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The Lugar Center - McCourt School Bipartisan Index

Age Study

116th Congress First Session (2019)

The following is research offered by The Lugar Center and the Millennial Action Project on the bipartisanship of age groups within the House of Representatives during 2019. The research is based on the Bipartisan Index, initiated by the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University in 2015.

The chart below shows all members of the House who were under 45 years old at the beginning of the current 116th Congress (January 3, 2019). They are grouped in descending order of their 2019 Bipartisan Index scores. 56 percent of Representatives under 45 earned scores above zero — meaning they were more bipartisan than the 26-year historical average. Only 40 percent of Representatives 45 and older earned positive scores. Members under 45 accounted for 29% of all House members with positive bipartisan index scores in 2019, despite holding only 17% of House seats. Members under 45 recorded a composite Bipartisan Index score of 0.13027. Those 45 and older averaged -0.04499. The study also found that members of the Millennial Action Project’s Future Caucus — made up primarily of under-45 House members, scored even better than the under-45 group as a whole. Future Caucus members had a composite Bipartisan Index score of 0.22689, with 59% scoring above the historical average. The bar chart below compares Future Caucus members to the broader under-45 group of House members, as well as to the 45 and over group. As indicated by the line chart below, this is the third Congress in a row that under-45 House Members have outperformed their older counterparts by a wide margin. Finally, the study breaks down 2019 House Members by decade age cohorts so the bipartisan performance of House members in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s and above can be compared.

# Name State Party BPI Score Age at start of session
1 Josh Gottheimer NJ D 2.9594287 43
2 Jenniffer González PR R 1.8372144 42
3 Lee Zeldin NY R 1.4847793 38
4 Elise Stefanik NY R 1.407716 34
5 Joe Cunningham SC D 1.3971758 36
6 Abigail Spanberger VA D 1.3699295 39
7 Adam Kinzinger IL R 1.2412257 40
8 Anthony Brindisi NY D 1.1612673 40
9 Antonio Delgado NY D 1.0614578 41
10 Elaine Luria VA D 0.9573239 43
11 Darren Soto FL D 0.8681647 40
12 Will Hurd TX R 0.8545239 41
13 Anthony Gonzalez OH R 0.8358031 34
14 Ben McAdams UT D 0.7997986 44
15 Brian Mast FL R 0.7813278 38
16 Josh Harder CA D 0.7257938 32
17 Mike Gallagher WI R 0.7104853 34
18 Joe Neguse CO D 0.7006412 34
19 Conor Lamb PA D 0.650447 34
20 Max Rose NY D 0.6440762 32
21 Andy Kim NJ D 0.5674878 36
22 Michael Waltz FL R 0.4771225 44
23 Abby Finkenauer IA D 0.4527608 30
24 Seth Moulton MA D 0.4510516 40
25 Elissa Slotkin MI D 0.437358 42
26 Chris Pappas NH D 0.289716 38
27 Colin Allred TX D 0.2698446 35
28 Jared Golden ME D 0.2490835 36
29 Lizzie Fletcher TX D 0.227963 43
30 Kendra Horn OK D 0.2192287 42
31 Dan Crenshaw TX R 0.1805955 34
32 Guy Reschenthaler PA R 0.1742921 35
33 Stephanie Murphy FL D 0.1437229 40
34 Jaime Herrera Beutler WA R 0.1273198 40
35 Xochitl Torres Small NM D 0.1262805 34
36 Matt Gaetz FL R 0.1034633 36
37 Tulsi Gabbard HI D 0.0711368 37
38 Steve Watkins KS R 0.0696456 42
39 Markwayne Mullin OK R 0.0503169 41
40 Dusty Johnson SD R 0.0369341 42
41 Joaquin Castro TX D 0.0288123 44
42 Jason Crow CO D 0.0018216 39
43 Ruben Gallego AZ D -0.036619 39
44 Bryan Steil WI R -0.049433 37
45 Greg Steube FL R -0.051405 40
46 Jason Smith MO R -0.106925 38
47 Ro Khanna CA D -0.120863 42
48 Trey Hollingsworth IN R -0.145565 35
49 Brendan Boyle PA D -0.159238 41
50 Grace Meng NY D -0.208952 43
51 Patrick McHenry NC R -0.209164 43
52 Haley Stevens MI D -0.213456 35
53 Sharice Davids KS D -0.221887 38
54 Mike Levin CA D -0.33918 40
55 Duncan Hunter CA R -0.369384 42
56 André Carson IN D -0.405586 44
57 Michael San Nicolas GU D -0.48763 37
58 Justin Amash MI R -0.520465 38
59 Joe Kennedy MA D -0.539517 38
60 Eric Swalwell CA D -0.553691 38
61 Lauren Underwood IL D -0.557774 32
62 Kelly Armstrong ND R -0.602794 42
63 Katie Hill CA D -0.622308 31
64 Pete Aguilar CA D -0.671449 39
65 Nanette Barragán CA D -0.683411 42
66 Jim Banks IN R -0.702209 39
67 William Timmons SC R -0.74905 34
68 Martha Roby AL R -0.770495 42
69 Lance Gooden TX R -0.790537 36
70 Jimmy Gomez CA D -0.831313 44
71 Rashida Tlaib MI D -1.039433 42
72 Michael Cloud TX R -1.075584 43
73 Ilhan Omar MN D -1.188808 36
74 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez NY D -1.192808 29
75 Ayanna Pressley MA D -1.217747 44

GovTrack data was used in the production of these scores.  

Charts

2019 Bipartisan Index Scores by Age Group (Decades)
 
Under 40 0.09611
40s 0.04143
50s -0.04482
60s -0.09043
Over 70 0.03743