Why is Congress losing members to state government?
Back in May, I wrote about the growing trend of congressional members leaving Washington to run for governor. I noted too the decrease in highly desirable candidates from their party opting out of running for a U.S. Senate seat. Gov. Brian Kemp, Georgia’s current governor, is an example of a formidable state politician passing on a winnable senate seat.
The usual political path was the jump from governor to U.S. Senator, but that trend is reversing.
From a federalism perspective, this trend is telling. It signals that more politicians see the state level as the place to get things done and wield influence. It’s also a reminder that state executive power is on the rise while Washington’s dysfunction and gridlock shows no signs of diminishing any time soon.
NPR is noticing the trend as well:
Jessica Taylor, the Senate and Governors editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said this cycle’s inversion of the typical governor-to-Senate pipeline is the highest the country has seen in at least 90 years.
“We’ve seen a lot of governors, I think, especially in the wake of COVID, that have been able to raise their profiles through media,” she said. “I think a lot of people before COVID probably didn’t think about who their governor was as much. I think after COVID, more people are paying attention to governors.”
NPR cites the political polarization, Trump effect, legislative gridlock, and loss of prestige as all reasons that current members are heading for the exits.
There are counter examples, like my home state of North Carolina, where former Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper is running for Senate, but that seat opened because of Repulican’s Thom Tillis’s retirement, which likely had some tie to disagreements with President Trump and Tillis’s own efforts at and frustration over a lack consensus building in the legislative body.
While Washington’s dysfunction is bad for the nation collectively, the continued push of sending former congressional members to state capitals might do more to reenergize government closer to home and give a boost to states when it comes to the balance of power.
—Ray Nothstine
— The Federalism Beat