Political polarization discourages moderate state legislators from running for Congress, making the problem worse

Recent Congresses have been marked by levels of political polarization between Democrats and Republicans rarely seen in the past. But what is feeding this polarization? In new research, Danielle Thomsen argues that this polarization is being driven partly by which state legislators seek Congressional office. She finds that seeing the existing level of polarization in Congress, ideologically moderate state legislators are less likely to run office, because of their concerns about winning their primary or the general election, and their perceived likely difficulties in pushing their legislative agenda forwards if elected.