Now that we're a few months out from the 112th Congress, it's time for the political ratings season.
Several influential groups exert pressure on members of congress by telling them that they'll be graded at the end of their term based on how they vote.
The interest groups pick several votes they deem crucial and use them to figure out who is most in line with their vision.
Some of the most crucial scores come from two major conservative groups — the Club for Growth and the American Conservative Union — and one major publication, The National Journal.
Members often use these scores as feathers in their cap, scoring bragging rights as the most conservative members of their caucus.
We averaged these three metrics to figure out the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate last session.
Before we start, here's the methodology each Senator rating used:
The Club for Growth identified 30 votes related to taxes, government spending, and free trade, each weighted for importance. The votes with the highest weights included a bill involving replacing the food stamp program, eliminating sugar import quotas, a farm bill, the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts extensions, and a Russian free trade bill.
The ACU identified 25 bills, all equally weighted, that they considered hallmarks of conservative voting. These included referendums on earmarks, religious freedom, energy subsidies, defense spending, the United Nations and tax cuts.
The National Journal analyzed 251 "meaningful" votes that identified ideological distinctions. After splitting these into social, economic and foreign issues, they developed a score for each member's liberal and conservative cred.
We averaged the final 2012 scores from each rating to get the aggregate score.
15. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.)
Club For Growth Rating: 71%
American Conservative Union Rating: 92
National Journal Composite Conservative Score: 87.8
Aggregate Score: 83.6
14. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
Club For Growth Rating: 91%
American Conservative Union Rating: 92
National Journal Composite Conservative Score: 73.2
Aggregate Score: 85.4
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