The Electoral Connection

Mayhew's Electoral Connection:

According to David R. Mayhew in his book, "Congress: The Electoral Connection", the one big focus of congressional representatives during their time in office is reelection to their seat. Mayhew states that the actions taken by representatives during their time in office serve the purpose of supporting that goal of reelection. Representative Kelly Armstrong is an interesting case when it comes to the electoral connection because he has jumped around quite a bit in elected positions. As stated in previous blogs, he first served as a Senator from 2013 to 2018 before successfully running for the House of Representatives position from 2018 to 2024. He is now leaving the House of Representatives to run for governor of North Dakota in 2024. Armstrong's tendency to jump around from position to position may indicate that he does not subscribe to this "single-minded seeker" identity. However, let's take a look at his recent advertising, credit claiming, and position taking activities in North Dakota to see how he may be using these strategies to help his election to a new position within North Dakota.

Advertising:

In Mayhew's view, advertising activities include anything that will get a candidate's name out to their constituency - hopefully in a positive way.

Representative Armstrong has recently been traveling around the state of North Dakota for various reasons and meeting with people at places ranging from a bakeries and high schools to hospital care centers.

Representative Armstrong is also speaking at local events in North Dakota such as the Republican sponsored event, Politics and a Plate, as he runs for governor.

Sources: https://twitter.com/RepArmstrongND and https://www.facebook.com/RepArmstrongND

Credit Claiming:

Credit claiming - according to David Mayhew - occurs when a representative takes advantage of their accomplishments within the government and uses them as a tool to get their constituency to view them more positively.

Representative Kelly Armstrong uses social media to claim credit for his support of bills like the farm bill. He is appealing to North Dakota voters by claiming that his work will support farming and ranching - which is one of their biggest industries.

Source of above tweets: https://twitter.com/RepArmstrongND

Representative Armstrong also uses press releases to claim credit on issues that are important both nationally and to his state of North Dakota. One of these recent press releases includes credit claiming energy production. In this press release, Armstrong credits himself with a vote for a bill that would lift restrictions on the export and import of natural gas, saying that he is voting in the best interest of North Dakotans when it comes to the issue of natural gas and energy production. Another recent press release from Representative Armstrong regards immigration policy, which is a hot topic in American politics right now. In this press release, Armstrong takes credit for an attempt to urge President Biden to reverse recent immigration policies.

Position Taking:

In Mayhew's view, position taking occurs when a representative announces their opinion or view on any hot-button issue in the country that is important to them. This action gives them the ability to easily show their constituencies how they feel about important issues.

Kelly Armstrong consistently uses tools such as social media and floor speeches to share his position on issues such as Biden's handling of documents, energy production, and spending bills.

Source of above tweets: https://twitter.com/RepArmstrongND

Evaluating Armstrong's Actions

Although Armstrong is not looking to be reelected to his position within the House of Representatives, he is still using the actions of advertising, credit claiming, and position taking as he runs for governor of North Dakota. He seems to be focusing a lot of these actions toward the state of North Dakota rather than the national agenda which makes sense because serving as governor would require him to be making decisions about what is best for North Dakota.