Benjamin L. Cardin

Former Senator from Maryland, 2007–2025 · Democrat

Record from the 118th Congress · From public records: votes from Voteview, bills from congress.gov, money from FEC filings · votes updated Nov 10, 2026 · How we measure

Effectiveness, 118th Congress

How it’s measured

0.75· expected 1.14

Meets expectations

Rank 48 of 102 who served in the Senate that Congress · expected = average of 53 majority-party members

How far Cardin’s own bills got, weighted by substance. The average member scores 1.00.

Introduced 67
Action in committee 11
Action beyond committee 7
Passed chamber 0
Became law 0

67 bills and joint resolutions sponsored: 1 significant (got a roll call vote), 64 substantive, 2 commemorative. Compare the Senate

How Cardin’s ratings compare with every senator

Ratings, 118th Congress

Scores run 0–100 and always sit next to a median. Each tick is one senator; the ringed marker is Cardin. Medians and ranks are among everyone who served in the 118th Congress’s Senate.

Cardin in plain answers: party votes, bipartisanship, who votes alike

Attendance

How it’s measured

97/ 100

Chamber median 97 · 18 missed of 691

Voted on 673 of 691 roll calls; missed 18. Higher than 58% of senators.

50%100%

Party loyalty

How it’s measured

100/ 100

Senate D median 99 · Rank 16 of 53

Sided with the Democratic majority on 524 votes that split the parties. Higher than 85% of senators.

40%100%

Bipartisan

How it’s measured

17/ 100

Chamber median 18 · −1

Average agreement with members of the other party on contested votes. Lower than 55% of senators.

0%70%

Position

How it’s measured

−0.32

Democratic middle 80%: -0.48 to -0.21

Left–right position from roll-call similarity (DW-NOMINATE, Voteview), from −1 to +1. Members who vote alike sit near each other.

LiberalConservative

Cardin’s bills that made it out of committee or further

All bills

7 bills and joint resolutions sponsored in the 118th Congress, furthest along first. These are the bills counted in Cardin’s effectiveness score.

S. 3544 A bill to designate the visitor and education center at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine as the "Paul S. Sarbanes Visitor and Education Center".Public Lands and Natural Resources · Out of committee Nov 21, 2024Substantive87 words Out of committee
S. 5019 A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 340 South Loudon Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland, as the "United States Representative Elijah E. Cummings Post Office Building".Government Operations and Politics · Out of committee Nov 20, 2024Ceremonial89 words Out of committee
S. 3854 International Freedom Protection ActInternational Affairs · Out of committee May 7, 2024Substantive8.7k words Out of committee
S. 924 Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Commission Extension ActPublic Lands and Natural Resources · Out of committee Dec 20, 2023Substantive63 words Out of committee
S. 2482 Community Advantage Loan Program Act of 2023Commerce · Out of committee Jul 25, 2023Substantive8.1k words Out of committee
S. 2212 SBIC Advisory Committee Act of 2023Commerce · Out of committee Jul 25, 2023Substantive1.3k words Out of committee
S.J.Res. 4 A joint resolution removing the deadline for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues · Introduced Apr 27, 2023Substantive59 words Introduced

Stage comes from each bill’s latest action on congress.gov; the full history is on each bill page.