incumbents have been dwindling more or less steadily since 1980. halloween pumpkin and raven bedding set It is no wonder that challengers facing such long odds routinely lose to incumbents over 90 percent of the time.
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As noted above, the outcry this provoked led to a second wave of petition signatures by angered and energized citizens. And in Florida, federal court hearings on that state’s term limits law took place in June. halloween pumpkin and raven bedding set Even with a healthy influx of new Members, the seniority system allows entrenched Congressmen to control newcomers and encourages newcomers to behave like the long-term incumbents they replace. Until term limits force a change in the seniority system and in the incentives of new Congressmen, those who control the passage of legislation will remain in control for decades, not years, at a time. As noted above, while some turnover takes place every election, members of the congressional leadership have been in office for decades, and it is they who set the agenda; for example,
Representative Jack Brooks, a 21-term representative who has been in office since the Truman Administration, as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee can routinely block term limit measures from coming to the floor for a vote. Because the perquisites of office present huge barriers to entry by challengers, incumbents always have the privilege of fighting a defensive war. Taxpayer-funded benefits like franking, staff, and travel allowances tilt the field in incumbents’ favor, and political donors — who typically view their contribution as wasted if it does not go to the winning candidate — magnify these incumbent advantages by disproportionately favoring candidates already in office. In 1992, House challengers raised 28 cents for every campaign dollar received by incumbents, while Senate challengers raised 47 cents. (Ornstein, Mann, and Malbin, Vital Statistics on Congress , p. 81, table 3-5.) Challengers’ donations relative to those of
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