ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that with competitive, ideological primaries becoming increasingly common, those incumbents fortunate enough to win reelection are responding to these challenges by shifting their legislative behavior to signal to the electorate and potential primary challengers that they are not only responsive, but also are more ideologically extreme than previously thought. It demonstrates that members who face ideological primary challenges are certainly responsive to these signals from their constituents when they return to Congress. The amount of financial support behind ideological primary challengers, coupled with the primary electorate's dissatisfaction with the status quo and moderate policies, likely contributed to the large increase in ideological primary challenges. It is worth exploring how ideological primary competition influences the behavior of the incumbents lucky enough to be reelected to Congress. Ideological primaries have consequences and these types of primaries, above and beyond the typical competitive versus non-competitive dichotomy, need to be taken seriously by the parties, incumbents, and voters.
