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House Democrats Lost Their Incumbency Advantage

May 13, 2021 · 2:00 pm ET · Leave a Comment

Ethan Chen: “The 2020 House results were not merely due to a GOP advantage down-ballot. For open House races, Republicans only did slightly better on average than President Trump.”

“House Republicans benefited from a significantly stronger incumbency advantage than House Democrats. This was the main reason for their performance.”

“The historical anomaly is not incumbency being stronger for the Republicans, but the absolute collapse of the advantage for Democrats.”

One possible reason: The lack of in-person canvassing during the pandemic.
Taegan

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Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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