-AZ]
Sen. Margaret Wood Hassan [D-NH]
Sen. Christopher A. Coons [D-DE]
Sen. Bill Cassidy [R-LA]
Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]
Sen. Jacky Rosen [D-NV]
Sen. Joe Manchin [D-WV]
Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC]
Sen. Richard Burr [R-NC]
Sen. Gary C. Peters [D-MI]
Sen. Dan Sullivan [R-AK]
Sen. Jon Tester [D-MT]
Sen. John Thune [R-SD]
Sen. Robert Menendez [D-NJ]
Sen. Marco Rubio [R-FL]
Sen. John Boozman [R-AR]
Gray
Occasionally bipartisan. Sometimes chooses what they think is good for the people.
Sen. John Hoeven [R-ND]
Sen. Mitt Romney [R-UT]
Sen. Angus King Jr. [I-ME]
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen [D-NH]
Sen. Mitch McConnell [R-KY]
Sen. Steve Daines [R-MT]
Sen. Deb Fischer [R-NE]
Sen. Tim Scott [R-SC]
Sen. Debbie Stabenow [D-MI]
Sen. Thom Tillis [R-NC]
Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin [D-MD]
Sen. Kevin Cramer [R-ND]
Sen. John Barrasso [R-WY]
Sen. Michael Bennet [D-CO]
Sen. Mark R. Warner [D-VA]
Sen. Joni Ernst [R-IA]
Sen. Mike Rounds [R-SD]
Sen. James Risch [R-ID]
Sen. Michael Crapo [R-ID]
Sen. Thomas Carper [D-DE]
Sen. Sherrod Brown [D-OH]
Sen. Tina Smith [D-MN]
Sen. Tammy Baldwin [D-WI]
Sen. Robert P., Jr. Casey [D-PA]
Sen. Timothy Kaine [D-VA]
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto [D-NV]
Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]
Sen. Mark Kelly [D-AZ]
Sen. James Lankford [R-OK]
Sen. Maria Cantwell [D-WA]
Sen. Raphael Warnock [D-GA]
Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT]
Beige
Moderately partisan. Often places partisan interests above those of the people.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth [D-IL]
Sen. Martin Heinrich [D-NM]
Sen. Ben Luján [D-NM]
Sen. John Reed [D-RI]
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI]
Sen. Patrick Toomey [R-PA]
Sen. Ron Johnson [R-WI]
Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]
Sen. Brian Schatz [D-HI]
Sen. Christopher Murphy [D-CT]
Sen. Chris Van Hollen [D-MD]
Sen. James Inhofe [R-OK]
Sen. John W. Hickenlooper [D-CO]
Sen. Richard Shelby [R-AL]
Sen. Richard Blumenthal [D-CT]
Sen. Jon Ossoff [D-GA]
Sen. Rand Paul [R-KY]
Sen. Patty Murray [D-WA]
Sen. Tom Cotton [R-AR]
Sen. Mazie Hirono [D-HI]
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY]
Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY]
Sen. Bill Hagerty [R-TN]
Sen. Marsha Blackburn [R-TN]
Sen. Alejandro Padilla [D-CA]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-MA]
Sen. Ron Wyden [D-OR]
Sen. Cory Booker [D-NJ]
Sen. Mike Braun [R-IN]
Sen. Mike Lee [R-UT]
Yellow
Mostly partisan. Often places partisan interests above those of the people.
Sen. Jeff Merkley [D-OR]
Sen. Edward Markey [D-MA]
Sen. Benjamin Sasse [R-NE]
Sen. Cynthia Lummis [R-WY]
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith [R-MS]
Sen. John Kennedy [R-LA]
Sen. Bernard Sanders [I-VT]
Sen. Roger Marshall [R-KS]
Sen. Tommy Tuberville [R-AL]
Sen. Rick Scott [R-FL]
Sen. Ted Cruz [R-TX]
Sen. Joshua Hawley [R-MO]
How We Rated the Senators
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Ratings are based on a combination of several factors:
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Number of and percentage of bills authored with a member of the opposing party
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Percentage of bills cosponsored with a member of the opposing party
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Percentage of votes with the majority of the opposing party and against the majority of the Senator's own party
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Percentage of votes supporting legislation supported by a majority of both parties
An average of data for the years 2019 through 2021 was used for the ratings. Senators were penalized for opposing certification of either the 2016 or 2020 presidential election results without credible evidence (as determined by the courts) of election fraud. The same methodology was used to rate senators and representatives but the scoring for number of bills authored was adjusted to reflect that the average senator authors more bills than the average representative. Independent Senators were classified as the party they caucused with for determining what classified as their own party.
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The rankings above are provided for educational purposes and are not intended to support or advocate for or against any individual or party.