More May Not Always Be Better: Republican Recruiting Strategies in Southern Legislative Elections

Authors

  • William E. Cassie

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.1994.15.0.141-155

Abstract

This study considers the recruiting strategies of six southern Republican parties. The study relies on state legislative election data, as well as interviews with party leaders, to identify and examine apparent strategies. There are two unique strategies observed. One strategy focuses on increasing the number of races that are contested by the party. The other strategy focuses heavily on recruiting for districts which are "targeted" as winnable. Both strategies have apparently been successful: however. Republican parties using a fairly sophisticated technique for targeting have enjoyed the greatest success in recent elections.

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Published

1994-07-01

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