September 18, 2024 2:13PM # The Benefits to Politicians of Pandemic Payouts By [Jeffrey Miron](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-miron) --- SHARE Listen to this article Generated with [ ElevenLabs](https://elevenlabs.io/) AI technology. Loading the [Elevenlabs Text to Speech](https://elevenlabs.io/text-to-speech) AudioNative Player... A standard assumption about elected officials is that they act in the best interests of their constituents. Perhaps that is true in some cases, but more generally they seem motivated by [self-interest](https://www.cato.org/research-briefs-economic-policy/aid-incumbents-electoral-consequences-covid-19-relief): > In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the US government transferred nearly $1 trillion in aid to state and local governments—the largest influx of federal money in response to a public health or financial crisis in history. The goal was to stabilize the economy while providing states with the necessary resources to address the public health crisis. > > However, our research finds that this aid had another effect: increasing the electoral chances of incumbent politicians. Nationwide, incumbents and their parties won 90 percent of gubernatorial and Senate elections during the pandemic, a substantial improvement from their 81 percent win rate in the years leading up to the pandemic. This result does not, by itself, prove the pandemic payouts were a mistake. It does, however, suggest the amounts were excessive, and not well-aligned to their best uses. *This article appeared on [Substack](https://jeffreymiron.substack.com/) on September 18, 2024.* ##### Related Tags [Politics and Society](https://www.cato.org/politics-society), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).