Ideology and Voting

DW-NOMINATE and Party Loyalty Scores

Barbara Boxer was scored at -.488 for her service during the 113th Congress. This DW-NOMINATE score is further left of center than typical Senate Democrats, who (on average) hold a score of about -.39.

Additionally, Boxer scored a 99.279 for Party Unity during the 113th Congress, which is higher than most of her colleagues scored during the same session.

Boxer's party loyalty and relatively more liberal DW-NOMINATE score may be tied to the very liberal demographics that Boxer represents in her home state of California. Because her constituents tend to hold views consistent with the Democratic party, Boxer is able to represent her constituents while maintaining party loyalty. Additionally, the relatively liberal nature of California in comparison to the rest of the states helps to explain why Boxer was scored to be more liberal than many of her colleagues who represent constituencies that aren't as liberal. 

Bipartisanship

Despite the strength of Boxer's liberal ideology, she has still pushed for bipartisan support for some legislation and worked with conservative senators on other issues. For example, Boxer is currently working with Senator Rand Paul, a libertarian conservative, to pass the Invest In Transportation Act. The bill itself seeks to repatriate offshore funds in order to fund investment in transportation infrastructure.