Head of the Class: The Most Buzzworthy House Freshmen of the 112th Congress

Allen West, Joe Walsh, Tim Scott, and Sean Duffy are the most covered U.S. House freshmen of 2011

While nearly eight-dozen new members entered the U.S. House of Representatives in January, only a choice few have become media darlings (or fodder) nearly nine months into their first year in office.

In fact, three Republicans have received more than one-third of the coverage of the entire Class of 2010.

And two of these are the GOP’s only black Americans in Congress.

A Smart Politics content analysis of Lexis/Nexis news transcripts from ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and NPR finds that Republican U.S. Representatives Allen West (FL-22), Joe Walsh (IL-08), and Tim Scott (SC-01) have received as much attention as 70 of their freshman colleagues combined.

(Note: Lexis/Nexis transcripts cover most news programs on the cable TV networks, but not all morning and early afternoon programming (e.g. MSNBC)).

Representative West has been interviewed or mentioned in 222 news programs since January of this year – by far the most of the freshman class.

That accounts for 17.9 percent of broadcasts in which any House freshman has been mentioned on these networks.

Walsh comes in second at 148 broadcasts (12.0 percent) with South Carolina’s Scott a distant third at 45 (3.6 percent).

Rounding out the Top 10 are Republicans Sean Duffy (WI-07) at #4 with 38 mentions, Michael Grimm (NY-13) at #5 with 27, Ben Quayle (AZ-03) at #6 with 26, Kristi Noem (SD-AL) at #7 with 25, Adam Kinzinger (IL-11) at #8 with 22, Mick Mulvaney (SC-05) at #9 with 21, and Mike Kelly (PA-03) at #10 with 20.

Representatives West and Scott are the only two black Americans in the Republican Party serving in either chamber in the 112th Congress.

While Scott did not join the Congressional Black Caucus, West is a member, though he has been critical of late of some of the statements made by Democratic CBC members against the Tea Party, such as Maxine Waters who recently said the Tea Party can go “straight to hell” last month and Andre Carson who said the Tea Party wants blacks “hanging on a tree.”

West’s coverage also spiked earlier in the summer when an email he sent to fellow Florida U.S. Representative (and DNC Chairwoman) Debbie Wasserman-Schultz was made public in which he scolded her for not being a lady and called her “the most vile, unprofessional, and despicable member of the US House of Representatives.”

West is the most prevalent freshman on FOX News in 2011 (mentioned in 101 broadcasts), with Walsh coming in second (28), Scott in third (23), South Dakota’s Kristi Noem in fourth (20), and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois’ 11th CD in fifth (11).

Representative West has been mentioned in an astounding 29 percent of all broadcasts on FOX in which a Freshman was interviewed or his or her name was cited.

West also led with the most mentions on NPR (32) and CBS (13) and was tied with New Hampshire’s 1st CD Representative Frank Guinta with the most mentions on ABC at six.

Representative Walsh, meanwhile, bested West for the most coverage on CNN (61 to 36) and MSNBC (39 to 34) – with a good share of it negative.

Walsh, one of the more outspoken members of the Republican freshman class, has been embroiled in a few controversies during his first year in office.

For example, in late July, Walsh’s ex-wife sued him for $117,000 in unpaid child support and interest in Cook County Circuit Court, with the trial judge admonishing him in a preliminary ruling last week.

Walsh also received attention this month for announcing his boycott of President Obama’s economic address to a Joint Session of Congress, calling the speech “political theater.”

Party and Gender Differences

Not surprisingly, Republican freshmen in the House have made a much bigger proportional footprint in the media than their Democratic counterparts, wielding more power as the majority party as well as frequently making headlines by opposing President Obama’s agenda.

The approximately seven-dozen GOP House freshmen have appeared or been mentioned in an average of 14 news broadcasts each, compared to just eight mentions for the nine new Democrats, who are led by Karen Bass of California’s 33rd CD (tied at #11).

The differences were not so pronounced between newly-elected men (13 broadcasts) versus women (11 broadcasts), with South Dakota at-large Representative Kristi Noem setting the pace for the latter at #7 with 25 broadcasts mentioning her name followed by Bass at #11 with 18, and Republicans Nan Hayworth (NY-19) and Renee Elmers (NC-02) at #13 with 17.

And the Rest…

And which representatives are receiving no love (or hate) on the airwaves so far in 2011?

Democratic at-large congressman John Carney is the only freshman yet to be mentioned once on these broadcast networks (for the programs tracked by Lexis/Nexis). Carney, the former Lieutenant Governor of Delaware, sits on the Financial Services Committee.

Seven Republican freshmen received only one mention, including three of the five new members from the State of Ohio: Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03), Bob Gibbs (OH-18), Robert Hurt (VA-05), Alan Nunnelee (MS-01), Jim Renacci (OH-16), Jon Runyan (NJ-03), and Steve Stivers (OH-15).

Number of National Broadcasts Mentioning or Interviewing U.S. House Freshmen in 2011

