In today’s mid-term election, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives are being contested.
Nationally and here in Indiana, Republicans are almost certain to retain hold of the House, but one local political analyst says the vote still counts – especially in the local races.
Incumbents are running in all nine of Indiana's congressional races. Political Science department chair at the University of Evansville Robert Dion doesn’t expect a new state representative to emerge from any of those contests.
“The latest polls confirm the trend we’ve known for many years, and that is people may have a dim view of the institution of congress, but they tend to feel pretty good about their personal lawmaker," Dion said. "That's why incumbents are going to be reelected all up and down this nation."
That trend, called “congressional stagnation” in American Political theory, tends to drive away strong challengers.
Dion says Indiana’s congressmen and women don’t have a considerable impact on national policy-making because they lack the seniority to chair a committee. But he doesn’t want that to discourage Hoosier voters.
“There may not be a president or a governor or a senator, but who's in the Indiana legislature, who's in county government who's on the school board there's all kinds of races on the ballot that can make a difference," Dion said.
Dion considers this year’s mid-term election in Indiana a “period of building,” because this year’s delegation has some room to grow.