Electoral Competition and Incumbency Advantages

Abstract

Imagine at least two candidates either of whom might win a majority of the votes cast by actively involved citizens—a competitive election. In reality, candidates for state legislatures often run unopposed in primary elections that attract less than 20 percent of the voters. General elections attract more voters, but few are competitive with most candidates winning by a landslide. In this chapter we explore some of the reasons that state legislative electoral reality falls short of the competitive ideal, and we investigate whether term limits increase electoral competition.