Corpus ID: 85503372

The Increasing Value of Inexperience in Congressional Primaries

@inproceedings{Porter2019TheIV,
  title={The Increasing Value of Inexperience in Congressional Primaries},
  author={Rachel Porter and Sarah A. Treul},
  year={2019}
}

• R. Porter, Sarah A. Treul
• Published 2019

The dynamics of congressional primaries have changed dramatically in recent years. Recent examples, such as Majority Leader Eric Cantor losing to a political novice in the Republican primary in 2014 and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s defeat of Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley in 2018, demonstrate that traditional theories of candidate success may not translate to today’s primary electoral landscape. Utilizing new data on candidate experience in congressional primary elections we analyze what types of candidates are successful, how these trends have changed over time, and variation by party. As expected, we find evidence, especially in recent primaries, that candidates with prior experience in elective office may not be besting those without prior experience in the systematic way they once did. We find the driving force behind the success of inexperienced candidates to be the growth in outside money in primary elections. Our primary findings aid our understanding of electoral competition and the candidate choices voters are given in the general election. Perhaps most importantly, the results showcase the electoral consequences of early PAC donations and the types of candidates PAC money supports in congressional primaries.