Boosted and Branded: Congressional Advertising With Constituents

Members of Congress have an unprecedented number of ways to communicate with constituents, and this article examines the evolving strategies of representation by focusing on how members use paid advertising to engage with their districts. Prior research offers competing explanations for lawmakers' communication strategies—one ascribed to asymmetric patterns of partisan politics and another to electoral constraints. Drawing on a dataset of franked communications by House members from 2018 to 2024, we investigate the factors driving variation in these representation investments. Our findings reveal distinct patterns in paid advertising, with junior lawmakers and electorally vulnerable members investing in constituent outreach. Additionally, the composition of franked communication has changed over time as digital advertising and SMS outreach have become primary tools for constituent communications. By integrating insights from prior research on electoral security and tenure, this study highlights the diversification of congressional communication methods and the asymmetric dynamics shaping their use. Ultimately, this analysis provides new perspectives on how Congress adapts its communication strategies to navigate the challenges of representation in a rapidly changing technological landscape.