Club for Growth releases 2010 lawmaker report cards

That involvement is one of the reasons the Oklahoma senator is in something of a verbal sparring match with anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist. A spokesman for the Club for Growth said the group would not comment on the Gang of Six, noting the group has not released a proposal yet.

Other takeaways from the Club for Growth scorecard:

— Sen. Orrin Hatch came in tied for third in 2010 Senate ratings, with a 97 percent, but that doesn’t necessarily assure the Utah Republican the group’s full support in his bid for a seventh term next year.

Barney Keller, a spokesman for the Club for Growth, also noted that Hatch had a 74 percent lifetime score from the group. “We’re continuing to follow the Senate race in Utah closely,” Keller said in a statement. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), bandied about as a possible Hatch challenger, received a 100 percent score in 2010 and has a 99 percent lifetime rating. 

— In general, the House Republican leadership hit above its lifetime average, according to the club ratings. Boehner’s and Cantor’s 100 percent scores are both significantly higher than their lifetime ratings of 83 and 85 percent, respectively. 

For his part, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the House’s No. 3 Republican, scored a 96 percent in 2010, compared to a lifetime average of 91 percent. (Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, the chairman of the House GOP conference, had a lifetime and 2010 score of 100 percent.)

— Three of the more centrist Republican senators — Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Dick Lugar of Indiana — also improved on their lifetime score. That said, Snowe’s 49 percent still left her behind one Senate Democrat, Ben Nelson of Nebraska. Nelson faces a tough reelection battle next year, while Lugar already has a prominent primary opponent. Snowe could also be targeted in a GOP nominating contest.

— On the low ends of the score, well over 100 Democrats in the House scored 0 percent in the club’s 2010 ratings, while more than 45 Senate Democrats came in at 10 percent or less.