logo

'Vital Statistics' on Congress Members Shows Increase in Cost Per Seat

image
Alex GauthierAlex Gauthier
Published: 13 Jul, 2013
1 min read

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8P4ArJ9lfIU#at=99

For over 30 years the joint venture between Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute and Tom Mann of The Brookings Institution has provided a 'Vital Statistics' report on congressional fundraising.

This comprehensive look at congress covers 8 chapters. The study spans a wide breadth of topics from polarization to the decline in legislative productivity.

According to data compiled by Michael J. Malbin of the campaign finance institute, the average cost of a congressional seat has increased significantly. In 2002 the average Senate seat cost $4,758,737 to win election. That has grown to $10,351,556 in 2012. Similarly the an average House of Representatives seat cost $1,163,499 in 2002. Last election, an average representative needed to raise $1,596,953 to win a House seat.

You Might Also Like

Proposition 50 voter guide
California Prop 50: Partisan Power Play or Necessary Counterpunch?
November 4 marks a special election for what has become the most controversial ballot measure in California in recent memory: Proposition 50, which would circumvent congressional districts drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission for a legislative-drawn map....
01 Oct, 2025
-
9 min read
court gavel.
Virtual Discussion: The Fight for Equal Independent Voting Rights Makes it to SCOTUS
Every major voting rights movement in U.S. history – whether successful or not – has intertwined with landmark litigation. This was the case for women’s suffrage. It was the case for civil rights. And it is the case in the ongoing effort to protect the right of all voters to have equal participation in taxpayer-funded elections – something millions of independent voters are denied across the U.S....
29 Sep, 2025
-
2 min read
Supreme Court building
SCOTUS Considers Challenge to Closed Primaries -- Here's Why It Is Such a Big Deal
In a dramatic step forward for litigation challenging closed primaries, the U.S. Supreme Court has indicated they are going to conference to discuss whether to grant a writ of certiorari to Polelle v. Florida Secretary of State; a case challenging Florida's closed primaries that Open Primaries has supported since its inception....
26 Sep, 2025
-
2 min read