Ryan, Strickland rank low for power

This is the company's first power ranking of members of Congress.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
When it comes to power in the U.S. House, a ranking compiled by a Washington, D.C., company places U.S. Reps. Ted Strickland and Tim Ryan close to the bottom of the congressional barrel.
Ryan, of Niles, D-17th, is ranked the 401st-most-influential House member, with Strickland, of Lisbon, D-6th, one notch below him. There are 435 seats in the U.S. House and 100 in the U.S. Senate.
Knowlegis LLC, which ranked the members of Congress based on what they did in 2005, describes itself as a private nonpartisan company specializing in facilitating civic participation.
The company operates www.congress.org, a political Web site that, among other things, compiles voting records of members of Congress and e-mails them to constituents who request the information on a weekly basis.
This is the first time Knowlegis has done a congressional power ranking. Brad Fitch, the company's chief executive officer, said the system isn't perfect, but it takes in 283 variables and took more than four months to compile.
How list was determined
The list's key components, Fitch said, are:
How much power does a legislator have by virtue of tenure, committee assignments and leadership positions.
How much power does a legislator have to influence the congressional agenda or outcome of votes, as well as the amount of money they contribute to other members of Congress.
How much power a legislator has to pass legislation or shape it through amendments.
Though Strickland serves as a member of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, he is a member of the minority party, and he lost power because he's running for governor, Fitch said.
If Strickland were seeking re-election, Fitch said the congressman probably would have been somewhere in the 300s.
Strickland, whose district includes Columbiana County and a portion of Mahoning County, agrees that not seeking re-election to his House seat has diminished his power in Congress.
"Within the power structure of the House, when you announce you're leaving, it's like a lame-duck status," he said. "But I'm more concerned with what my constituents think of me."
Strickland said he's never heard of Knowlegis or www.congress.org, and sarcastically said he was crushed to hear of his low ranking of 402.
Reasoning
Ryan edged out Strickland at 401. His low ranking was the result of only serving his second term in the House and his lack of significant committee influence because he's in the minority party. Ryan's district includes parts of Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette of Concord, R-14th, whose district includes seven northern townships in Trumbull County, ranked 85th.
LaTourette gets points for being the chairman of a subcommittee -- the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's subcommittee on railroads -- and his overall committee assignments "reflect great influence or longer tenure" in Congress, according to the ranking.
As for Ohio's U.S. senators, Mike DeWine ranks 26th and George V. Voinovich ranks 70th. DeWine scores big for being on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
U.S. Rep. Phil English of Erie, Pa., R-3rd, who represents a portion of Mercer County, places 124th on the list of U.S. House members, with U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart of Bradford Woods, Pa., who represents portions of Mercer and Lawrence counties, being 200th on the list.
Pennsylvania's U.S. senators were among the highest-ranked in the country.
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate's Judiciary Committee and a member and subcommittee chairman of its Appropriations Committee, ranked second.
U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, chairman of the Republican Conference, ranked 12th.
Overall, the Ohio congressional delegation ranked 26th with Pennsylvania's delegation finishing in 25th place.
skolnick@vindy.com