More Time With My Money: Leaving The House and Going Home In 1992 and 1994

Abstract

Before the 1992 congressional elections, 66 members of the House of Representatives retired -the highest number since the end of World War II. Fully 53 of the 1992 retirees did not seek another elective office. Previous studies of the retirement surge have emphasized a combination of adverse political circumstances, including the House banking scandal that lessened offenders' reelection prospects, and unique financial opportunities for some members created by a combination of pension monies and convertible campaign funds. This article argues that the 1992 political context was such that, although retiring members in both parties were susceptible to the lure of spending “more time with their money,” the bad-check scandal affected only Republicans, not Democrats. Check-kiting members in both parties who decided to run and were reelected in 1992 factored this information into their 1994 retirement decisions as evidence of electoral strength, not weakness. In 1994, as in 1992, anticipated retirement income was equally attractive to both Democrats and Republicans.