The Gate Community: How Texas House Incumbents Locked Out Challengers in 1998

The Gated Community: How Texas House Incumbents Locked Out Challengers in 1998

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II. Big Picture

The 1998 Texas House of Representatives Elections Involved:

44 contested primary elections with 104 candidates;
19 of these contested primaries involved challenges to incumbents

(just 5 of these incumbent challenges succeeded);

23 open seats in the general election (7 were uncontested);
36 general election challenges to incumbents

(just 2 of these incumbent challenges succeeded);

91 incumbents faced no general-election challenger

All Money Raised by House Candidates:

	1998 Cycle	1996 Cycle	% Change
Total Raised by 150 Winners	$ 17,838,000	$ 14,627,000	+ 22%
Total Raised by Losers In 52 Contested General Elections	$ 4,682,000	Not Available	-----
Total Raised by 60 Losers in 44 Primary Elections	$ 1,170,000	Not Available	-----
Total Raised (All Candidates)	$ 23,690,000	Not Available	-----

During the 1998 election cycle, Texas House candidates raised $23.7 million for their primary and general election campaigns. The amount raised by the 150 winners of House seats in 1998 ($17.8 million) exceeded the total amount raised by 1996 House winners ($14.6 million) by 22 percent. The average amount raised by winning candidates for 1998 was $118,920 compared with the 1996 average of $98,168. Due to reporting shortcomings it is impossible to separate out the amounts raised for primary elections from the amounts raised for general elections. However, there were 44 contested primary elections involving 104 total candidates. The 60 losing primary candidates raised a total of $1.2 million.

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