Who is the most conservative current (118th Congress) US senator?

[wnwnwn]

Discuss

[Vice President Christian Man]

Mike Lee would be a good candidate.

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

If by 'conservative' you mean stupid, either Ron Johnson or Tommy Tuberville.

[Del Tachi]

Ideological rankings for the 118th Congressional generally aren't available yet, but this one for the 117th had Scott (R-FL) as the most conservative, followed by Braun (R-IN), Cruz (R-TX), Blackburn (R-TN) and Cramer (R-ND).

The median (#50) senator under this ranking was Murkowski.  2022 seems to have been an exodus of moderate Republicans, as Portman, Shelby, Blunt, Burr and Toomey were all rated among the body's most moderate senators. 

Romney, Sinema and Manchin are retiring in 2024, and if Tester loses then the remaining "moderate" coalition in the senate is Murkowski, Collins, Kelly and...Warnock?  (defined as senators ranked between #45-#55 in the ideological scores for 2021-22.)  These scores may not accurately reflect how Kelly and Warnock have been voting since 2022, since they're now somewhat freed from election-year pressures.

In 2025, it will be interesting to see what kind of senator Fetterman becomes.  His positions are heterodox enough that he can be usefully deployed to be the "fall man" for the moderate bloc.  Ditto for if Hogan somehow wins, too.

[Vice President Christian Man]

Ideological rankings for the 118th Congressional generally aren't available yet, but this one for the 117th had Scott (R-FL) as the most conservative, followed by Braun (R-IN), Cruz (R-TX), Blackburn (R-TN) and Cramer (R-ND).

The median (#50) senator under this ranking was Murkowski.  2022 seems to have been an exodus of moderate Republicans, as Portman, Shelby, Blunt, Burr and Toomey were all rated among the body's most moderate senators.  

Romney, Sinema and Manchin are retiring in 2024, and if Tester loses then the remaining "moderate" coalition in the senate is Murkowski, Collins, Kelly and...Warnock?  (defined as senators ranked between #45-#55 in the ideological scores for 2021-22.)  These scores may not accurately reflect how Kelly and Warnock have been voting since 2022, since they're now somewhat freed from election-year pressures.

In 2025, it will be interesting to see what kind of senator Fetterman becomes.  His positions are heterodox enough that he can be usefully deployed to be the "fall man" for the moderate bloc.  Ditto for if Hogan somehow wins, too.

Fetterman isn't that moderate outside of Israel and immigration. He's still a progressive Dem, just not the protégé of AOC that everyone was expecting him to be.

[Del Tachi]

Ideological rankings for the 118th Congressional generally aren't available yet, but this one for the 117th had Scott (R-FL) as the most conservative, followed by Braun (R-IN), Cruz (R-TX), Blackburn (R-TN) and Cramer (R-ND).

The median (#50) senator under this ranking was Murkowski.  2022 seems to have been an exodus of moderate Republicans, as Portman, Shelby, Blunt, Burr and Toomey were all rated among the body's most moderate senators. 

Romney, Sinema and Manchin are retiring in 2024, and if Tester loses then the remaining "moderate" coalition in the senate is Murkowski, Collins, Kelly and...Warnock?  (defined as senators ranked between #45-#55 in the ideological scores for 2021-22.)  These scores may not accurately reflect how Kelly and Warnock have been voting since 2022, since they're now somewhat freed from election-year pressures.

In 2025, it will be interesting to see what kind of senator Fetterman becomes.  His positions are heterodox enough that he can be usefully deployed to be the "fall man" for the moderate bloc.  Ditto for if Hogan somehow wins, too.

Fetterman isn't that moderate outside of Israel and immigration. He's still a progressive Dem, just not the protégé of AOC that everyone was expecting him to be.

Israel and immigration are the top two issues right now.  If the discussion was re-centered on healthcare or taxes, I think Fetterman would "adapt" on those too (although, probably not to the extent of Manchinema.)

[MarkD]

I would agree with Christian Man that Mike Lee probably ranks the most conservative, particularly if you use the American Conservative Union's rating method.

If by 'conservative' you mean stupid, either Ron Johnson or Tommy Tuberville.

The user in the OP has a lime green avatar,  like me, not red or maroon, so I seriously doubt he would "mean" to equate conservatism with stupidity.

[Samof94]

Ted Cruz?

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Ideological rankings for the 118th Congressional generally aren't available yet, but this one for the 117th had Scott (R-FL) as the most conservative, followed by Braun (R-IN), Cruz (R-TX), Blackburn (R-TN) and Cramer (R-ND).

