American Government › Section K · Congress › Topic K.2
Congressional elections
Every two years voters choose the whole House and a third of the Senate. The rules of those contests, the money behind them and the strong pull of incumbency go a long way towards explaining who sits in Congress and how they behave once there.
In this topic
- An election every two years
- Who can run, and filling vacancies
- How chamber design shapes campaigns
- The rules on money
- The incumbency advantage
- Worked example: reading a re-election rate
- Safe seats and primaries
- Midterms and surge and decline
- Worked example: tracing a midterm loss
- Local and national elections
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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