Fact Checker: Ad claims Braley follows party line

Introduction

'Braley has voted lockstep with his party 96 percent of the time'

Source of claim

American Crossroads TV ad

Analysis

While the ad highlights some of Rep. Bruce Braley's more divisive votes, which you may agree or disagree with based on the issue, the one statistical claim concerns Braley's party loyalty.

The claim comes from an annual report from CQ Roll Call, a Washington-based journal that logs all congressional votes. The study looks at several measures of party unity. The ad cites the number of times Braley voted with the majority of Democrats on any issue, which was 96% of the time in 2013. This number, though, includes all votes, even when majorities of both Democrats and Republicans voted the same way.

A more fitting number to look at is how often Braley voted with the majority of Democrats when a majority of Republicans were in opposition. In 2013, Braley voted the party line 90% of the time in those situations.

Only Rep. Dave Loebsack had a lower rate of party unity in Iowa's congressional delegation at 88%. Iowa's Republican congressmen, Rep. Tom Latham and Rep. Steve King, voted on their party's line 92% and 96% of the time, respectively. Iowa's senators had even higher percentages, with Sen. Tom Harkin voting with a majority of Democrats 98% of the time and Sen. Chuck Grassley voting with a majority of Republicans 97% of the time.

Conclusion

The ad uses the most generous number to argue Braley votes along party lines. That is not all that uncommon in Congress these days, the same study found House Republicans and Senate Democrats set records in 2013 for average party unity scores. The data is accurate, though, which is why we give this claim a B. 

Source:

CQ Study: http://media.cq.com/votestudies/

CQ Party Unity Rates: https://www.scribd.com/doc/204379340/CQ-PartyUnity

The ad: https://www.dropbox.com/s/89gi26di2tqols9/ACIA1406H__00-00-30-00__Insults_HD.mov?dl=0