Local Candidates Escape National Extremism Label

“There’s an adage in politics that people view their own members of Congress more favorably than they view Congress overall. Data from a recent New York Times/Siena University poll suggests that distinction, known as Fenno’s paradox, may extend to political ideology,” the New York Times reports.

“According to the survey of voters in key battleground U.S. Senate races, 53 percent said the national Democratic Party was too far to the left, and 47 percent viewed the Republican Party as too far to the right. Yet when evaluating individual nominees, voters found local candidates far less extreme, with only 35 percent expressing a similar concern.”

“That gap suggests that the vitriol of national politics may not translate to the local level, even as voters express deep alarm over party polarization.”