This is a class blog for the students of POLSCI 426: Congressional Politics at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

Rep. Rick Renzi

Rep. Renzi, R- Arizona, has been indicted on multiple charges by a federal grand jury. The charges include pressuring landowners into buying a 480-acre parcel which was owned by a previous business partner of his. Needless to say, Renzi has decided not to run for re-election. Its interesting that many times when someone in Congress is involved in a scandle or lawsuit (pretty much anything that could put a damper on their re-election), they decide not to run for re-election. Although this article suggested that Renzi not running for re-election had a lot to do with pressure from the House GOP leaders.

Article with further details on Renzi's charges in case anyone is interested

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't know that any members of Congress have won elections from jail, but there are multiple accounts of local officials doing just that.

Why do you folks think that is the case?

nsimmons said...

I think that the level of government in which someone is elected has a lot to do with how the public looks at other factors besides their political agenda. For example, last year Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee was indicted on 9 felony charges. In the election last week, McGee won the 6th district primary while he was in jail. If a member of Congress were to "campaign in jail" like McGee, more than likely they would not be re-elected. Even more likely if a member from Congress were indicted on felony charges they would not even seek re-election. I think this is due to the national coverage of members of Congress. More people would hear about a member of Congress committing a felony as opposed to an alderman from Milwaukee, WI. Needless to say, I don't understand why anyone would vote for someone who is currently in jail.

Blog Archive