Robert E. Hogan
Louisiana State University
Does policy responsiveness on the part of incumbent legislators
affect their prospects for reelection? Recent studies of congressional campaigns
demonstrate that incumbents who support policies that are more congruent with their
constituents' preferences
face fewer reelection obstacles. The present analysis considers this question in
state legislative elections where voter knowledge of legislator activities is generally
quite low. The findings demonstrate that incumbents positioned farther from the
average citizen and toward their party's base are only slightly more likely to
be challenged than other incumbents. However, more partisan voting incumbents do
attract challengers capable of raising and spending larger amounts of money. Interestingly, incumbents positioned
closer to their party's base actually receive a greater share of the vote in most contested elections. Only when challengers
spend significant amounts of money do we see the positive effects of partisan voting by incumbents diminished. Overall, these
findings demonstrate the mechanisms by which policy positions of incumbents in a low-information environment affect the challengers
that emerge and the level of voter support received.
