WASHINGTON – No other GOP Senate team proved as independent minded last year as Sens. Olympia J. Snowe and Susan M. Collins of Maine.

Snowe opposed GOP majority positions 29 percent of the time; Collins opposed Republican ranks 26 percent of the time, ranking fourth and fifth in the Senate in opposition scores, according to CQ Weekly, a weekly magazine on Congress published by Congressional Quarterly Inc.

Rep. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., opposed GOP positions 63 percent of the time, topping all Senators, followed by Sen. James M. Jeffords, R-Vt., 45 percent opposition; and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., 33 percent opposition. In an era of bipartisanship that may not be a bad thing, but in contrast, the Idaho delegation – composed of two Republican senators – posted a perfect 100 percent party unity rating, the only delegation to hit that mark.

On the Democratic side, only Sen. Barbara A. Boxer, D-Calif., backed her party every time.

Among House members, Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, backed the president 84 percent of the time, slightly more than Rep. John E. Baldacci, D-Maine, who posted a 79 percent mark. For party unity, Allen toed the party line 94 percent of the time while Baldacci had an 89 percent score. There were 145 partisan votes in the Senate in 2000 out of 298 votes.