Safe seats plus entrenched tenure plus no credible challengers produces a representative who answers to no one. The voters of West Virginia have not had a real choice in a Senate race in a long time. They deserve one.

Safe seats do not produce accountability. They produce longevity. The design of American congressional districts, combined with the structural advantages of incumbency, means that a member can hold power for decade after decade without ever facing a real election. That is not a flaw in the system. For many members, it is the whole point.