Thirty-seven years. Nineteen terms. A son’s lobbying firm. A killed patient protection bill followed by $54,000 from the opposing lobby. A county constituency that hasn’t seen its congressman in a public meeting since 2017. A missed vote rate above the House median. Tocqueville found something worth writing about in Massachusetts nearly two centuries ago. It was the idea that democracy only survives when representatives remain answerable to the people they serve.

The question for 2026 is whether the summer of surgery absences, the missed votes, and 13 years of low-output incumbency in a city that is younger and more politically engaged than it was in 2012 has created enough of an opening for Gerard or someone else to make this a real race.

He's effective. He's powerful. He's been in Congress since George H.W. Bush was president. And he faces no real threat of losing. That's not a success story, it's a democracy problem. CVI Score: 76/100 — FADING | Primary: June 2, 2026 | District: NJ-6 Frank Pallone Jr. was first elected to Congress in November 1988. That year, the Soviet Union still existed. The Berlin Wall was still standing. Tim Berners-Lee had not yet invented the World Wide Web. The ozone hole was t

"I'm a happy person. God's given me good health, and I know this is what I was meant to do. I want to continue to serve, if the people so choose." — Rep. Marcy Kaptur, June 2025 Marcy Kaptur has dedicated 42 years of her life to public service. She is the longest-serving woman in Congressional history. Her accomplishments are real, her commitment to working-class Ohioans is genuine, and her legacy is substantial. And it's all about to be lost because she wouldn't step aside.

Let me ask you a simple question. If your doctor missed two weeks of work, lost their hospital privileges, had colleagues publicly question whether they could still do the job, and then it came out that they hadn’t voted in six straight elections, including a presidential election, would you keep scheduling appointments with them? Of course not. So why do voters in Georgia’s 13th keep sending David Scott back to Washington? That’s the question we’re asking. And the answer mat