Congressional Elections
Constitution
• Senators
– Up for election every 6 years
– Originally selected by state legislatures
– 17th Amendment, 1913: Direct statewide election
• Members of House of Representatives
– Up for election every 2 years
– Directly elected by people
– Elected from districts
Rules governing election to Congress
• The Constitution
Constitution: election to the
House of Representatives
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Election every 2 years
Must be 25 years old
Citizenship for 7 years
Live in the state
Selected same way as largest house of state
legislature (popular vote)
• Apportioned among states based on population
Constitution: election to the Senate
• Election every 6 years
– Three Classes
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Must be at least 30 years old
Citizen for 9 years
Live in the state
Selected by state legislatures
2 per state
Rules governing election to Congress
• The Constitution
• Single-member, winner-take all districts
• Reapportionment and redistricting
Reapportionment
• When the federal government reallocates seats
among the states after the decennial census
Gains and losses due to 2010
reapportionment
Losses
Gains
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Arizona
Florida
Georgia
Nevada
South Carolina
Texas
Utah
Washington
+1
+2
+1
+1
+1
+4
+1
+1
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Illinois
Iowa
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Michigan
Missouri
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-2
-2
-1
Redistricting
• When states redraw congressional district
boundaries after decennial census
• Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)
– Each district must have equal population
What criteria should states use in
deciding where to draw
district lines?
Conflicting Values
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Contiguity of boundaries (requirement)
Equal population (requirement)
Compactness
Keeping together communities of interest
Protecting interests of racial minorities
– Meeting requirements of Voting Rights Act
• Partisan gerrymandering
• Incumbent protection
• Maximizing competition
Rules governing election to Congress
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The Constitution
Single-member, winner-take all districts
Reapportionment and redistricting
Primary election laws
– Open vs. Closed
• FECA
Federal Election Campaign Act
(as amended by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002)
• Contribution limit (from an individual to a
candidate’s campaign) = $2500
• Total cycle contribution limit (from
individuals to all candidate and party
committees) = $117,000
• Contribution limit (PACs to each candidate’s
campaign) = $5000
How do voters decide?
Heuristics:
• Party ID
• Name recognition
• Incumbency!
Sources of incumbent advantage
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Voters recognize their name
Gerrymandering
Privileges of office
Ease of raising money
How do voters decide?
• Heuristics
• Campaigns
Cost of campaigns
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2010
Ave. House campaign cost: $1.1 million
Ave. Senate campaign cost: $8.1 million
Incumbents’ ave. expenditures: $814,507*
Challengers’ ave. expenditures: $369,823*
• *As of 2000, ratio similar but numbers higher today.
• In 2010, the 78 House candidates in the closest races spent $1.75 million
each, on average.
• In 2000, NY Sen. Race cost $69 million.
Total cost of campaigns
Where does money come from?
House candidates' ave. funding sources,
2000
Candidate
11%
Other
5%
Party
2%
Individuals
51%
PACs
31%
Individuals
PACs
Party
Candidate
Other
Where does money come from?
Senate candidates' funding sources, 2000
Other
6%
Candidate
24%
Individuals
53%
Party
4%
PACs
13%
Individuals
PACs
Party
Candidate
Other
Budget of a typical House campaign
Campaign
literature
8.00%
Voter
reg/GOTV
1.30%
Other comm.
3.90%
Staff salaries
17.80%
Newspaper
ads
.4%
Fundraising
9.40%
Radio ads
12.30%
Travel 2.5%
TV
21.80%
Direct mail
8.10%
Polling
2.1%
Overhead
10.50%
Who gets elected?
• White men
Who gets elected?
• White men
• Lawyers
• Christians
• Previously elected officials
Small group discussion
What constitutes good representation?
What characteristics of a representative would make
you feel like he or she should do a good job
representing you and your interests?
What behavior should a good representative engage
in?
When, if ever, should a representative put his
constituents’ interests aside and think of the greater
good?
You will turn your notes in for participation credit.
Different models of representation
• Looking like me, having my background
– “Symbolic representation”
• Rep. uses own judgment to act on my behalf
– “Representative-as-delegate”
• Doing exactly what I would do
– “Representative as agent”
• Communication with me