The Political 43rd District

The first step in understanding a campaign is to understand the district, and to use the district to understand the candidates, and vice versa. The candidates’ view of his district will at least indirectly determine whether and why he becomes a candidate. It will shape his beliefs about his chances of success in the race, and thus will determine in no small part the strategies adopted for the campaign, and the methods used to carry out these strategies. We will explore points of view of both Mr. Czerwonka and the incumbent Mr. Owens, in their own words about the district, and use that information to better understand the circumstances that followed and the results on Election Day. Both Owens and Czerwonka’s responses followed a line of thought that compared themselves favorably with their prospective constituency.