The Trent Lott Effect Strikes Again

From Marc Korman.

As everyone knows by now, the Trent Lott Effect struck again last week when Al Wynn announced his early retirement from Congress. As I discussed in a previous post, the Trent Lott Effect is named after the former Mississippi Senator who decided to leave the Senate less than a year into his six year term to go lobby. Other recent examples of the Trent Lott Effect are Congressman Richard Baker leaving Congress halfway through his term to lobby for the hedge fund industry.

On the one hand, Al Wynn’s move was understandable. He was handily defeated in the February Democratic primary and needs a new job. I do not think anyone is surprised anymore by a legislator choosing to lobby in their post-elected office career.

On the other hand, Wynn could have handled the situation much differently. One approach would be to resign immediately upon lining up a new job, not waiting three more months. Those three months will be filled with conflicts of interest and raise the question of what Wynn is still doing in Congress, representing his new firm or his constituents.

But even better, Wynn could have followed the example set so far by the other losing Maryland incumbent. Like Wynn, Wayne Gilchrest lost his primary yet he shows no sign of abandoning his job before it is done, in January of 2009. It is not as though job opportunities will not be available to Al Wynn then. Democrats are heavily favored to still control Congress, could control the White House, and Wynn will still be a former member of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. The best course would have been for Wynn to hold off on the job hunt until his current job was done.

Wynn’s move has opened a new front in the legislator to lobbyist migration. First, we had legislators who went into lobbying after their terms ended, either due to electoral defeat or retirement. Two examples of that type of migration are former District 16 Delegate Gil Genn and former Louisiana Senator John Breaux. Second, we had legislators retiring during their terms for the specific purpose of lobbying, for example former District 18 Delegate John Hurson and Trent Lott. Now, Al Wynn has presented a case of a legislator who loses reelection but still has significant time remaining in his term, and resigns to lobby.

There are plenty of ethical issues presented by what Wynn has chosen to do. But there are also issues of district representation. When a vacancy requires a special election, as all House of Representatives vacancies do, a district can be without a voice for extended periods of time. When a legislator dies in office, that problem is unavoidable. In the case of Al Wynn or Richard Baker, it is easily avoidable and a disservice to their constituents to leave their district’s without a representative.

Al Wynn may have lost the 2008 Democratic primary, but he won the 2006 general election. Winning that election did not only give Wynn the privilege of representing the 4th Congressional District in Congress until January of 2009, it also gave him the obligation to do so. Legislators at all levels should be wary of following his example. If the people give you the honor of their vote, you should give them the honor of your full service.