not counting party switchers what congressperson

[freepcrusher]

has had the most radical shift in their voting record?

Here are some candidates:

Bill Nelson - he was essentially a boll weevil during his house tenure but as a senator his voting record became sharply more liberal and after winning re-election in 2006, his ADA ratings have been in the 90-100 range.

Richard Schweiker - he was a liberal republican throughout much of his senate career a la Javits or Brooke. Then after Reagan lost the nomination in 1976, his voting record became indistinguishable from any other conservative republican

John Anderson - he had a very conservative voting record throughout the 1960s and even offered an amendment to declare the country was a christian nation. In the 1970s, his voting record moved to where he was somewhat of a progressive republican. After a weak primary showing in 1978, he retired in 1980.

John Buchanan - he started his career out as a young ultraconservative southern Republican. Then he started attending a black liberation church and his voting record moved to where his voting record was more liberal than most southern democrats. He lost renomination in the early 80s to a bircher and currently works for People for the American Way.

[freepcrusher]

IMHO - a lot of southern Democrats of the past. Populists and, frequently, ardent New Dealers in 1933-34 and then - conservatives and, frequently, strong racists, 20 years later)))

I'm trying to think of someone who comes to mind. Would Carl Vinson or Wright Patman fit that mold?

[freepcrusher]

Al Gore of 1984 vs Al Gore of 1992 vs Al Gore of 2000.

Gore's transformation I think is slightly overstated. His voting record was always somewhat liberal by southern democrat standards. Here are his Americans For Democratic Action Ratings (ADA):

1977 45
1978 65
1979 74
1980 50
1981 70
1982 70
1983 65
1984 65
1986 70
1987 60
1988 60
1989 55
1990 78
1991 75
1992 60
Average: 64.5

[freepcrusher]

Sonny Montgomery (D-MS) went from voting with the Democrats 70% in 1992 to 30% by the time he retired.

Sonny Montgomery was always very conservative for a democrat. In fact by the 1990s his voting record was much less conservative than it was earlier in his career, when he getting ACU ratings in the 70s and 80s.

If you're talking Mississippi pols, a better example is Whitten. During the first 30 years of his career he was an uber reactionary dem in the mold of someone like Rankin or Colmer and his ADA ratings were often in single digits. By the end of his career, his ADA ratings were around 50.