Elections

The Purpose of Elections Elections serve 3 purposes in the United States To select a set of leaders that will make decisions on the behalf of the citizens To confer legitimacy on those decision makers. To provide a link between the people and government

Primary Elections General Elections Congress President Types of Elections Primary Elections General Elections Congress President

Primary Elections Primary elections are elections held within the political party to select who will be that parties official candidate.

Primary Elections Primary elections were adopted to give the individual members of the party a greater say in their candidate. The nature of primary elections changes the strategy of the candidates. Voters are different (More activist and ideological) Media attention is less Must mobilize activists to give money and volunteer

Primary Elections Radical Liberal Moderate Conservative Reactionary

Election Cycles House of Representatives All 435 members up for reelection every 2 years Senate Each Senator gets six year terms, 1/3 of the Senate elected every 2 years President Serves a 4 year term. Can only serve 2 Terms

California Election Cycle 2008 All 53 House of Representative Seats Presidential Election 2010 (Off Year) 1 Senate Seat (Boxer) 2012 1 Senate Seat (Feinstein)

Congressional Elections Difficult to be elected due to the presence of “safe seats.” Safe Seats are any congressional district in which the winning candidate wins with a vote of greater than 55% Seats that are below 55% are called Marginal Seats Reelection Rates House Members: 98% Reelection Rate Senate: 75% Reelection Rate

Congressional Elections Incumbent Advantage: The advantage held by the person who current holds the office and is running for re-election. Why is it so high in Congress? Franking Privilege Case Work Pork Barrel (Earmarks) Why is the advantage not as high for the Senate? More Competition for the seat Less Direct Contact With Voters 6 Year Term Give Opponent A Head Start Sources of Money More Available for Challenger

The Electoral College We call it the Presidential Election (singular) but it practice it is 51 separate elections occurring at the same time (50 states and District of Columbia) When you vote for President you are actually voting for an elector to vote for you. That elector is already pledged to vote for a candidate (laws in place to guarantee they do)

The Electoral College A State’s number of electors is the total number of Senators and Representatives in the House 2 Senators +53 Reps 55 Represenatives

Electoral College There are a total of 538 Electoral Votes The District of Columbia is not a state but is given 3 Electoral Votes

Electoral College 48 out of the 50 states have a “winner takes all” method. If you get the most votes in that states you get ALL of their electoral college votes, regardless of by how much you win.

Electoral College 2 states are different and can divide up their electoral votes based on congressional district- Nebraska and Maine Nebraska

Electoral College A Candidate must have 270 electoral votes (Majority) to win the Presidential Election

Electoral College If no single candidate gets the required 270 electoral votes what happens? The House of Representatives votes to decide the President 1800 Thomas Jefferson 1824 John Qunicy Adams

Election Determined in the House Electoral College It is possible to get more votes overall in the elections from the entire country (popular vote) and NOT be elected President 2000 Al Gore 50,944,086 (48.4) 266 Electoral George W. Bush 50,461,092 (47.9) 271 Electoral 1888 Grover Cleveland 5,538,163 (48.63) 168 Electoral Benjamin Harrison 5,443,633 (47.80) 233 Electoral 1824 Andrew Jackson 151.363 (41.36%) 99 Electoral John Quincy Adams 113,142 (30.92%) 84 Electoral Election Determined in the House 1876 Samuel Tilden 4,286,808 (50.92) 184 Electoral Rutherford B. Hayes 4,034,142 (47.92) 185 Electoral