Founded in 1991, the Republican Liberty Caucus works to advance the principles of limited government, free markets and individual liberty within the Republican Party.

As part of its continuing efforts to identify which Republican legislators can rightly claim to be fiscal conservatives (which they are all, of course, claiming to be), the Michigan chapter of the RLC developed charts to rank legislators. Consistent with the RLC’s dedication to preserving social liberties, the index also scores legislators on votes affecting personal liberties.

Says Michigan RLC Chair Dan Sheill: “It’s no surprise, but the results are not especially encouraging — especially on the personal liberty rankings. However, these rankings show why libertarian-leaning folks are much more likely to find success through the GOP than the Democrat Party.”

According to my own interpretation of the results, it appears that Sen. Alan Sanborn (R-District 11) is the most socially tolerant and fiscally conservative member of the Senate.  The most socially tolerant member is Sen. Mark Jansen (R-District 28), but he fails on fiscal policy.  In the House, RLC-endorsed State Rep. Jack Hoogendyk (no longer serving) scored the best. Former State Rep. Brian Palmer had the second best combined score after Hoogendyk. On personal liberties, Rep. David Agema (R-District 74) scored fairly high, although he has a poor fiscal record.

Thanks to the Michigan RLC for keep Michigan voters informed!

(The votes on which the charts were based are available here.)