More than an uphill battle: primary challenges to congressional incumbents

This paper is an examination into the district factors and representative characteristics that lead to challenges of incumbent House members in party primaries. Given the extreme difficulty in defeating incumbent House members, it is expected that rational political actors will gauge the political climate carefully. Partisan dominated districts will be more likely to be the site of inter-party battles as the seats will be of greater value to potential challengers. Members that moderate their views will be more likely to be challenged due to the relative ideological extremity of the respective partisan base