A Second Helping: Former MCs Returning to Congress

• In Event: Poster Session: Representation and Electoral Systems and Poster Session: Political Organizations and Parties
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Representation and Electoral Systems

Abstract

In the 114th Congress, fourteen members of the House of Representatives were among a select group of legislators who were holding their offices for the second time. Either through electoral defeat or voluntary retirement, former members of Congress who have left the institution always have the option of attempting a return. The decision to do so is curious, since their private sector opportunities may be substantially more lucrative than a return to legislative life. Particularly those who were vanquished electorally, the decision to attempt a comeback may cause a greater personal cost to be incurred since they have been rebuked by their constituents once before. I investigate and identify the former members of the House of Representatives most likely to make an attempt at a return. This study has implications for the study of representation, as these legislative recidivists have an opportunity to show their constituents that they have learned the lesson of their defeats with their official actions in Congress the second time around. It also contributes to scholarship on legislative careers, where studies continuously show greater job satisfaction among House Democrats than their Republican counterparts. As a result, it should be expected that a greater proportion of former Democratic MCs attempt comebacks. All told, almost four hundred members of Congress have served interrupted careers in the House and countless others have attempted to, warranting their study as a distinct population within the legislative branch.

Author

• Theodore J. Masthay, University of Missouri