The National Journal‘s rankings of the most liberal U.S. representatives reveals that Connecticut’s Sen. Richard Blumenthal is the most liberal Senator, while Connecticut’s all-Democrat congressional delegation is the fourth most liberal in the country.
Blumenthal tied with Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) for the top liberal spot in the Senate. Others at that end of the spectrum include Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Al Franken (D-MN), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ).
According to the rankings, Blumenthal voted for the liberal position on legislation 90.7% of the time. The most liberal member of the Connecticut congressional delegation is Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who voted with the liberal position 84.8% of the time. Rep. John Larson came in next with a liberal position voting rate of 83.5%, while Rep. Joe Courtney came in third with a liberal voting rate of 78.7%.
According to Gallup, Connecticut ranks as the fourth most liberal state in the country, tied with Delaware, though conservatives slightly outnumber liberals in the state.
Connecticut has an unemployment rate of 8.6%, one of the highest in the nation. Its financial status is the worst in the nation, with a $49,000 debt burden per taxpayer.
Connecticut’s credit quality was ranked 50th in the nation, and the state was ranked the worst in the country in which to retire by TopRetirements.com. Connecticut also ranked 44th in a CNBC report as one of the states least friendly to business.
In 2012, the Tax Foundation found that Connecticut had the latest Tax Freedom Day, May 5th, of all the states, meaning that Connecticut citizens had to work longer than all other American citizens into the year to earn enough money to pay their combined taxes.
The state of Connecticut’s educational Achievement Gap is the worst in the nation, and Connecticut’s Governor Dannel Malloy (D) received a rating of “F” by the Cato Institute in its Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s governors.