In conclusion, the broad case of residency and its affect on a political campaign, whether national, state, or local, proves that it is a case by case basis, usually having more emphasis in larger district-wide campaigns, like the Scott DesJarlais and Grant Starrett campaign for United States Congress in the 4th District of Tennessee. Then aspects of more localized elections were explored with former Nashville Mayor’s Phil Bredesen and Karl Dean, and current Mayor Megan Barry. In all three of their instances, their lack of residency did not hinder their success in being elected. Phil Bredesen was the only candidate who seemed to struggle before securing the nomination and election due to his northern roots. The case for Al Gore and failing …show more content…
Ted Cruz had a more interesting battle, a legal one, showing the dominance of the residency issue on a national scale. His case study is the most unique as the backings of many judges, attorney generals, and lawyers alike have concluded that he is indeed a nationalized citizen and is eligible to run for the office of President of the United States of America. Residency has continually played a major role in Senator Cruz’s nomination path, with the fire continually being stoked by his main contender, Donald Trump. The issue of residency plays a role, as we have explored, in the beginning steps of a campaign for office. Senator Cruz and then Mayor Phil Bredesen are the only two exceptions in which the battle was drawn out past three to four month marks on a campaign. Residency claims either failed to ignite or died down after the candidate was able to establish himself or herself as a serious contender, like Hillary Clinton and Robert Kennedy in their New York Senate runs. Congressman Scott DesJarlais and Grant Starrett are the exception to the establishment analysis. Mr. Starrett just celebrated his one-year mark since announcing his campaign for Congress and his California roots are still plaguing the …show more content…
Through the analysis of candidates for national, state, and local politics, residency issues are raised as an age-old political tactic used by incumbents and challengers alike to question whether an opponent is qualified for the job or sufficiently focused on home state concerns. A last example of residency playing a role in which a lost election was the outcome was in the case of Senator Richard Lugar (R-Indiana). The Hoosier State’s former senior senator lost reelection in 2012 after news reports revealed that he stayed in hotels whenever he visited Indiana and kept his primary home in Virginia. Making matters worse, “Lugar did not seem to heed the warnings of GOP strategists, who had warned him that he might lose if he didn’t aggressively tackle the appearance of being disconnected from his home state. Lugar didn’t think he had to worry-he had won reelection with more than 67 percent of the vote since 1982” (O’Keefe, 2014). But ultimately, the residency issue contributed to his downfall. He was defeated in a GOP primary by Richard Mourdock, who went on to lose to Senator Joe Donnelly