Book chapter
The Selling of Experience in the 2022 Congressional Elections
Understanding the 2022 U.S. Midterm Congressional Elections, pp.60-73
Routledge
2026
DOI: 10.4324/9781003627043-5
Abstract
Past experience in elective office has always been the best predictor of congressional candidate success in elections. These "quality" candidates come into elections with experience fundraising, name recognition, and general knowledge about how to run a successful campaign. Yet, recent congressional elections have seen an increase in the electoral success of inexperienced candidates. As past experience in office may no longer be valued as it once was, how are these experienced candidates marketing themselves to voters? Are they still leaning into their past experience in elected office or are they more likely to emphasize other occupations and experiences? We expect candidates brand themselves, emphasizing different experiences, based on the type of election they are in and who they are running against. In order to test these expectations, this paper examines all available biography pages of experienced candidates who ran in congressional primaries in 2022. We find clear partisan differences in what candidates past occupational backgrounds they highlight. We find mixed evidence that decisions about what occupations to emphasize vary based on electoral dynamics.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Selling of Experience in the 2022 Congressional Elections
- Creators
- Colin R. CaseSarah A. Treul
- Contributors
- Joel Sievert (Editor)James C. Garand (Editor)Bruce I. Newman (Editor)
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Publication Details
- Understanding the 2022 U.S. Midterm Congressional Elections, pp.60-73
- Publisher
- Routledge
- DOI
- 10.4324/9781003627043-5
- Alternative title
- The Selling of Experience in the 2022 Congressional Elections
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2026
- Academic Unit
- Center for Social Science Innovation; Political Science
- Record Identifier
- 9984822960002771
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