Former senator · Delaware

Thomas R. Carper

Thomas R. Carper served in Congress from 1983 to 2025, last as a Democratic senator from Delaware. In the 118th Congress, 691 roll calls were held while they served; they missed 4, and cast 530 of 535 party-unity votes with the majority of their caucus.

Party
Democrat
Chamber
Senate
Former
In Congress since
Jan 3, 1983
Last term ended
Jan 3, 2025
Open in the Congress explorerOfficial record
Photo: Government Publishing Office (public domain)

Record by Congress

Counts with their denominators for each Congress and chamber served. Ranks are among members who served most of that Congress (100 or more roll calls): rank 1 did it most often. A description, not a grade.

CongressRoll callsMissedVotes with partySponsoredCosponsored across the aisle
118th CongressSenate6910.6%4 of 691 · rank 88 of 10199%530 of 535 · rank 34 of 101362 became law32%63 of 199
117th CongressSenate9490.3%3 of 949 · rank 95 of 10099%762 of 766 · rank 21 of 100310 became law26%68 of 257

Ideology (DW-NOMINATE)

Voteview's DW-NOMINATE first dimension estimates where members sit from all their roll calls: liberal (−1) to conservative (+1). It describes voting patterns, not views. Shown for the 118th Congress (Senate), with each party's median and the chamber's range.

Liberal −1−0.18+1 Conservative

Source: Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/

Votes against their party

The latest party-unity votes on bills and amendments where the member voted yea or nay against most of their caucus.

  1. H.R. 82: Social Security Fairness Act of 2023Yea
    Dec 20, 2024· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 34–62· Against party
  2. H.R. 7888: Reforming Intelligence and Securing America ActNay
    Apr 19, 2024· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 42–50· Against party
  3. S. 3853: Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization ActNay
    Mar 7, 2024· Senate· Passage· On Passage of the Bill· Bill Passed 69–30· Against party
  4. S. 870: An act to authorize appropriations for the United States Fire Administration and firefighter assistance grant programs, to advance the benefits of nuclear energy, and for other purposes.Nay
    Apr 20, 2023· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 46–51· Against party
  5. S.Con.Res. 5: A concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2021 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2022 through 2030.Yea
    Feb 5, 2021· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Agreed to 71–29· Against party

Recent votes

The latest roll calls on bills and amendments, with the member's recorded position.

  1. H.R. 10545: American Relief Act, 2025Yea
    Dec 21, 2024· Senate· Passage· On Passage of the Bill· Bill Passed 85–11
  2. H.R. 82: Social Security Fairness Act of 2023Yea
    Dec 21, 2024· Senate· Passage· On Passage of the Bill· Bill Passed 76–20
  3. H.R. 82: Social Security Fairness Act of 2023Yea
    Dec 20, 2024· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 34–62· Against party
  4. H.R. 82: Social Security Fairness Act of 2023Nay
    Dec 20, 2024· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 32–64
  5. H.R. 82: Social Security Fairness Act of 2023Nay
    Dec 20, 2024· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 28–67
  6. H.R. 82: Social Security Fairness Act of 2023Nay
    Dec 20, 2024· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 3–93
  7. H.R. 9747: Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025Yea
    Sep 25, 2024· Senate· Passage· On Passage of the Bill· Bill Passed 78–18
  8. H.R. 9468: Veterans Benefits Continuity and Accountability Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024Not voting
    Sep 19, 2024· Senate· Amendments· On the Amendment· Amendment Rejected 47–47
  9. S.J.Res. 58: A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to "Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Furnaces".Nay
    May 21, 2024· Senate· Passage· On the Joint Resolution· Joint Resolution Passed 50–45
  10. H.J.Res. 109: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to "Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121".Nay
    May 16, 2024· Senate· Passage· On the Joint Resolution· Joint Resolution Passed 60–38
  11. S.J.Res. 57: A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of the Treasury relating to "Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds".Nay
    May 15, 2024· Senate· Passage· On the Joint Resolution· Joint Resolution Defeated 46–49
  12. H.R. 3935: FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024Yea
    May 9, 2024· Senate· Passage· On Passage of the Bill· Bill Passed 88–4

Sponsored bills

Bills and resolutions the member introduced as sponsor in the loaded Congresses. Volume is not quality: most measures never leave committee.

