ITS GOOD TO BE KING
Voters in Texas and across the country are finding little purpose in casting ballots in U.S. House races. The reason, no challengers want to take on the incumbents.
Written by Cindy Rugeley
Voters in almost one-third of Texas’ Congressional districts this year will have no option on who to vote for in their U.S. House of Representative race. In many other districts, voters will see only a token challenger to the incumbent.
In Texas and across the country, more and more often voters are finding little purpose in casting ballots in U.S. House races. The reason is fewer and fewer top quality challengers are making the decision to take on incumbents.
Today, almost 98 percent of incumbent members of the House are re-elected. Many of those are re-elected with no challenger or with only minor opposition.
So why, in a country built on the principle of citizen participation at the ballot box and at a time when partisan competition within government is intense, is there so little interest by candidates in seeking election to the U.S. House? That is a question that a Texas Tech University researcher and colleagues at two other universities are attempting to help answer.
Cherie Maestas, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science at Texas Tech, is examining factors that contribute to an individual’s decision on whether to challenge an incumbent member of Congress. She is working with Walt Stone, Ph.D., professor of political science at the University of California, Davis; and L. Sandy Maisel, Ph.D., William R. Kenan Professor of Political Science at Colby College.
The goal of the project, called the candidate emergence study, is to better understand how different electoral laws, procedures and political conditions influence decisions to run. Their basic question is why are the good challengers deciding to not seek election.
"The root concern is one of representation. Scholars are worried about declining competition in Congressional elections. It is increasingly apparent that strong challengers, are not entering races,’’ Maestas said.
If strong challengers do not enter races, voters are effectively being denied one of their fundamental rights in a democratic government. If there is no competition then voters have no choice. In Texas this year, nine of 32 incumbents in Congressional Districts will have no opponent.
In conducting their research, Maestas and her colleagues have surveyed political activists in 200 randomly selected districts from throughout the country. These activists were mailed surveys asking about the districts, about their perceptions of the incumbent in the district and for information on individuals who would make strong candidates.
A second questionnaire was mailed to these individuals who were identified as potential challengers. They were asked about their opinions and were questioned on various factors that would influence their decisions to run. No direct interviews were conducted to protect respondent anonymity.
The survey, funded by National Science Foundation and the Carnegie Foundation, was conducted in 1998 and 2000. A survey also is being conducted this year.
Maestas said many of the reasons that potential high-quality candidates have given for not seeking office fall into the "theory of the obvious.’’
"The campaign process is vigorous and unpleasant. Incumbents appear to be nearly unbeatable. Good candidates would rather sit on the sideline,’’ she said.
Challengers, she said, must be self-starters. Because campaigns today are more candidate than party-centered, challengers often must risk their own time, money and political careers on a race with tough odds of winning. This involves enduring often negative, grueling campaigns that require them to be away from their families.
In addition, political barriers have been constructed that make it difficult for challengers to enter a race. For potential challengers to have a chance of winning, districts must be balanced politically. Redistricting, however, has created districts that all too often protect the incumbent and the incumbent’s party from a challenge.
Maestas and her colleagues believe that fundamental changes to the political process will be required if more candidates are to challenge incumbents. Political parties -- the very organizations that have the most to gain and the most to lose – must assume some responsibility if there are to be more competitive races.
Story produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing
806-742-2136
Photo by Dirk Fowler
Web layout by Jon Fox