Webster, Gaetz ranked Florida's least effective Congressional lawmakers in 2023 list

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a temporary measure to fund the government and avoid a shutdown, for now. It was a rare act of governance in a week that saw a series of bizarre legislator actions:

• Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., attempted to throw down with a teamster during a Senate hearing and then later defended it, calling it "Oklahoma values."

• Former House Speaker Sen. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. reportedly elbowed Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., in a crowded hallway.

• After Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., pointed out that the Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-KY, who is digging into President Joe Biden's family finances, has reportedly engaged in multiple land swaps of his own, Comer called Moskowitz a Smurf.

• The House Ethics Committee released its report on Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y which concluded there is “substantial evidence” that Santos broke federal law.

• A few weeks before, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., pleaded not guilty to charges ranging from bribery to acting as a foreign agent.

Are any members of Congress getting the job done?

The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) from the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University ranked all the lawmakers in the 117th Congress (2021-2023) according to effectiveness and success in moving and passing bills, and many of them are indeed working on the country's business. Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio was listed among the top ten most effective Republican lawmakers in the Senate again, coming second behind John Cornyn, R-Texas, and ranked the third-most effective lawmaker in the Senate overall, according to the CEL's ranking.

But not all of Florida's congressional lawmakers are so effective, according to the CEL, when it comes to making laws.

The CEL ranks lawmakers on a combination of 15 metrics on the bills they sponsor, how far they move through the legislative process, and how substantial their policy proposals are. The organization establishes benchmarks for each member to rank like with like for comparisons (the expected Legislative Effectiveness Scores or LES of a lawmaker based on their party, tenure and committee assignments). Each member is given an overall LES compared to a base LES of 1.0, and a party ranking in comparison to all other members of their political party.

Here are the least effective of Florida's members of Congress, according to CEL.

Daniel Webster ranked least effective Florida member of Congress

With an LES of 0.038 and a rank of 206 out of 222 Republican House members, U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., was ranked the least effective legislator in the 117th Congress.

Webster was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1980 and became the first Republican Speaker there in 122 years. He won election to the Florida Senate in 1998 and was Senate Majority Leader for two years, and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. Webster is the longest-serving legislator in Florida history.

But in the 117th Congress, Webster only sponsored four bills, the CEL said, none of them significant and none of them even made it to committee.

According to govtrack.us, Webster missed 431 of 7,972 roll call votes from January 2011 to November 2023, or 5.4% of the total, far more than the median of 1.8% among the lifetime records of current active Representatives.

Amid controversies, Matt Gaetz not passing bills

During his tenure, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R, Fla., has been known more for controversy than lawmaking. Gaetz served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from April 2010 to November 2016 and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016.

Since then he made national headlines for, among other things, introducing legislation to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, casting the lone 'no' vote on an anti-human trafficking bill; announcing a previously unknown Cuban "son" Nestor; getting investigated over reports that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl (the investigation was later dropped due to unreliable witnesses); and most recently making good on his threat to bring down the previous Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy. That was after McCarthy failed to accommodate the demands of Gaetz and other hardline Republican House members and worked with Democrats to pass a short-term spending measure to keep the government open. The House Ethics Committee has quietly reopened its investigation into allegations against Gaetz of sexual misconduct, campaign finance violations, taking bribes, and using drugs.

When it comes to lawmaking, the CEL ranked him the second-least effective Florida congressperson, with only eleven bills sponsored (one of them commemorative), none of them significant, and none of them making it to committee.

Gaetz has missed 210 of 3,837 roll call votes from January 2017 to Nov 2023, according to govtrack.us, which is 5.5% and, again, much higher than the median average of 1.8% among other Representatives.

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Mario Diaz-Balart was 3rd least effective Florida member in last Congress

Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022 after serving in the Florida Senate (1992-2000) and the Florida House (2000-2002). Diaz-Balart sponsored 11 bills in the 117th Congress, one of them commemorative, according to the CEL. None made it to committee.

Diaz-Balart has missed 589 of 13,938 roll call votes from January 2003 to Nov 2023, according to govtrack.us, which is 4.2%. The median average of missed votes among other Representatives is 1.8%.

C. Scott Franklin comes in 4th in least-effect Florida congressperson, with one passed bill

C. Scott Franklin, R-Fla., went from 26 years in the Navy to three years as a Lakeland City Commissioner to a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, where he has served since January 2021.

Franklin was a bit more successful in the 117th Congress. He sponsored 10 bills, two of them commemorative, and saw one of them passed and signed into law: the designation of a post office in Lakeland as the "U.S. Marine Corporal Ronald R. Payne Jr. Post Office."

He also showed up more. From January 2021 to November 2023, Franklin missed 20 of 1,673 roll call votes, which is 1.2%, better than the median lifetime records (1.8%) of all current Representatives.

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Frederica Wilson is least effective Democrat in Congress, study says

Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from September 1998 to November 2002, a member of the Florida Senate from November 2002 to December 2010, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from January 2011 to the present day.

The lowest-ranked Democrat on the list, Wilson sponsored 15 bills in the 117th Congress but none made it to committee.

Wilson has missed 628 of 7,972 roll call votes from January 2011 to Nov 2023, according to govtrack.us, which is 7.9%, far above the median average, 1.8%, of missed votes among other Representatives.

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Least effective U.S. Representatives from Florida in 117th Congress

These are the least effective representatives in the 117th Congress, based on total LES scores from the Center for Effective Lawmaking.

1. Daniel Webster, R, FL-11: 4 bills sponsored, none passed. LES is 0.038, ranked 206 out of 222.

2. Matt Gaetz, R, FL-1: 10 bills sponsored (1 commemorative), none passed. LES is 0.096, ranked 185 out of 222.

3. Mario Diaz-Balart, R, FL-26: 11 bills sponsored (1 commemorative), none passed. LES is 0.106, ranked 182 out of 222.

4. C. Scott Franklin, R, FL-15: 9 bills sponsored, 1 commemorative bill passed. LES is 0.163, ranked 167 out of 222.

5. Frederica Wilson, D, FL-24: 15 bills sponsored, none passed. LES is 0.141, ranked 226 out of 232.

6. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D, FL-20: 3 bills sponsored, none passed. LES is 0.180, ranked 220 out of 232. NOTE: Cherfilus-McCormick was in the 117th Congress for the 2022-2023 sessions after replacing Alcee Hastings.

7. Maria Salazar, R, FL-27: 20 bills sponsored, none passed. LES is 0.189, ranked 163 out of 222.

8. John Rutherford, R, FL-4: 9 bills sponsored, none passed. LES is 0.237, ranked 150 out of 222.

9. Kat Cammack, R, FL-3: 9 bills sponsored (1 commemorative), none passed. LES is 0.238, ranked 148 out of 222.

10. Alcee Hastings, D, FL-20: 11 bills sponsored, 1 made it to committee, none passed. LES is 0.255, ranked 213 out of 232. NOTE: Hastings died in 2021 and was replaced with Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.

The Pensacola News-Journal's Brandon Girod contributed to this article.

Editor's note: Rep. Franklin was misnamed in the original version of this article.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daniel Webster, Matt Gaetz lead list of Florida's least effective pols