More Republicans display party affiliation

Despite another anticipated electoral wave for Democrats, more Republican candidates running for Congress are noting their party affiliation online than they were two years ago. 

During the 2006 cycle, only 25 percent of Republicans in competitive congressional races declared their party affiliation on their campaign websites, according to a survey conducted by The Hill. At that time, 70 percent of Democrats referenced their party somewhere on their site. 

{mosads}This cycle, 54 percent of Republicans and 44 percent of Democrats in tight races refer to their respective parties on the Internet, according a new survey by The Hill. Ten percent of both Republican and Democratic candidates boast their party affiliation on the homepage, while 40 percent of Republicans and 22 percent of Democrats made a reference to their parties in biography pages.

“The political incentive to include or omit party affiliation on campaign websites depends on two factors: the partisan makeup of their constituency and the national political mood,” said Thomas Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Even though Democrats have the political winds at their backs, congressional approval ratings are at record lows, with voters expressing frustration with partisan bickering.

The Hill conducted a search on the homepages and biography pages of each candidate in a competitive congressional race, disregarding clips and links to news articles, and found that the word “Democrat” did not appear in the site text of 56 percent of Democratic candidates’ sites. Likewise, “Republican” did not appear in the text of 46 percent of House Republican candidates' sites. 

Some Democratic candidates only hint at which party they belong to.

The website of Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Texas) states,  “In 2004, when Republican leaders in the House were trying to raise our national debt limit to more than $8 trillion, Nick Lampson stood up to this gang of wasteful spenders. “

Meanwhile, the website of Pete Olson, Lampson’s opponent, clearly states that Olson is a Republican. President Bush attracted 64 percent of the vote in Lampson’s district four years ago.

Reps. Don Cazayoux (D-La.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) state on their sites that they are members of the Blue Dog Coalition seeking bipartisan solutions, but do not mention that the group is composed of conservative Democrats.

Neither Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.) nor her opponent, former Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-N.H.), directly refer to their parties online. 

Senate Republicans in competitive races are more candid on websites than are Democratic candidates.

Only 36 percent of Republican candidates in tough races neglected to make reference to their party affiliation on their home or biography pages, as opposed to 45 percent of Democratic candidates who did not affiliate themselves with their party.

(For complete list, please see chart below.)

Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida, noted that in 2006, Democrats won many conservative-leaning seats. This year, Democrats are competing in even more conservative parts of the country.

“Republicans are relying more on their party affiliation to attract their base in the district … and Democrats are masking their party affiliation and trying to make it about issues and personality,” said Jewett.

Raul Martinez, who is running against Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), stresses on his website that party labels are less important than coming up with policy solutions: “Our problems today do not have D’s or R’s next to them.”

Senate Democrats/Democratic candidates

Reference to party affiliation on homepage or bio

Al Franken (Minn.)
Sen. Mary Landrieu (La.)
Bruce Lunsford (Ky.)
Jim Martin (Ga.)
Jeff Merkley (Ore.)
Rep. Mark Udall (Colo.)

No party reference

Rep. Tom Allen (Maine)
Mark Begich (Alaska)
Kay Hagan (N.C.)
Ronnie Musgrove (Miss.)
Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.)

Senate Republican/Republican candidates

Reference to party affiliation on homepage or bio

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.)
Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn.)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.)
Bob Schaffer (Colo.)
Sen. Gordon Smith (Ore.)
Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska)
Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.)

No party reference

Sen. Susan Collins (Maine)
Sen. Elizabeth Dole (N.C.)
John Kennedy (La.)
Sen. John Sununu (N.H.)

House Democrats/Democratic candidates

Reference to party affiliation on homepage or bio

John Adler (N.J.)
Anne Barth (W.Va.)
Rep. Nancy Boyda (Kan.)
Darcy Burner (Wash.)
Paul Carmouche (La.)
Gerald Connolly (Va.)
Steve Driehaus (Ohio)
Joe Garcia (Fla.)
Alan Grayson (Fla.)
Rep. Baron Hill (Ind.)
Jim Himes (Conn.)
Rep. Paul Kanjorski (Pa.)
Mary Jo Kilroy (Ohio)
Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.)
Larry Kissell (N.C.)
Suzanne Kosmas (Fla.)
Alice Kryzan (N.Y.)
Rep. Tim Mahoney (Fla.)
Mark Schauer (Mich.)
Kurt Schrader (Ore.)
Dan Seals (Ill.)
Linda Stender (N.J.)
Dina Titus (Nev.)

No party reference

Rep. Jason Altmire (Pa.)
Judy Baker (Mo.)
Willie Banks (La.)
Kay Barnes (Mo.)
Ethan Berkowitz (Alaska)
John Boccieri (Ohio)
Bobby Bright (Ala.)
Rep. Chris Carney (Pa.)
Rep. Travis Childers (Miss.)
Kathy Dahlkemper (Pa.)
Rep. Bill Foster (Ill.)
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.)
Parker Griffith (Ala.)
Debbie Halvorson (Ill.)
Martin Heinrich (N.M.)
Rep. Steve Kagen (Wis.)
Ashwin Madia (Minn.)
Betsy Markey (Colo.)
Rep. Jim Marshall (Ga.)
Raul Martinez (Fla.)
Eric Massa (N.Y.)
Rep. Harry Mitchell (Ariz.)
Glenn Nye (Va.)
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (N.H.)
Harry Teague (N.M.)
Rep. John Yarmuth (Ky.)

House Republicans/Republican candidates

Reference to party affiliation on homepage or bio

Lou Barletta (Pa.)
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.)
Bill Cassidy (La.)
Rep. Thelma Drake (Va.)
Mike Erickson (Ore.)
Rep. Tom Feeney (Fla.)
John Fleming  (La.)
Rick Goddard (Ga.)
Chris Gorman (La.)
Melissa Hart (Pa.)
Sydney Hay (Ariz.)
Rep. Ric Keller (Fla.)
Rep. Randy Kuhl (N.Y.)
Leonard Lance (N.J.)
Blaine Luetkemeyer (Mo.)
Jim Oberweis (Ill.)
Pete Olson (Texas)
Martin Ozinga (Ill.)
Tom Rooney (Fla.)
Kirk Schuring (Ohio)
David Schweikert (Ariz.)
Rep. Christopher Shays (Conn.)
Ed Tinsley (N.M.)
Sandy Treadwell (N.Y.)
Rep. Tim Walberg (Mich.)
Rep. Don Young (Alaska)

No party reference

Tim Bee (Ariz.)
Jeb Bradley (N.H.)
Rep. Steve Chabot (Ohio)
Greg Davis (Miss.)
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (Fla.)
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (Fla.)
Rep. Phil English (Pa.)
John Gard (Wis.)
Rep. Sam Graves (Mo.)
Chris Hackett (Pa.)
Rep. Robin Hayes (N.C.)
Lynn Jenkins (Kan.)
Rep. Joe Knollenberg (Mich.)
Christopher Lee (N.Y.)
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (Colo.)
Chris Myers (N.J.)
Anne Northup  (Ky.)
Wayne Parker (Ala.)
Erik Paulsen (Minn.)
Rep. Jon Porter (Nev.)
Rep. Dave Reichert (Wash.)
Mike Sodrel (Ind.)