Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Partisan And Policy Motivations Of Political Donors Seeking Surrogate Representation In House Elections, Anne E. Baker

Political Science

Non-constituent donors constitute an increasingly important fundraising base for members of the House. These donors are theorized to be seeking “surrogate representation” by buying additional representation rather than relying solely upon representation provided by their own House members. However, precisely why they contribute in this way remains unclear. Using data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Studies (CCES) 2008- 2014 in a series of logistic models, I investigate whether self-reported donors make contributions to House races outside of their home states for policy or partisan reasons. I uncover evidence that surrogate seekers make their out-of-state contributions to recover partisan representation and …