Former member of Congress · last served 117th Congress

Patrick J. Leahy

DEMOCRAT U.S. Senator · VermontSenate 1975–2023

Patrick Leahy was a Democratic U.S. senator from Vermont, first elected to Congress in 1975, who voted with most Democrats on 94% of the 112th Congress’s yes/no votes and sponsored 7 bills that became law (113th–117th Congress).

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146Bills & resolutions sponsored113th–117th Congress (excludes amendments)

14Passed a chamberof 123 substantive bills (excludes resolutions and ceremonial bills)

7Became law7 substantive + 0 ceremonial · 113th–117th Congress

14Broke with partyof 247 yes/no votes, 112th (5.7%)

4Missed votesof 251 roll calls, 112th (1.6%)

—Pork: own shareFY2024 earmarks: not in office

How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.

5 most recent votes

YeaOn Passage of the Bill — American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012
Jan 1, 2013 · Bill Passed
YeaOn the Nomination — Nomination vote
Dec 30, 2012 · Nomination Confirmed
Not VotingOn the Nomination — Nomination vote
Dec 30, 2012 · Nomination Confirmed
YeaOn Passage of the Bill — Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013
Dec 28, 2012 · Bill Passed
NayOn the Amendment — Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013
Dec 28, 2012 · Amendment Rejected

5 most recent bills

S.Con.Res. 52 A concurrent resolution providing for a correction in the enrollment of H.R. 4373.
Dec 23, 2022 · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
S.Con.Res. 51 A concurrent resolution providing for a correction in the enrollment of H.R. 2617.
Dec 23, 2022 · Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 1531, S. Con. Res. 51 is considered passed House. (text: CR H10074-10075)
S. 5353 Refugee Protection Act of 2022
Dec 21, 2022 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
S. 2773 Unleashing American Innovators Act of 2022
Dec 7, 2022 · Held at the desk.
S.Res. 830 A resolution expressing support for the designation of the week of October 24, 2022, to October 31, 2022, as "Bat Week".
Nov 14, 2022 · Referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Top bills sponsored

Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.

Elections Sen. Leahy has won

Sen. Leahy has won 7 U.S. Senate elections (1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2004, 2010, 2016). Of the contested races, margins ran from 1.3 to 49.8 points.

Democratic winRepublican winseat changed partyunopposed

Elections won7 in the data (1976–2024); losses are not listed

Closest win: 1.3 points1980, VT Senate

Won an open seat or took one from the other party0 of 7 elections (open seat or changed party)

Seat history, Vermont Senate (class 3)Winners in regular elections, most recent three: Patrick J. Leahy (D) 1980–2016 → Peter Welch (D) 2022. The seat is next on the ballot in 2028.

Full election history for this seat →

Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.

How has Vermont done while Sen. Leahy served?

2005 to 2022 in Vermont: typical household income was up 8% after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was about the same, and the share of workers looking for a job was down 2.5 points.

Typical household income · after inflation

Vermont: $73.8K in 2005 → $79.3K in 2022

Vermont up 8%U.S. up 7%

Share of people below the poverty line

Vermont: 11.5% in 2005 → 10.4% in 2022

Vermont about the sameU.S. down 0.7 points

Share of workers looking for a job

Vermont: 5.3% in 2005 → 2.8% in 2022

Vermont down 2.5 pointsU.S. down 2.6 points

Each mini chart has its own scale, fitted to its lines (it does not start at zero), so compare the numbers, not the heights. Oxblood = state, grey = U.S.

While they served, not because of them. This shows what happened in Vermont during Leahy’s time representing it (1975 to 2023). It does not say what the member did or caused. It is not a score, and PORKER never ranks members on it.

Survey years start at 2005. The yearly estimates for Vermont begin in 2005, so 1975 to 2004 are not shown. No 2020 yearly estimate exists.

See the full 20-year record →Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates (tables B19013, B17001, B23001) and BLS CPI-U-RS for inflation, retrieved October 18, 2026. “About the same” means the change is inside the 90% margins of error. Who held the seat: Congress.gov member service records, year level.

Official records on bills this member sponsored

117th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 28 bills sponsored.

Record	Bills	Source
Bills sponsored	28	Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them →
With a CBO cost estimate listed	0	None listed
With a committee report listed	0	None listed

Evidence

How counted: Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 117th Congress, read from the stored Congress.gov bill records
Fields: cboCostEstimates, committeeReports, constitutionalAuthorityStatementText, notes
PORKER copy refreshed: October 26, 2026 (nightly)

Read this first. These are counts of records Congress.gov lists. Many bills never get a CBO estimate or a report, so a zero is not a mark against a member. We never show this as a score.

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Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · latest recorded Senate vote Sep 30, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.