Dramatic Changes In Congressional Make-Up In 1994 Election
A study of results in congressional elections shows that the Congress
elected in 1994 is historically different from past Congresses,
and not just in the switch in party control from Democrat to Republican.
For example, the proportion of House incumbents who have won reelection
with at least 60 percent of the major party vote is declining
-- reversing a trend that almost guaranteed reelection to incumbents
and that some voters found alarming.
- Incumbents running for reelection who won by 60 percent or
more increased from about three-fifths in the 1950s and early
1960s to three-fourths in the 1970s, and to almost nine-tenths
in the late 1980s.
- In the 1990s, however, the figure dropped from 88.5 percent
to 76.4 percent in 1990, to 65.6 percent in 1992 and finally to
64.5 percent in 1994.
- As a result, more than two-thirds of the senators and over
half the representatives serving in the 104th Congress received
less than 55 percent of the vote.
In the 1994 elections, 56 of the 60 seats that switched party
hands went from Democrat to Republican control, while not one
Republican incumbent seat went Democratic. Thus the Congress
is not only majority Republican, but relatively inexperienced.
- The number of House members serving their second term leapt
from 9 percent in 1992 to 23 percent in 1994.
- There were 86 first-term (or freshman) members in 1994, so
that 52 percent have now been elected in the 1990s.
- And the number of members serving four to six terms declined
from 25 percent in 1992 to 16 percent.
- However, the number of long-term incumbents in the senate
grew to 25, the highest number since 1953.
Interestingly, in every midterm election but one since the Civil
War, the party of the president has lost ground in the House of
Representatives, but in 10 of those midterm elections, the president's
party gained seats in the Senate. In no election since 1954 has
more than 14 percent of the 435 seats changed party hands.
Source: Source: Norman J. Ornstein, Thomas E. Mann and Michael
J. Malbin, Vital Statistics on Congress 1995-1996 (Washington,
DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1996).
Members Of Congress Have Limited Private Sector Experience
Does your Congressional representative have business experience?
Probably not, since less than half of them have ever really worked
in the private sector. The career politician/civil servant/attorney
is still the rule, rather than the exception.
- Of the 535 men and women in Congress as of January 1995, 129
had spent their entire careers on the public payroll (82 Democrats,
47 Republicans).
- Another 164 (81 Democrats, 83 Republicans) were formerly practicing
attorneys.
- Discounting work for a private university or as a journalist,
just 172 had ever held jobs in the for-profit sector -- 49 Democrats
and 123 Republicans.
- Younger members are more likely to have been involved with
business -- 71 of the 123 Republicans with business backgrounds
are freshmen or sophomore members.
This lack of real-world experience shows up in the politics of
professional office-holders, because members with no business
experience tend to favor government intervention when market results
don't suit them.
- Most of the 20 or so House Republicans calling for minimum
wage increases have little or no business experience.
- And five of the GOP Senators who voted against Medical Savings
Account legislation this month also have little or no familiarity
with the private sector.
- Legislative lifers have fought against everything from telecommunications
reform to bank ATM fees.
Source: Editorial, "Congress' Business Credentials,"
Investor's Business Daily, April 29, 1994.