Journal article
Explaining Challenger Quality in Congressional Elections
The Journal of politics, Vol.47(2), pp.510-529
05/1985
DOI: 10.2307/2130894
Abstract
This study seeks to explain why some incumbents attract politically experienced, well-financed challengers while others do not. Using data from contested House races in 1980, we analyze the effects of four sets of variables including: (1) incumbents’ policy and nonpolicy behavior (ideological discrepancy and use of “perks” for advertising and casework); (2) local partisan conditions (previous vote margin and the normal partisan vote in the district); (3) district diversity; and (4) the national tide. We find that both short-term and long-term partisan forces (previous vote and normal vote), national tides, and policymaking behavior (ideological discrepancy) significantly affect the probability of attracting politically experienced, well-financed challengers. District diversity and incumbents’ use of “perks’ available for advertising and casework, on the other hand, are not related to any indicator of challenger quality.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Explaining Challenger Quality in Congressional Elections
- Creators
- Jon R Bond - Texas A & M UniversityCary Covington - University of IowaRichard Fleisher - Fordham University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The Journal of politics, Vol.47(2), pp.510-529
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press; New York, USA
- DOI
- 10.2307/2130894
- ISSN
- 0022-3816
- eISSN
- 1468-2508
- Number of pages
- 20
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 05/1985
- Academic Unit
- Political Science
- Record Identifier
- 9983982925002771
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