With 2023 wrapping up, it’s only natural to set our sights forward to the 2024 Elections. While the major story thus far is Trump getting removed from the ballot in Colorado and Maine, these decisions will almost certainly be struckdown by the conservative leaning Supreme Court. This is why I want to talk about a lesser known phenomenon that is not exclusive to our upcoming elections: Carpetbagging
In Late December, embattled Congresswoman Lauren Boebert announced she would run in Colorado’s safe red fourth district instead of the third district that she currently lives in and represents. This sparked controversy because Boebert was headed for a tight and heated rematch with Adam Frisch in the third district, and her switch to the deep red fourth district is widely perceived as a means of political self-preservation. Running for an election in a place you don’t live in, like what Boebert is doing in the 2024 election cycle, is called “Carpetbagging”.
While Carpetbagging may seem dishonest, many politicians have attempted the stunt, with some very notable ones even succeeding. The most recent well known instance of carpetbagging was in the 2022 Pennsylvania Senate Election, where Dr. Oz ran as the republican nominee, despite living in New Jersey. The Democratic nominee, John Fetterman, used Oz’s residence as an attack, and many analysts credit this line of attack as a large part of his victory. Republican West Virginia congressman Alex Mooney also faced carpetbagging allegations due to his political ties to Maryland. However, not only Republicans have been accused of carpetbagging. Very prominent Democrats have also done it. In 1964, Robert Kennedy ran and won the New York Senate Election despite growing up in Massachusetts with his brothers John and Ted, and subsequently living in the state as an adult. Another prominent Democrat, Hillary Clinton, who had been a resident of Arkansas since she married her husband Bill in the 1970’s ran and won in the 2000 New York Senate election, serving in the same seat the Kennedy occupied more than 30 years ago.
At this time, there are no laws against carpetbagging as both parties have done it to some degree. And while it may seem disingenuous for politicians to do this at first, at the end of the day voters still have complete control over the electoral process, both in the primaries and the general election.