Endorsements tell you who likes a politician. A Q Score tries to tell you what they actually did.
Every Sunday afternoon, a scoring engine reads the public record for all 100 members of the Colorado General Assembly: the bills they wrote, the bills they signed onto, and the votes they cast. Then it grades that record against one question. Does it move the seven pillars of life stability forward for the people it touches?
The seven pillars
Health. Income. Family. Housing. Food. Economic Opportunity. Protection from Disruption. They are the things a person needs to stand on solid ground, and they are the only yardstick we use.
What goes into a lawmaker's score
Four parts, weighted the same way for every legislator in the building:
- Pillar alignment, 40%. Do their bills and votes push the pillars forward or backward?
- Attendance, 25%. Do they show up and vote?
- Citizen impact, 25%. Who actually benefits from what they pass?
- Sponsorship, 10%. Do they lead on pillar bills, or just sign on later?
The result is a number from 0 to 100. Score 80 or higher and you are an Accountability Champion. That line has never moved, and it won't move for anyone, including people who agree with us.
Where Colorado stands right now
For the 2026 session, 7 of 100 lawmakers cleared 80. The middle score in the building is 68. The range runs from 11 to 87.
People ask about one thing a lot, so here it is straight: all seven Champions this session are Democrats. The formula never sees a party letter. It sees bills and votes measured against the pillars. If you think the pillars themselves lean one way, that's a fair argument to have, and it's exactly why they are published. Argue with the yardstick in the open, and we'll argue back in the open.
What AI does, and what it doesn't
AI reads the bills and the voting records so one person can cover 100 lawmakers and thousands of bills. It does not set the weights, move the Champion line, or pick winners. The formula is fixed and public. Every score links back to the record it came from.
When the engine got something wrong, like describing a lawmaker with the wrong pronoun, we fixed it in public and left a correction note on the profile. That's the rule for every mistake.
What a Q Score can't tell you
It measures one thing: a public record against seven pillars. It can't tell you whether someone is kind to their staff, whether they call you back, or whether they were right about something the record doesn't capture. Use it for what it is. Use your own judgment for the rest.
How to check us, or challenge us
- Open any profile in the Accountability Hub and read the record behind the number.
- Check the audit log. Every score change is recorded with the before and after values.
- Read the full method on How Q Scores work, including how governors and judges will be scored when those go live.
- Think we got one wrong? Tell us. Lawmakers can also publish a reply in their own words on their own profile. They can add to the record. They can't change the number.
More notes: all notes · our timeline. Spot an error? Tell us and we will correct it in public.