Building and Protecting a Majority with Contributions to Incumbents

In an era of intense competition for majority party control of the House, congressional party leaders prioritize electoral goals when they allocate campaign funds to their rank-and-file members. Leaders and members alike channel most of their resources toward their few colleagues in competitive reelection races, and even frequent party defectors in tight races receive assistance from party leaders. Moving beyond the most competitive elections, however, party leaders and members themselves at times exert party discipline by rewarding loyal partisans, but in limited ways. In this chapter I evaluate leaders’ use of financial resources to assist members seeking reelection. I track