Rank	Representative	District	Party	Broadcasts	Percent
1	Allen West	FL-22	GOP	222	17.9
2	Joe Walsh	IL-08	GOP	148	12.0
3	Tim Scott	SC-01	GOP	45	3.6
4	Sean Duffy	WI-07	GOP	38	3.1
5	Michael Grimm	NY-13	GOP	27	2.2
6	Ben Quayle	AZ-03	GOP	26	2.1
7	Kristi Noem	SD-AL	GOP	25	2.0
8	Adam Kinzinger	IL-11	GOP	22	1.8
9	Mick Mulvaney	SC-05	GOP	21	1.7
10	Mike Kelly	PA-03	GOP	20	1.6
11	Karen Bass	CA-33	Democrat	18	1.5
11	Trey Gowdy	SC-04	GOP	18	1.5
13	Lou Barletta	PA-11	GOP	17	1.4
13	Mo Brooks	AL-05	GOP	17	1.4
13	Renee Ellmers	NC-02	GOP	17	1.4
13	Nan Hayworth	NY-19	GOP	17	1.4
13	Bill Huizenga	MI-02	GOP	17	1.4
18	Paul Gosar	AZ-01	GOP	16	1.3
18	Frank Guinta	NH-01	GOP	16	1.3
18	Raul Labrador	ID-01	GOP	16	1.3
18	David Schweikert	AZ-05	GOP	16	1.3
18	Frederica Wilson	FL-17	Democrat	16	1.3
23	Daniel Webster	FL-08	GOP	14	1.1
24	Charlie Bass*	NH-02	GOP	13	1.1
24	Blake Farenthold	TX-27	GOP	13	1.1
24	Mike Fitzpatrick*	PA-08	GOP	13	1.1
24	Tim Huelskamp	KS-01	GOP	13	1.1
28	Billy Long	MO-07	GOP	12	1.0
29	Hansen Clarke	MI-13	Democrat	11	0.9
29	Chip Cravaack	MN-08	GOP	11	0.9
29	Tim Griffin	AR-02	GOP	11	0.9
29	James Lankford	OK-05	GOP	11	0.9
29	Cedric Richmond	LA-02	Democrat	11	0.9
29	Bobby Schilling	IL-17	GOP	11	0.9
35	Ann Marie Buerkle	NY-25	GOP	10	0.8
35	Jeff Denham	CA-19	GOP	10	0.8
35	Andy Harris	MD-01	GOP	10	0.8
35	Vicky Hartzler	MO-04	GOP	10	0.8
35	Joe Heck	NV-03	GOP	10	0.8
35	Pat Meehan	PA-07	GOP	10	0.8
35	Mike Pompeo	KS-04	GOP	10	0.8
42	Jeff Duncan	SC-03	GOP	9	0.7
43	Diane Black	TN-06	GOP	8	0.6
43	Stephen Fincher	TN-08	GOP	8	0.6
43	Steve Pearce*	NM-02	GOP	8	0.6
43	Dennis Ross	FL-12	GOP	8	0.6
43	Steve Southerland	FL-02	GOP	8	0.6
43	Scott Tipton	CO-03	GOP	8	0.6
43	Tim Walberg*	MI-07	GOP	8	0.6
50	Colleen Hanabusa	HA-01	Democrat	7	0.6
50	Jeff Landry	LA-03	GOP	7	0.6
50	Austin Scott	GA-08	GOP	7	0.6
53	Justin Amash	MI-03	GOP	6	0.5
53	Steve Chabot*	OH-01	GOP	6	0.5
53	Reid Ribble	WI-08	GOP	6	0.5
53	David Rivera	FL-25	GOP	6	0.5
53	Steve Womack	AR-03	GOP	6	0.5
53	Rob Woodall	GA-07	GOP	6	0.5
59	Rick Berg	ND-AL	GOP	5	0.4
59	Bill Flores	TX-17	GOP	5	0.4
59	Chris Gibson	NY-20	GOP	5	0.4
59	Randy Hultgren	IL-14	GOP	5	0.4
59	Rich Nugent	FL-05	GOP	5	0.4
59	Steven Palazzo	MS-04	GOP	5	0.4
59	Kevin Yoder	KS-03	GOP	5	0.4
66	Robert Dold	IL-10	GOP	4	0.3
66	Cory Gardner	CO-04	GOP	4	0.3
66	Bill Johnson	OH-06	GOP	4	0.3
66	Tom Marino	PA-10	GOP	4	0.3
66	Todd Rokita	IN-04	GOP	4	0.3
66	Todd Young	IN-09	GOP	4	0.3
72	Sandy Adams	FL-24	GOP	3	0.2
72	Dan Benishek	MI-01	GOP	3	0.2
72	Francisco Canseco	TX-23	GOP	3	0.2
72	David Cicilline	RH-01	Democrat	3	0.2
72	Jamie Herrera Beutler	WA-03	GOP	3	0.2
72	Bill Keating	MA-10	Democrat	3	0.2
72	David McKinley	WV-01	GOP	3	0.2
72	Scott Rigell	VA-02	GOP	3	0.2
72	Martha Roby	AL-02	GOP	3	0.2
72	Terri Sewell	AL-07	Democrat	3	0.2
82	Larry Bucshon	IN-08	GOP	2	0.2
82	Rick Crawford	AR-01	GOP	2	0.2
82	Scott DesJarlais	TN-04	GOP	2	0.2
82	Morgan Griffith	VA-09	GOP	2	0.2
82	Richard Hanna	NY-24	GOP	2	0.2
87	Chuck Fleischmann	TN-03	GOP	1	0.1
87	Bob Gibbs	OH-18	GOP	1	0.1
87	Robert Hurt	VA-05	GOP	1	0.1
87	Alan Nunnelee	MS-01	GOP	1	0.1
87	Jim Renacci	OH-16	GOP	1	0.1
87	Jon Runyan	NJ-03	GOP	1	0.1
87	Steve Stivers	OH-15	GOP	1	0.1
94	John Carney	DL-AL	Democrat	0	0.0
	Total			1,238	100.0

Broadcast mentions through September 17, 2011 from transcripts on Lexis/Nexis of ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and NPR. * Previously served in the U.S. House prior to the 112th Congress. Note: Does not include Republicans Tom Reed (NY-29) and Marlin Stutzman (IN-03) who were elected in November 2010 but took office via special election at that time. Also does not include Democrats Kathy Hochul (NY-26) and Janice Hahn (CA-36) who won special elections in May 2011 and July 2011 respectively. Table compiled by Smart Politics.

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