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A GOP political research organization ranked U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce as the 14th least conservative House Republican in 2023 and Bill Johnson, who resigned Jan. 21, in the bottom half of House Republicans.
The Institute for Legislative Analysis developed scorecards for members of the House based on votes on 133 bills and for senators on 58 bills.
The institute advocates for limited government in Congress and the 50 state legislatures.
The system goes from 0% for those supporting big government to 100% for those backing limited government.
No House Democrat did better than 33.33% and no House Republican scored lower than 36.51%.
In the Senate, the best a Democrat did was 35.19% -- Joe Manchin of West Virginia -- while the lowest-scoring Republican was Susan Collins of Maine with 51.72%
The group listed J.D. Vance, R-Cincinnati, as having the eighth most conservative voting record in the Senate.
Democrats had very low scores in terms of being conservative in the group's study. But the 9.26% conservative ranking for U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, made him the sixth most conservative Democrat in the Senate.
The congressional office of Joyce, whose district includes all of Trumbull County, didn't respond to requests to comment on his low conservative ranking.
Joyce, R-Bainbridge, had a 55.08% conservative score, according to the institute.
The institute further breaks down the percentages into 10 categories: energy and environment, local and national security, law and scope of government, regulations, tax and fiscal, individual liberties, education, free speech and elections, workforce and labor and healthcare.
Joyce's lowest percentages were tax and fiscal at 18.83, education at 27.78 and workforce and labor at 41.67.
According to the study, more Republicans vote with the Democratic position on tax and fiscal issues -- anything below 50% -- than any other category.
"The data shows that cutting spending and the growth of government is no longer a priority for the vast majority of Republicans within Congress," the report reads.
Among Joyce's votes "against limited government," according to the study, were to support $39 million in funding for the United States Institute of Peace, backing $5 billion in spending for airports, backing education on capital raising for minority and rural businesses, raising the debt ceiling and not supporting a 57% cut in discretionary funding in the transportation and Housing and Urban Development appropriation bills.
Joyce's lone 100% score was in free speech and elections though there was only vote for that category.
Joyce recently was listed in a different study as the 15th most bipartisan House member for the 2023 session.
Johnson, whose district included Mahoning and Columbiana counties for 13 years before his Jan. 21 resignation, finished as the 131st most conservative among House Republicans in 2023, according to the study.
There were 220 House Republicans evaluated in the study.
Johnson, who left Congress to become Youngstown State University president, is close to the middle of that pack, but in the lower half of House Republicans.
Johnson declined to discuss politics and his votes in Congress saying his focus is on YSU.
Johnson's lowest percentage of 40.44 was for tax and fiscal bills followed by 41.67% for workforce and labor.
He had a 100% conservative record on four categories: local and national security, individual liberties, healthcare, and free speech and elections.
Vance had the eighth highest conservative score among all senators. His overall score was 87.04% conservative.
He got 100% scores in eight of the 10 categories. He received a 66.67% conservative score in tax and fiscal issues. Vance didn't receive a score in the free speech and elections category because the group only took one bill into account in the Senate and Vance didn't vote on it.
Brown finished 54th overall in the conservative rankings in the Senate. But his 9.26% was good enough to be the fifth most conservative Democrat in the Senate.
His highest percentages were 16.67 for workforce and labor and 12.5 for both local and national security, and individual liberties.
He received zeros in five of the 10 categories.