01 May Maverick of the Week: 5 Members Who Broke From Their Caucus

Week of 2026-05-02. Drawn from official Congress.gov roll-call records.

The defectors

Out of every recorded roll-call vote in the past seven days where the Democratic and Republican caucuses split, these members were most likely to vote with the opposite caucus rather than their own:

1. Brian K. Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania, house) — broke from caucus on 7 votes this week. Example: on 2026-04-30, voted Yea on Recorded Vote while their caucus majority voted Nay.
2. Michael Lawler (R-New York, house) — broke from caucus on 6 votes this week. Example: on 2026-04-30, voted Yea on Recorded Vote while their caucus majority voted Nay.
3. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas, house) — broke from caucus on 6 votes this week. Example: on 2026-04-30, voted Nay on Recorded Vote while their caucus majority voted Yea.
4. Andrew R. Garbarino (R-New York, house) — broke from caucus on 5 votes this week. Example: on 2026-04-30, voted Yea on Recorded Vote while their caucus majority voted Nay.
5. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas, house) — broke from caucus on 5 votes this week. Example: on 2026-04-30, voted Nay on Recorded Vote while their caucus majority voted Yea.

Why this matters

Cross-caucus voting is one of the cleanest indicators of a member’s willingness to break from party leadership when conscience, district, or coalition demands it. It’s not a left-right axis — it’s a caucus-discipline axis. See methodology for how we compute this.

What we don’t show

We don’t classify why a member broke from their caucus. The reasons can range from principled dissent to district pressure to procedural maneuvering. We surface the data; you bring the interpretation.

Sources: Congress.gov roll-call records. About Purple Voice.