Why so few candidates for political office?

Why would anyone want to run for political office these days? The answer is, they don’t. Yesterday was the filing deadline for getting on the ballot in races for the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate. And once again, it appears very few people are interested in serving in state government. While all of the Wisconsin Senate’s 32 seats will be up for election in November, only 2 of those 32 seats are held by incumbents who face challengers in the August primary. Only 2 of 32 seats? There isn’t one person in any of those other 30 districts who think they can do a better job than the person currently in office? That should tell you how little interest people have in running for political office. One of those contested primaries is in La Crosse, where incumbent democrat Jennifer Shilling faces a long-shot challenge from Jared Landry. But Shilling is entrenched within the party, serving as the Senate Minority Leader. Why are so few people running to serve in state government? It is hard to beat an incumbent, with all the advantages incumbency provides. The gerry-mandering of legislative districts, now being fought in the courts also makes it difficult for anyone other than the incumbent to win elections. But part of the blame lies with the people. With no statewide races on the August ballot, turnout will be light, with only the party’s hard-core members likely to show up. This is the system we have. Unfortunately, it is a system that makes it hard for incumbents to lose, and discouraging for anyone else to even try.