While the overall effect reflected greater control by Republicans, the overwhelming lesson is the stability in congressional election outcomes. With the re-apportionment that follows each census, Florida�s representation in the U.S. House went from 23 to 25 members. This new delegation, consisting of 18 Republicans and 7 Democrats, saw little change in personnel. Of the 21 House members seeking re-election (2 retired), 20 were successful. The limited change in the Florida congressional delegation reflects a national trend referred to as �incumbent security� and represents a challenge to democracy. Legislative districts are drawn in a way that makes them noncompetitive and guarantees which party�s candidate will win in the district. A district is designated noncompetitive when a major party candidate regularly receives 55% or more of the vote. By drawing noncompetitive districts the legislature can guarantee there will be big wins for Democrats in some areas and Republicans in others. Meanwhile, voters play a limited role in this process.

In Florida, for example, 24 of the 25 U.S. House races were in the noncompetitive category (the winner received at least 55% of the vote). More than one-third of these districts (9 out of 25) were so noncompetitive that only one major party candidate filed and these elections went virtually uncontested. This hardly indicates a robust democracy and is a consequence of the manner in which the district boundaries were drawn. It�s no surprise the Republican-dominated legislature in Tallahassee drew a majority of �safe� districts for their party just as Democratic-dominated legislatures in other states have done for their party.

Neither of the state�s two U.S. senators faced an election this year. What does this mean for the advocacy program regarding the United

Nations? The first lesson is that elected representatives are unlikely to be voted out and we had better develop a positive relationship with the incumbents. The changes that did occur resulted in a Republican replacing a Democrat in District 5 and the creation of 2 new Republican districts (24 and 25).

In terms of preparing to deal with legislators we can turn to information provided online through the www.unausa.org and to other sources that rate members of congress. One useful source can be found in the article by Ken Nakamura, �Keeping Score in the Congressional Game,� Foreign Service Journal (September 2002). He analyzed voting patterns of the last congress to develop a �Congressional Scorecard� based on �issues relating to providing funding for U.S. engagement and promoting U.S. participation in the international arena.� While additional information is necessary before having a meaningful communication with your representative, this can serve as an initial approximation of his or her stand on international issues.

The entire article and �Scoreboard� is available online at http://www.afsa.org/fsj/sept02/congressional.pdf

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