How we score the engagement heatmap
Every column uses fixed thresholds on its own 0 to 100 scale, so a colour means the same thing every year, and every senator could earn the strongest band. Below the minimum record a cell is grey: unmeasured, not zero.
- Keeps their word: promises and stated positions kept. Banded strong at 80 or above, good from 60, some from 40, weak below 40; needs at least 2 tested promises or positions before it gets a colour.
- Gets things done: sponsored bills advanced. Banded strong at 40 or above, good from 25, some from 10, weak below 10; needs at least 5 sponsored bills before it gets a colour.
- Transparent: says where they stand. Banded strong at 80 or above, good from 60, some from 40, weak below 40; needs at least 5 issues checked before it gets a colour.
- Responds to readers: speaks to what readers ask about. Banded strong at 75 or above, good from 50, some from 25, weak below 25; needs at least 2 issues readers asked about before it gets a colour.
On each senator's page
Statements and promises on an issue are strong at 3 or more, good at 2, some at 1, and grey at none. Key votes are strong when the senator cast every key vote held during their service, good at half or more, some below that, and weak at none. "Kept their word" is strong when every tested promise and position was kept, some when the record is mixed, and weak when it was broken.
Responds to readers
An issue counts as asked about when readers press "Ask them to answer" on a senator's page on at least 3 different days from at least 3 different connections, within the last 90 days. It counts as answered when the senator has since made an approved statement, promise or position on it. A vote is not an answer.
Reader interest is shown as an order (most, often or rarely asked), never a count: a tap is a request, not a person, and a count anyone can repeat would be a number anyone can manufacture.