Congress #3Power of Incumbents

1. Gerrymandering 2. Malapportionment

A. 1 Congressional district has 500,000 people, a nearby Congressional district has 750,000 people

B. 1 Congressional district is primarily Republicans, a nearby congressional district has primarily Democrats

C. A state specifically creates a district to give Asians a majority in the district.

Incumbents: person in office • Get reelected over 90% of the time yet

Congress tends to have very low approval rates

Constituents• Voters tend to like their Congressperson

while disapproving of Congress as a whole

• WHY?

Incumbents usually win b/c…1. Name recognition: since they’ve run

before, ppl know who they are

2. MONEY: PACs give majority of $ to incumbents

3. Experience: they have “on the job” knowledge

4. Franking privilege: free mail to their constituents

5. Staffs: staffs are paid for• Service Strategy: use staffs to

answer phone calls, emails, etc – appeal to constituents

7. Credit for projects: Congress ppl can use gov money to create projects (road etc) in their home district / state

– Known as earmarks or pork barrel projects if they are considered wasteful

8. Districts?

– Do districts that are gerrymandered to safeguard a party also safeguard the incumbent?

– Safe seat: seats in Congress that are not competitive

Open Seat• No incumbent

• These tend to be competitive races

Incumbents aren’t always safe

• Coattails: Pres approval ratings affect Congress members– Since Obama’s approval is

low, many D’s in Congress got the boot!

• Midterm Elections: tend to be more about Pres approval and the Pres party tends to lose seats

• Scandals • S seats are more competitive since it’s

a larger area – more ppl to run & more powerful position

• HR seats are less competitive (and less expensive)