Shifting the focal point from incumbency to open seat competition in the U.S. House of Representatives is the task this book embraces. In the process, the authors demonstrate the importance of candidates and competition, and the role of money, gender, and special elections in determining how open seats get filled and when partisan changes occur.

Chapter 1 Where the Action Is: Why Open Seats Jump-Start Congressional Careers Chapter 2 Open Seat Congressional Elections: Are These Influenced by the Same Factors as Incumbent Elections? Chapter 3 Candidates and Competition: Who Are They? Where Do They Come From? Chapter 4 Investing in the Future Chapter 5 Women and Open Seat Congressional Elections Chapter 6 Special Elections: The Other Open Seats Chapter 7 Understanding the Past, Predicting the Future Chapter 8 Appendix: Forecasting Open Seat Vote Chapter 9 Methodological Sources

By Ronald Keith Gaddie and Charles S. Bullock III