Quite recently I wrote two pieces that noted the value of seniority among legislators:
Seniority among his colleagues gives a legislator extra clout in several ways. Voters choosing legislators at the polling place will value an incumbent’s seniority as highly as he will, because it can be translated into pork. That puts an extra thumb on the electoral scale, along with the incumbent’s other advantages when his time comes to face his constituents.
And look what I found this morning at Mike Miles’s place:
Seniority is just about the only explanation for Murkowski’s regular re-election as a United States Senator from deep-red Alaska.
2 comments
You credit the electorate with common sense, intellect, interest and engagement. Most of those who voted for her did so because they recognized the name and she had an (R) after her name on the ballot.
IIRC, it was @#$%& ranked voting that got her elected. She would likely have lost in a legitimate runoff the last time she ran.
Yep. https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-donald-trump-alaska-223ea5a590c1b9c4f7905ab4b7849e6f