Incumbency affects races in the Houses of Congress in major ways. The incumbent in these races holds an advantage over the challenger. Such advantages are their access to media for free because they have connections in the media already from previous races, thus virtually eliminating any issues with financial situations because they do not have to spend excess amounts of money to campaign. Also, another advantage of being an incumbent in a Congressional election is the fact that their name is already widely known and recognized throughout the area. This advantage also contributes to the lack of need to produce this major campaign worth millions of dollars because the public, for the most part, is already is familiar with them an their core values and what they deem important plans of business while participating in Congress. The most encouraging fact for the incumbent is the fact that the district has already voted for this person two years or six years prior, thus, the public has already deemed them worthy of their representation, and mostly agree with his or her plans for Congress. The incumbents possess these benefits because of their already high positions, and with the aid of these benefits, they have a very slim chance of loosing to their challenger. Statistics show that ninety-six percent of incumbents who desire reelection win their primary and general election races. This is because most people are happy with their individual representatives in Congress because they believe they have their best interest for their area in mind. It is Congress as a whole they are not pleased with because of the many points of view brought in from each state's Congressmen who fight for their own state's benefits and monetary compensation. However, incumbency could also become challenging during a race for election. As laws are created, bills enacted, money distributed the people could be displeased with the previous representation and their lack of effort to provide for the state. These great shifts in distrust and disapproval lead to elections such as the “Earthquake Elections” when Republicans filled the seats of many Democratic incumbents, and the previous Congressional elections in 2010 when virtually the same outcome occurred as many Democratic incumbents found themselves loosing to Republican challengers. American's designate who they want to represent them, and even though they may not like Congress's policies as a whole, they may still approve of their representation and the voters put their faith behind the incumbent. This approval leads to the frequent incumbent victories during elections, but if the people decide they do not approve of their previous policies in Congress they will not vote for that representative another time.
In House and Senate races incumbency is a huge advantage. Not only is the runner already recognized by people from the previous election(s), they are also seen as capable and experienced due to the term(s) they have served in Congress. The candidate is likely to have done good deeds during their time in office and will emphasize them during the race, and they will have helped regular people troubled by the system through their ombudsman. Incumbents also have a huge financial advantage since they don’t have to work as hard to get their name out. In the 2006 election they raised 5 times as much as their challengers overall, though in 2008 it went down to 3 times as much it was still a lot more. People like the reliable and constant and unless the incumbent messes up really bad s/he is likely to get reelected. Statistically about 92% who run again for Congress get reelected, and many who feel they don’t have a chance of winning due to some mess up won’t usually run again, if the mess is big enough they sometimes even resign early. Anyway, incumbency, overall, is an advantage.
Congressmen can use the "franking" privilege to mail newsletters and other info to constituents. They CANNOT use this to send campaign materials that say, "Vote for me." However these mailings do help with name recognition.
Recently elected congressmen, such as Eric Cantor, are already holding fund raising dinners and functions to increase their campaign treasuries. This discourages challengers in 2012.
The media always reports on what the current congressman is doing, how he is voting, where he is appearing in the district. Forbes has appeared at every fire house in the district that bought new equipment with federal funds.
Incumbency affects races in the Houses of Congress in major ways. The incumbent in these races holds an advantage over the challenger. Such advantages are their access to media for free because they have connections in the media already from previous races, thus virtually eliminating any issues with financial situations because they do not have to spend excess amounts of money to campaign. Also, another advantage of being an incumbent in a Congressional election is the fact that their name is already widely known and recognized throughout the area. This advantage also contributes to the lack of need to produce this major campaign worth millions of dollars because the public, for the most part, is already is familiar with them an their core values and what they deem important plans of business while participating in Congress. The most encouraging fact for the incumbent is the fact that the district has already voted for this person two years or six years prior, thus, the public has already deemed them worthy of their representation, and mostly agree with his or her plans for Congress. The incumbents possess these benefits because of their already high positions, and with the aid of these benefits, they have a very slim chance of loosing to their challenger. Statistics show that ninety-six percent of incumbents who desire reelection win their primary and general election races. This is because most people are happy with their individual representatives in Congress because they believe they have their best interest for their area in mind. It is Congress as a whole they are not pleased with because of the many points of view brought in from each state's Congressmen who fight for their own state's benefits and monetary compensation. However, incumbency could also become challenging during a race for election. As laws are created, bills enacted, money distributed the people could be displeased with the previous representation and their lack of effort to provide for the state. These great shifts in distrust and disapproval lead to elections such as the “Earthquake Elections” when Republicans filled the seats of many Democratic incumbents, and the previous Congressional elections in 2010 when virtually the same outcome occurred as many Democratic incumbents found themselves loosing to Republican challengers. American's designate who they want to represent them, and even though they may not like Congress's policies as a whole, they may still approve of their representation and the voters put their faith behind the incumbent. This approval leads to the frequent incumbent victories during elections, but if the people decide they do not approve of their previous policies in Congress they will not vote for that representative another time.
ReplyDeleteIn House and Senate races incumbency is a huge advantage. Not only is the runner already recognized by people from the previous election(s), they are also seen as capable and experienced due to the term(s) they have served in Congress. The candidate is likely to have done good deeds during their time in office and will emphasize them during the race, and they will have helped regular people troubled by the system through their ombudsman. Incumbents also have a huge financial advantage since they don’t have to work as hard to get their name out. In the 2006 election they raised 5 times as much as their challengers overall, though in 2008 it went down to 3 times as much it was still a lot more. People like the reliable and constant and unless the incumbent messes up really bad s/he is likely to get reelected. Statistically about 92% who run again for Congress get reelected, and many who feel they don’t have a chance of winning due to some mess up won’t usually run again, if the mess is big enough they sometimes even resign early. Anyway, incumbency, overall, is an advantage.
ReplyDeleteAlso, that people's preferences can change according to the party the candidate belongs to as seen by the change in money donated.
ReplyDeleteCongressmen can use the "franking" privilege to mail newsletters and other info to constituents. They CANNOT use this to send campaign materials that say, "Vote for me." However these mailings do help with name recognition.
ReplyDeleteRecently elected congressmen, such as Eric Cantor, are already holding fund raising dinners and functions to increase their campaign treasuries. This discourages challengers in 2012.
The media always reports on what the current congressman is doing, how he is voting, where he is appearing in the district. Forbes has appeared at every fire house in the district that bought new equipment with federal funds.