The median (#50) senator under this ranking was Murkowski.  2022 seems to have been an exodus of moderate Republicans, as Portman, Shelby, Blunt, Burr and Toomey were all rated among the body's most moderate senators. 

Romney, Sinema and Manchin are retiring in 2024, and if Tester loses then the remaining "moderate" coalition in the senate is Murkowski, Collins, Kelly and...Warnock?  (defined as senators ranked between #45-#55 in the ideological scores for 2021-22.)  These scores may not accurately reflect how Kelly and Warnock have been voting since 2022, since they're now somewhat freed from election-year pressures.

In 2025, it will be interesting to see what kind of senator Fetterman becomes.  His positions are heterodox enough that he can be usefully deployed to be the "fall man" for the moderate bloc.  Ditto for if Hogan somehow wins, too.

Well, I don't think Rick Scott has a case anymore:

https://twitter.com/alexanderbolton/status/1779945996354769333

[Mr. Smith]

Tommy Tuberville methinks.

[Pericles]

It could be some anonymous Senator. There were only seven election objectors in 2021-maybe someone like Hyde-Smith or Roger Marshall is secretly pretty awful.

[wnwnwn]

It could be some anonymous Senator. There were only seven election objectors in 2021-maybe someone like Hyde-Smith or Roger Marshall is secretly pretty awful.

I don't think that conspirancies should be considered conservatives.
I think that very conservative in this context should mean very fiscal conservative (including free trade) and very social conservative. Basically a mix of christian right and Club of Growth conservatism. I´m not sure about foreing policy, but I think that a trumpian foreing policy (pro Israel, pro Taiwan, pro Putin) is as conservative as it gets.

[Schiff for Senate]

The median (#50) senator under this ranking was Murkowski.  2022 seems to have been an exodus of moderate Republicans, as Portman, Shelby, Blunt, Burr and Toomey were all rated among the body's most moderate senators. 

Then those ratings may be balderdash. Shelby and definitely Blunt were by no means moderates, and even among the Senate GOP caucus I doubt Shelby (and definitely not Blunt) would have made it into the top ten most moderate.

[Samof94]

Ted Cruz

[Del Tachi]

The median (#50) senator under this ranking was Murkowski.  2022 seems to have been an exodus of moderate Republicans, as Portman, Shelby, Blunt, Burr and Toomey were all rated among the body's most moderate senators. 

Then those ratings may be balderdash. Shelby and definitely Blunt were by no means moderates, and even among the Senate GOP caucus I doubt Shelby (and definitely not Blunt) would have made it into the top ten most moderate.

Senators like Blunt and Shelby sponsored/co-sponsored way more bipartisan legislation that most of their senate collegaues, either Republican or Democrat.  That they don't give moderate ~vibes~ is immaterial.

They were both very good senators in that they were mostly working behind the scenes to champion issues critical to their states, while generally avoiding making a splashy cable news issues that only engage partisans.

[Schiff for Senate]

The median (#50) senator under this ranking was Murkowski.  2022 seems to have been an exodus of moderate Republicans, as Portman, Shelby, Blunt, Burr and Toomey were all rated among the body's most moderate senators.  

Then those ratings may be balderdash. Shelby and definitely Blunt were by no means moderates, and even among the Senate GOP caucus I doubt Shelby (and definitely not Blunt) would have made it into the top ten most moderate.

Senators like Blunt and Shelby sponsored/co-sponsored way more bipartisan legislation that most of their senate collegaues, either Republican or Democrat.  That they don't give moderate ~vibes~ is immaterial.

They were both very good senators in that they were mostly working behind the scenes to champion issues critical to their states, while generally avoiding making a splashy cable news issues that only engage partisans.

They may have been very establishmentarian, but they were definitely not "moderates." The two are not the same.

I'm sure you'll agree that someone like Lisa Murkowski and someone like Roy Blunt, even if the latter is somehow defined as a moderate, are fundamentally two very different kinds of "moderates."

My definition of the term isn't broad enough to encompass somebody like Blunt, who was a typical Republican who almost always voted the party line on any controversial issue. Your definition of moderate is apparently anyone who doesn't seek the limelight and cosponsors enough bipartisan legislation. That's simply a regular establishment Republican, and in the Senate, it's still the majority of GOP senators (the House, needless to say, is another story).

Keep in mind that when you talk about bipartisan legislation, that is (in most cases) the very routine, nonpolitical legislation that most senators ultimately vote for except the biggest show horses and grandstanders - cosponsoring that, to me, means diddly squat in terms of providing moderate bona fides.