Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio Score Zero On HRC Survey Of LGBT Support

Republican Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas scored zero on the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) latest Congressional Scorecard.

The group's score is a measure of a politician's support for LGBT rights.

Rubio, who cited the mass shooting at a gray nightclub in Orlando as a reason to seek re-election, and Cruz – both of whom sought the GOP nomination for president – earned the lowest rating possible on HRC's Congressional Scorecard for the 114^th Congress.

Rubio's score has fallen dramatically over the past two years; he scored 22 last year and 47 the year prior.

Cruz also had a higher score of 20 last year.

Of the 190 members of Congress to earn a perfect score of 100 only 2 were Republicans: Florida Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Illinois Senator Mark Kirk.

Illinois Representative Daniel Lipinski earned a score of 56, making him the lowest scoring Democrat in the House and Senate. The average score for Democratic representatives is 96.

HRC also released a “congressional hall of shame” consisting of representatives and senators who have particularly anti-LGBT records.

“These senators and representatives not only voted for anti-LGBTQ legislation, they've introduced harmful bills and amendments, made extreme anti-LGBTQ statements and received a low score on HRC's Congressional Scorecard,” the group said.

Republican representatives in the “hall of shame” include Louie Gohmert of Texas, Steve King of Iowa, Steve Russell of Oklahoma, Robert Pittenger of North Carolina, Bradley Byrne of Alabama, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Raul Labrador of Idaho and Mike Lee of Utah. Cruz and Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, a Republican, are also included on the list.