Rep. James McDermott

Former Representative for Illinois’s 4^th District

McDermott was the representative for Illinois’s 4^th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1915 to 1917.

He was previously the representative for Illinois’s 4^th congressional district as a Democrat from Dec 2, 1907 to Mar 3, 1915.

Bioguide

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Alleged misconduct & resolution

McDermott faced an allegation of bribery by National Association of Manufacturers and other groups in June 1913, alleged by newspapers. On Dec. 9, 1913, the Select Committee to Investigate Lobby Charges recommended censure of McDermott and exonerated six other members. On Apr. 24, 1914, the House Committee on the Judiciary recommended a resolution “strongly” condemning the conduct of McDermott. On Jul. 21, 1914, he resigned. On Nov. 3, 1914, he was re-elected.

Dec. 9, 1913	Select Committee to Investigate Lobby Charges recommended censure of McDermott and exonerated six other members
Apr. 24, 1914	House Committee on the Judiciary recommended resolution “strongly” condemning conduct of McDermott
Jul. 21, 1914	Resigned.
Nov. 3, 1914	Re-elected.

Voting Record

Missed Votes

From Dec 1907 to Mar 1917, McDermott missed 516 of 1,211 roll call votes, which is 42.6%. This is much worse than the median of 24.9% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Mar 1917. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
Dec 1907-May 1908	270	168	62.2%	95^th
Dec 1908-Mar 1909	42	14	33.3%	75^th
1909 Mar-Aug	36	4	11.1%	35^th
Dec 1909-Feb 1910	18	8	44.4%	83^rd
1910 Mar-May	60	16	26.7%	64^th
1910 Jun-Jun	18	2	11.1%	44^th
Dec 1910-Mar 1911	68	35	51.5%	91^st
1911 Apr-Aug	49	13	26.5%	61^st
Dec 1911-Mar 1912	58	30	51.7%	81^st
1912 Apr-Jul	57	18	31.6%	55^th
1912 Aug-Aug	30	3	10.0%	22^nd
Dec 1912-Mar 1913	67	10	14.9%	30^th
1913 Apr-Jul	22	8	36.4%	49^th
1913 Aug-Nov	43	5	11.6%	5^th
Dec 1913-Feb 1914	24	2	8.3%	21^st
1914 Mar-May	34	3	8.8%	18^th
1914 Jun-Aug	62	45	72.6%	79^th
1914 Sep-Oct	29	29	100.0%	97^th
Dec 1914-Mar 1915	67	67	100.0%	100^th
Dec 1915-Feb 1916	16	1	6.2%	15^th
1916 Mar-May	53	11	20.8%	59^th
1916 Jun-Aug	23	8	34.8%	61^st
1916 Sep-Sep	3	2	66.7%	69^th
Dec 1916-Mar 1917	62	14	22.6%	65^th

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:

unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000

Rep. James McDermott

Alleged misconduct & resolution

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Voting Record

Missed Votes

Primary Sources