67 sponsored · 2 became law

How far they got

  1. Introduced4364%
  2. Reported by committee1116%
  3. Passed one chamber1015%
  4. Passed both chambers11.5%
  5. Became law23.0%

Policy areas

  1. Health14
  2. Water Resources Development8
  3. Environmental Protection7
  4. Transportation and Public Works7
  5. Armed Forces and National Security5
  6. Government Operations and Politics5
  7. Taxation5
  8. Public Lands and Natural Resources4

Latest activity

  1. S. 4367 Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024
    Became law· Water Resources Development· Jan 4, 2025
  2. S. 3791 America’s Conservation Enhancement Reauthorization Act of 2024
    Became law· Environmental Protection· Dec 23, 2024
  3. S.Con.Res. 46 A concurrent resolution providing for corrections in the enrollment of S. 4367.
    Passed both chambers· Water Resources Development· Dec 19, 2024
  4. S. 2924 STEP Act
    Reported by committee· Government Operations and Politics· Dec 12, 2024
  5. S.Con.Res. 43 A concurrent resolution expressing support for the designation of September 29, 2024, as "Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Day".
    Passed one chamber· Armed Forces and National Security· Dec 11, 2024
  6. S. 3891 Economic Development Reauthorization Act of 2024
    Reported by committee· Transportation and Public Works· Sep 25, 2024
  7. S.Res. 818 A resolution expressing support for and celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944.
    Passed one chamber· Armed Forces and National Security· Sep 16, 2024
  8. S.Res. 745 A resolution expressing support for and celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the "G.I. Bill".
    Introduced· Armed Forces and National Security· Jun 20, 2024

Committees

Seats as published by the congress-legislators project. Past seats are those no longer listed since Analisa began recording them.

No committee seats are listed.

Campaign money

What the member's campaigns reported receiving, per FEC two-year cycle, and the federal contracts of the organizations that sponsor the giving PACs (each sponsor matched to a contract recipient by AI, with its probability). Comparisons of public records: neither explains the other.

2026 cycle

Raised
$0
through Mar 31, 2025
Cash on hand
$0
From committees
-$2,500
0 committees
From contractor PACs
$0
0 PACs · — of committee money

By cycle

CycleRaised (FEC summary)From committeesFrom contractor PACs
2026$0-$2,500$00 PACs · — of committee money
2024$232.4K$3,000-$5,0006 PACs · -167% of committee money
2022$883.6K$562.7K$129.5K45 PACs · 23% of committee money

Raised is the FEC's cumulative summary of the candidacy; committee money counts each contribution reported, so the two cover slightly different dates.

Terms

Every term in the House or Senate, as published by the congress-legislators project.

  1. Senate · DelawareJan 3, 2019 – Jan 3, 2025
  2. Senate · DelawareJan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2019
  3. Senate · DelawareJan 4, 2007 – Jan 3, 2013
  4. Senate · DelawareJan 3, 2001 – Jan 3, 2007
  5. House · Delaware (at large)Jan 3, 1991 – Jan 3, 1993
  6. House · Delaware (at large)Jan 3, 1989 – Jan 3, 1991
  7. House · Delaware (at large)Jan 6, 1987 – Jan 3, 1989
  8. House · Delaware (at large)Jan 3, 1985 – Jan 3, 1987
  9. House · Delaware (at large)Jan 3, 1983 – Jan 3, 1985

Identifiers

The same member in other public records.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Congressional district boundaries and relationship files (U.S. Census Bureau)U.S. Census Bureau, Cartographic Boundary Files (congressional districts) and 2020 relationship files · release cd116+cd118+cd119 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Committees, candidates and committee contributions to candidates (Federal Election Commission)FEC bulk data: committee master, candidate master (candidates' names, no addresses), linkages, PAC summaries, all-candidates summaries and contributions from committees (no individual contributors) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov)USAspending.gov, prime award contract transactions (FPDS) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Activity counts describe volume and attendance; they are not a measure of quality.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.