Todd Akin named 'most conservative' House member in 112th Congress

The National Journal releases its Congressional Vote Ratings list on Thursday. The annual report ranks the most conservative and most liberal members of each Congress.

NJ put out a preview today of the ideological extremes in just the House. "Most conservative" went to former Rep. Todd Akin of "legitimate rape" fame. "Most liberal" was a 14-way tie... Five of the members represent or represented California.

Graphic via National Journal

How NJ calculates its findings:

For the 2012 ratings, National Journal examined all of the roll-call votes in the second session of the 112th Congress—659 in the House and 251 in the Senate—and identified the ones that show ideological distinctions between members. Many votes did not make the cut—those that involve noncontroversial issues or that fall along regional lines, for instance. In the end, 116 votes in each chamber were selected and were categorized as economic, foreign, or social.