List and discuss the reasons why campaigns in Texas are so expensive.

Answer 1

Hi there! Another important thing to keep in mind when we consider Texas elections is the size of Texas. While Americans generally think of Texas as one among 50 different states, Texas' population is 29.2 million, which means that Texas has more people than most other countries in the world.

Its geographic size is nothing to sneeze at either. At 268,596 square miles, Texas would be the 40th largest country on Earth if it were an independent nation.

Finally, and most importantly, Texas has an incredibly large economy. If it were its own country (which, given the deregulation of state economies by the US government, it almost is), it would have the 10th largest economy in the world.

Both the population and geographic size exorbitantly increase the cost of campaigns. Additionally, if we consider campaigns to be bids for control over Texas' incredibly large economy, it makes sense that these campaigns would become incredibly expensive.

Texas Population: https://www.populationu.com/us/texas-population#:~:text=Texas%20population%20in%202021%20is,state%20in%20US%20after%20California.

Country Populations: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/

Texas Size: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas

Country Sizes: https://www.worldometers.info/geography/largest-countries-in-the-world/

Texas GDP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Texas#:~:text=It%20has%20a%20gross%20state%20product%20of%20%241.887%20trillion%20as%20of%202019.&text=As%20a%20sovereign%20country%20(2016,ranking%2026th%20in%20the%20nation.

Answer 2

A major reason elections are so expensive is due to the way in which campaigns fundraise. This website goes more into detail on the extent to which federal legislation and supreme court cases have resulted in campaigns becoming so expensive.

https://www.thepolicycircle.org/minibrief/campaign-finance/