[CAPTURE PORTAL] 119TH CONGRESS

// Legislative Integrity Monitor

Goblin House Intelligence

Bruce Westerman

Republican · Representative, AR ·4

Score Components

36 HIGH

Connection Density 20%

0 → 0

Donor Influence 10%

0 → 0

Silence Risk 25%

20 → 5

Contradiction Risk 25%

100 → 25

Intelligence Volume 10%

55 → 6

Constituency Deviation 5%

0 → 0

Voting Misalignment 5%

0 → 0

% = weight in composite score · Raw component 0–100 × weight = weighted contribution (→) · Sum of contributions = overall score. Hover a row for details.

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Average Commute Time: 23.2 minutes; 81.2% drive alone; 0.3% public transit usage

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Unemployment Rate: 5.6% (vs. 3.5% nationally, 2026 estimate)

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Medicaid Enrollment (Arkansas statewide): More than 1 in 4 Arkansans enrolled in Medicaid; Arkansas expanded Medicaid under the ACA via the 'private option'

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Citizenship & Language: 97.7% U.S. citizens; 3.59% foreign-born; 6.84% speak non-English language at home (primarily Spanish)

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Racial/Ethnic Composition: White (Non-Hispanic) 67.6%, Black or African American 19.4%, Hispanic 7.9%, Two or More Races 3.0%

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Bachelor's Degree or Higher: 19.1% (vs. 33.7% nationally); 12.4% lack a high school diploma

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Homeownership Rate: 70.6% (vs. 65.5% nationally); median property value $143,300

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Median Age: 40.7 years (vs. 38.5 nationally); 19.5% of population over 65

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Median Household Income: $52,605 (vs. $78,538 national median); 13.7% poverty rate (Data USA: 18.8%)

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Population (2024): 748,462

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Ballot measure: Arkansas Issue 2 (2024) — Repeal Pope County casino license authorization (2024) — passed, margin 55.6% Yes — 44.4% No

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Ballot measure: Arkansas Issue 1 (2024) — Allow state lottery proceeds to fund vocational and technical school scholarships (2024) — passed, margin 88.8% Yes — 11.2% No

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Ballot measure: Arkansas Issue 4 (2022) — Legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21+ (2022) — failed, margin 56.3% No — 43.7% Yes

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Ballot measure: Arkansas Issue 2 (2022) — Require 60% supermajority for future ballot initiatives (2022) — failed, margin 59.4% No — 40.6% Yes

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Ballot measure: Arkansas Issue 1 (2022) — Legislative authority to call special sessions (2022) — failed, margin 51.6% No — 48.4% Yes

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Dominant industry: NAICS 44-45 (Retail Trade) (share 0)

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Dominant industry: NAICS 11 (Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting) (share 0)

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Dominant industry: NAICS 62 (Health Care and Social Assistance) (share 0)

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Dominant industry: NAICS 31-33 (Manufacturing — timber, paper, aluminum, food processing) (share 0)

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Top employer: Riceland Foods (Stuttgart, rice processing) (1500 employees)

secondary

No connections mapped

Bill	Vote	Date	Alignment
One Big Beautiful Bill Act — $3.3 trillion package including permanent extension	yea	2025-07-03	misaligned
Respect for Marriage Act — Federal protection for same-sex and interracial marri	nay	2022-12-08	deviating
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 — Medicare drug price negotiation, $35/month ins	nay	2022-08-12	aligned
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — $1.2 trillion for roads, bridges, broad	nay	2021-11-05	deviating
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 — $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief including $1,40	nay	2021-02-27	misaligned
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — $1.9 trillion deficit increase over a decade; top 1% rec	yea	2017-12-19	aligned
American Health Care Act of 2017 — Partial ACA repeal; CBO projected 23 million	yea	2017-05-04	misaligned

Last contradiction analysis: Never

platform_vs_vote 90/100

Platform: "Westerman, a Yale-educated forester, has positioned himself as a conservationist and champion of forestry. He co-founded the Working Forests Caucus an"

Vote: on "Westerman introduced and championed the SPEED Act (H.R. 4776) to dramatically restrict NEPA environm"

Westerman's public identity as a Yale-trained forester and conservation advocate directly contradicts his legislative actions as Natural Resources Chair: the SPEED Act gutting NEPA environmental review, an ESA overhaul bill pulled from an Earth Day v

statement_vs_disclosure 90/100

Platform: "Westerman introduced the Fair Care Act of 2019, stating it 'covers preexisting conditions, lowers costs and increases consumer choice,' and claiming t"

Vote: on "Westerman voted for the American Health Care Act (H.R. 1628) on May 4, 2017, which the CBO projected"

Westerman claimed his Fair Care Act would cover pre-existing conditions, yet he voted for the AHCA which permitted states to waive those very protections. The Fair Care Act never received a committee vote, making it an aspirational messaging bill whi

platform_vs_vote 90/100

Platform: "Westerman voted yes on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1, 119th Congress) and subsequently touted it as a 'significant achievement,' highlighting"

Vote: on "Arkansas has one of the highest Medicaid enrollment rates in the nation, with more than 1 in 4 Arkan"

Westerman celebrated the One Big Beautiful Bill as an 'achievement' while it will cut Medicaid — the program covering more than 1 in 4 Arkansans — and impose work requirements on adults in a district where the poverty rate is nearly double the nation

Last silence detection: Never

STOCK Act and stock purchases in oil and mining companies under his committee's oversight

64d silent

Expected position: As Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, Westerman would be expected to proactively explain his first-ever individual stock purchases — involving roughly 100 companies in

Constituent access — private campaign events vs. publicly advertised open town halls

5d silent

Expected position: As the representative of AR-04, a district with 13.7% poverty rate and 19.5% Black population, Westerman would be expected to hold public, open town halls accessible to all constitu

No donor interests mapped

No constituency baseline modelled

No platform commitments archived

No committee memberships recorded

Scoring Methodology

The Capture Risk Score is a composite 0–100 index measuring potential regulatory capture of elected officials. It is computed from seven weighted components:

Component	Weight	Signal
Silence Risk	25%	Topics where donors have interests but the official is silent
Contradiction Risk	25%	Stated positions contradicted by voting record (recent findings boosted)
Connection Density	20%	Mapped relationships to lobbyists, contractors, interest groups
Intelligence Volume	10%	Documented facts from verified sources (logarithmic scale)
Donor Influence	10%	Distinct donors with interests overlapping committee jurisdiction
Constituency Deviation	5%	Gap between district priorities and legislative focus
Voting Misalignment	5%	Floor votes contradicting stated platform positions

Each component produces a raw score 0–100. The weighted sum yields the overall score. Tier thresholds: Critical ≥ 45, High ≥ 36, Elevated ≥ 22, Moderate ≥ 10, Low < 10.

Officials without at least 2 documented facts, 1 contradiction analysis, 1 voting record, or 1 constituency baseline are marked Insufficient Evidence and excluded from numeric ranking.

Contradiction findings from the last 180 days receive a recency boost. High-severity contradictions (score ≥ 70) receive additional weight.

Full methodology: /congress/methodology

View Full Entity Profile →