According to one measurement, South Dakota Sen. John Thune was one of the most effective members of the U.S. Senate during the 114th Congress, in 2015-2016, compared to his peers.

That’s the conclusion of a new organization called the Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint initiative between the University of Virginia’s Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University. The co-directors of the group are Craig Volden of the University of Virginia and Alan Wiseman of Vanderbilt.

The two have developed a data-based system for assessing which members of Congress are effective lawmakers. The scores are based on bills they sponsor, how far the bills progress, amendments and their importance.

The two have used their system to assess the effectiveness of every member of Congress for the past 40 years.

Thune was the second most effective Republican in during the last session of Congress, trailing Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin was the third most effective Republican.

Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon was the most effective Democrat in the Senate.

Here’s how the rest of South Dakota’s congressional delegation fared:

Sen. Mike Rounds was deemed the 51st most effective Republican out of 54;

Rep. Kristi Noem had a rank of 50th out of 250 Republicans.

The data, which go as far back as the 1973-1974 sessions, include effectiveness scores on Sens. George McGovern and Jim Abourezk, as well as Reps. Frank Denholm and Jim Abdnor.

Thune’s second-best score in the last Congress is the best showing of any South Dakota lawmaker since 1973 in both the House and Senate. In the 1993-1994 session, Sen. Larry Pressler was third out of 44 Republican senators.

In the next session, the 104th Congress, South Dakota had its collective best showing, with Pressler ranked sixth, Sen. Tom Daschle ranked fifth among Democratic senators and Rep. Tim Johnson ranked sixth among 208 Democrats in the House.