Congressman Mike Pence has missed most of the votes in the House Judiciary Committee this year as he runs for governor.  That’s according to Democrats who compiled the information but neither the Pence campaign nor his congressional office is disputing the numbers.  Pence has missed 86% of the votes in the Judiciary committee in 2012.

Just two days ago Rep. Pence was here in Indianapolis giving a speech to the Chamber of Commerce in which he laid out a plan to cut state income taxes.  It was a campaign appearance that forced the Republican candidate for governor to miss three floor votes in Congress.  The campaign of Democratic candidate John Gregg is keeping score.  “He gets paid $174,000 a year, that’s over 3 and a half times what the average Hoosier family makes,” said Gregg spokesman Daniel Altman.  He went on to say, “Hoosier families get up and go to work rain or shine, it’s been tough times.  They deserve a Congressman that does the same thing.”

The Pence campaign declined an on camera interview and issued a statement that says “Mike Pence has a lifetime voting record of 95 percent.”  That’s a reference to floor votes not committee votes.  The statement went on to say that “He has made it a priority to represent Hoosiers on the floor of the House and take care of the needs of his constituents.”

A Pence spokeswoman called the Democratic analysis “unverified data” in an email but didn’t respond when asked if she disputed it.

The Gregg campaign, meantime, is happy to talk.  “We’ve been telling voters for months that Congressman Pence hasn’t passed a single bill during his 12 years in Congress and now we know why,” said Altman.  “It’s cause he doesn’t bother to show up.”

The Democrats have also documented 3 occasions in the last 5 years when Congressman Pence missed votes in order to make TV appearances.  Pence was in Congress and voting today.