Question

In 1984, many incumbent Democratic judges lost their seats in large urban counties to unknown Republican challengers because of

a. straight ticket voting.
b. the move toward two-party competitiveness.
c. gerrymandering.
d. the cyclical off-year election trend.

Answer 1

In 1984, the loss of seats by incumbent Democratic judges to unknown Republican challengers was primarily attributed to straight-ticket voting, where voters cast ballots for all candidates from a single party.

Step-by-step explanation:

In 1984, many incumbent Democratic judges lost their seats in large urban counties to unknown Republican challengers primarily due to straight-ticket voting. This phenomenon occurs when voters choose every candidate from a single party, without consideration for individual candidates' qualifications or local issues. During this period, a national trend emerged where voters increasingly voted along party lines in both presidential and congressional elections.

In some states, voters could simply select one box at the top of the ballot to vote for all candidates of a chosen party, which unfortunately often led to non-partisan positions such as judicial seats receiving no votes. This trend of straight-ticket voting contributed to the success of the Republican Party and the challenges faced by incumbent Democrats in retaining their seats.

While gerrymandering and two-party competitiveness certainly have impacted election outcomes and the political landscape, they were not the leading factors for the specific scenario in 1984 involving Democratic judges losing seats.

Answer 2

In 1984, many incumbent Democratic judges lost their seats in large urban counties to unknown Republican challengers because of "straight ticket voting".

Answer: Option a

Step-by-step explanation:

“Straight-ticket voting” is when voters give all their votes to representative of one political party which is just reverse of “Split-ticket voting” where voters vote for multiple parties in an election. Therefore it is viewed as alternative to straight-ticket voting.

In 1984 election following are the factors which resulted into loss for Democratic judges due to straight-ticket voting :

• Only when the disparity between the straight party vote for the two parties widened was the effect of straight party vote on candidate success considerable.
• The variation between the two parties in direct party voting forces the candidate of the minority party to pursue independent voters aggressively.
• A particularly strong straight-for-party vote in favor of one party can make the difference with independent voters almost impossible for a judicial candidate to make up.
• The body of fully independent voters most open to judicial candidates campaign efforts is quite small.