House lawmakers seeking higher office put campaigning before voting

House legislative business is a low priority for several lawmakers who have their eyes trained on higher office.

Four members of Congress running for the Senate or governor have missed more than half of the votes held by the House since returning from the August recess. A fifth lawmaker has missed half of the scheduled votes.

{mosads}Some of the votes have been on small bills, such as a proposal to establish the Sedona-Red Rock scenic area in Arizona’s Coconino forest.

But other issues have been top priorities of President Obama intended to create jobs during tough economic times.

The Small Business Lending Fund Act, which the House approved on Thursday, provides $12 billion in tax cuts to small businesses and sets up a $30 billion capital fund for community banks.

Reps. Roy Blunt (R), Mary Fallin (R) and Kendrick Meek (D) missed the vote to send the small business bill to Obama’s desk for approval, according to public voting records.

The measure passed 237 to 187, largely along party lines. Only one Republican voted for it and 13 Democrats voted nay.

Blunt is running for Senate in Missouri, leading his Democratic opponent, Robin Carnahan, by about 8 percentage points. The former Republican whip has missed 22 of the 26 votes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has scheduled this month.

Fallin, who is vying to become Oklahoma’s next governor, has missed all 26 votes in the House since it returned from a 6-week August recess.

Meek has missed 24 of 26 votes, including all the votes scheduled during the first week Congress was back in session.

Rich Chrismer, Blunt’s campaign spokesman, defended his boss’s decision to focus on the campaign trail.

“Roy Blunt has traveled to all 114 Missouri counties and held nearly 750 events in Missouri in this campaign,” Chrismer said. “While he’s talking and listening to Missourians about the important issues in this election,
he has maintained a 94.63% voting record.”

Chrismer noted that Carnahan missed a budget hearing she scheduled for Missouri’s Secretary of State’s office because of campaign activity.

Nate Webb, a spokesman for Fallin, said his boss is prepared to return to Washington if needed.

“The reason she’s missing votes is that she’s been home concentrating on her gubernatorial campaign,” he said. “She stands ready to come back to Washington for critical votes.”

Webb declined to evaluate whether the small business legislation met Fallin’s definition of critical.

A Meek campaign aide said his boss has worked hard to attend votes in Washington during the busy campaign.

“The reality is that Kendrick’s lifetime voting percentage is higher than 94 percent,” said the aide. “He works hard seven days a week and maintains an intense travel schedule, sometimes flying back to Florida after votes on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening and returning the next morning.”

While Meek has missed nearly every House vote in September, the aide didn’t hesitate to bash Meek’s opponent, Gov. Charlie Crist, an independent candidate running for Senate in Florida, for skipping out on official business.

The Meek campaign aide noted that Crist has held few official events in his role as governor in recent weeks, a trend reported by The Miami Herald.

Good-government advocates say these Republicans and Democrats are shirking their responsibilities as officeholders as they try to climb the ladder of political power.

“It is unfortunate that these office holders view these campaigns as more important than their jobs legislating,” said Craig Holman, legislative representative of Public Citizen, a liberal-leaning government watchdog group.

“They should really value their job of being an officeholder first and foremost,” Holman added. “Anyone who is missing more than half of these votes is shirking their responsibility as an office holder.”

Holman acknowledged the demands of the campaign trail and said it was understandable for candidates in tough races to miss a few votes here and there. But he said it is not acceptable for candidates to miss votes wholesale.

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), who is running for Senate in Pennsylvania, did not miss any votes this month, despite being locked in a race with former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).

Rep. John Boozman (R), who is running for Senate in Arkansas, did not miss any September votes, either.

Other candidates, however, have missed an entire week of work in Washington.

Rep. Paul Hodes (D), who is running for Senate in New Hampshire, missed every vote the House held during its first week after the August recess.

A spokesman for the Hodes campaign explained that New Hampshire held its primary that week. Although Hodes did not have an opponent, he was busy meeting with voters, the aide said.

“Paul wanted to be in state talking to the people of New Hampshire,” said Mark Bergman.

Bergman said he spent Wednesday, Sept. 15, with a nursing home worker, helping her do her job. The following Friday he visited a senior center in Nashua, N.H.

Hodes missed all 13 House votes scheduled that week but skipped only two of the 13 votes held the week of Sept. 20.

Bergman emphasized that Hodes was in Washington to vote for the small business bill.

Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D), who is running for Senate in Indiana, also missed every vote held the week of Sept. 13. He voted regularly the following week, giving him a .500 average so far this month.

Ellsworth also voted for the small business bill.

Paul Osolnick and Hayleigh Colombo contributed to this report