America’s oldest conservative advocacy group names their top seven Ala. lawmakers

The American Conservative Union (ACU) just released their annual scorecard, identifying Alabama’s most conservative and liberal lawmakers in 2016.

After finalizing a scoring system that factored each lawmaker’s voting record, Senator Tim Melson (R-Florence) and Representatives Tim Wadsworth (R- Arley), Isaac Whorton (R- Valley), and Rich Wingo (R- Tuscaloosa) emerged as the most conservative members in the Alabama legislature. Each legislator earned a score above 90 percent, according to their most recent analysis.

Lawmakers who scored above 80 percent include Senators Rusty Glover (R- Semmes), Tom Whatley (R- Auburn), and Representative Corey Harbison (R- Cullman).

According to the organization’s report, the average Alabama legislator increased by nearly 15 points on their ranking system.

Overall, ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp said that the state’s legislators largely furthered conservative priorities throughout the past year.

“The 2016 session of the Alabama legislature enacted several conservative reforms Alabamans can be proud of,” said Schlapp. “Bills that protected citizens’ Second Amendment rights and the sanctity of unborn lives show that legislators are addressing the issues of concern to constituents. However, 2016 was not all good news: policies that empower bureaucrats and expand the role of government by regulating massage therapists and cosmetologists are wholly unnecessary.”

The ACU says that they compile their ranking system based on principles found in Ronald Reagan’s “three-legged stool”, which includes the following issues: 1) fiscal and economic: taxes, budgets, regulation, spending, healthcare, and property; 2) social and cultural: 2nd amendment, religion, life, welfare, and education; and 3) government integrity: voting, individual liberty, privacy, and transparency.

Legislation that was considered on Alabama’s 2016 scorecard included SB 14, which clarified the state’s open carry law, SB 363, which banned dismemberment abortion, and SB 344, which prohibited school employees from collecting unemployment during summer months when school is out. The ACU stood in support of the above legislation.

ACU was founded in 1964 and refers to itself as the “nation’s oldest and largest conservative grassroots organization.”