8 Members of Congress Running for Gov.

As of today, eight members of Congress are giving up their seats to run for governor in 2018. And a few others are thinking about it as well.

Politico.com describes this as "vacating the comfy confines of safe congressional districts for what, historically, has been a bad bet. The last time this many sitting representatives ran for governor, in 2006, twice as many lost as won."^[1]

The current list includes three Democrats and five Republicans.

The Democrats are Michelle Lujan Grisham from New Mexico, Tim Walz from Minnesota, and Jared Polis from Colorado.

The Republicans are Diane Black from Tennessee, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Steve Pearce of New Mexico, Jim Renacci of Ohio, and Raúl Labrador of Idaho.

"Lawmakers are motivated partly by the quest for more power — being one in a village of 435, especially in the Democratic minority, gets you only so far," according to Politico.com "They are also seeking the chance to assist or resist the Trump administration, depending on their party, in implementing new policy throughout the states."

Footnotes:

1. Politico, "Chance to be governor lures members from House," August 7, 2017

 Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day is published by Ballotpedia. Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.

Scott Rasmussen is a Senior Fellow for the Study of Self-Governance at the King’s College in New York and an Editor-At-Large for Ballotpedia, the Encyclopedia of American Politics. His most recent book, "Politics Has Failed: America Will Not," was published by the Sutherland Institute in May.To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.