Right now the Q Score covers one legislature: Colorado's 100 lawmakers. That's where we're proving the method. It was never meant to stop there.
The goal
We plan to score every elected official we can gather solid public data on. That means members of Congress, governors and other statewide offices, more state legislatures, and the courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Same pillars, same rules, same 80-point line.
What's already built
Each branch gets scored on its own job, because a judge doesn't do what a governor does:
- Lawmakers: pillar alignment, attendance, citizen impact and sponsorship. Live in Colorado now.
- Governors and executives: what their orders, budgets and signatures do, who's better off, whether they deliver, and how open they are. A veto of a clearly pillar-aligned bill counts against them.
- Judges: fairness, access for real people, sound and consistent reasoning, and transparency.
The executive and judicial methods are written and published. Those scores are built but not live. We'd rather leave them dark than publish something we can't fully stand behind.
What stands in the way
Honestly? Data. Good scores need complete, reliable records of bills, votes and actions, and that data isn't always free. Our main data source tightened its free limits this fall, so every new state has to be done carefully. We also never assume one state works like another. Before we add anywhere new, we check how that state actually publishes its records and make sure we can verify every number.
How we'll grow
- Get Colorado right first, through a full live session in 2027.
- Turn on executive and judicial scoring once the data holds up.
- Add new states one at a time, each checked before it goes public.
- Reach out as we go to congressional offices, governors and legislators, starting with Colorado's own delegation in Washington.
You can help
If you live in another state and want Q there, tell us where. Hearing from people in a state is one of the ways we decide where to go next. And if you're good with data or public records, we could use you.
More notes: all notes · our timeline. Spot an error? Tell us and we will correct it in public.