1

Stephan Jaksch

Professor Dinan

POL 218

17 February 2017

Effect of Constituency on Tom Rooney’s Presentation Style and Washington Activities

Tom Rooney is a Republican Congressman representing the 17th Congressional District

in Florida. He represents the southern central part of Florida which covers 9 counties. The issues

that Rooney focuses on while in Washington and his presentation style can mostly be accredited

to his primary and reelection constituency. The issues that he focuses on when he is in

Washington include agriculture, national security issues, and veteran’s affairs. His involvement

with agriculture can be traced to the importance that farming and cattle farms have to his

constituents (especially his primary constituency). Many of his primary supporters and reelection

supporters rely on agriculture as a source of income and thus, he is very involved in these

activities in Washington. Shown through the bills he sponsors and cosponsors, Rooney is also a

strong advocate for helping veterans and service members. This likely comes from the high

percentage of veterans and active duty members in his district. Rooney himself worked at West

Point and was a military prosecutor, which likely also influences his interest in veterans and

national security matters. In addition, Rooney has shown to be generally bipartisan in working

with Democrats to cosponsor and pass legislation in certain areas, especially in national security

and veterans matters. His presentation style heavily focuses on supporting his constituents with

different services such as assisting them navigate the VA, Social Security Administration, and

many other federal programs. Rooney calls these mobile office hours and has his staff set up

temporarily for a day in different areas in his district every so often. This is most likely the
 2

results of having a large retired or near retired population and where these sizeable veterans’

groups need help in retrieving their benefits from the federal government.

Member Constituencies

Rooney’s geographic constituency largely consists of suburban, lower middle class

citizens. 58.0% of Rooney’s constituents have income of less than $50,000 per year while the

poverty rate in the district is fairly high at 18.1% (Cohen et al. 470). The constituents of this

district have lower median incomes, are less educated, and live in more rural or suburban areas

when compared to surrounding districts. The 17th Congressional District of Florida includes 9

counties with Charlotte County holding about 23% of the district’s population (Cohen et al. 470)

Most of the other counties that the 17th Congressional District holds are much more rural when

compared to Charlotte County. The 17th Congressional District is 22.9% urban while 19.35% of

the district is rural with the rest being suburban (Cohen et al. 470). Thus, the vast majority of the

constituents of the 17th district are from suburban or rural areas and are not from urban regions.

The constituents of the 17th Congressional District also have a high percentage of older citizens.

26.3% of citizens in his district are above 64 while 36.4% are between 35 to 64 (Cohen et al.

470). The population of the 17th district has a fairly high percentage of the elderly and a lower

percentage of middle aged and youth citizens. The 17th Congressional District’s geographic

constituency is more elderly, white, lower middle class, and rural. Thus, the constituency as a

whole is favorable terrain for a Republican as many of these traits are attributed to Republican

supporters.

Before Rooney moved to his current district, he ran in the Republican primary in the 16th

Congressional District in 2008, which covered eight counties from Palm Beach County to

Charlotte County. Rooney won the Republican primary over the next challenger by only 1,005
 3

votes while Rooney beat the next closest challenger by 1,789 votes in Charlotte County (Bennett

1B). Rooney’s primary constituency was rooted in Charlotte County in 2008 while he was in the

16th Congressional District. Similarly, Rooney’s experience with running in Charlotte carried

him to an easy primary victory in 2012 in the newly created 17th Congressional District.

Furthermore, “Rooney credited his experience working with the agricultural industry, including

his position as chairman of a U.S. House agricultural committee” (Rossetter 7B) for his primary

win in 2012. In his current district, Rooney relies on citizens in the agricultural industry in his

primary constituency as the rural areas of the 17th district are “dominated by cattle farms and

others that produce citrus, tomatoes, and vegetables” (Cohen et al. 470). Rooney expresses and

discusses agricultural and environmental issues relating to agriculture extensively throughout his

campaigns and time in office and thus, those citizens in these sectors are a large part of his

primary base. His primary base is composed of very conservative voters as well as those voters

who are in more rural areas and rely on the agricultural industry for income. Of course, his

primary base is also a large portion of his reelection constituency as well.

Rooney’s reelection constituencies include those from his primary constituency in

addition to many of the other registered Republicans and conservatives in the district. Rooney

defeated his democratic opponent by a margin of 63% to 37% (Cohen et al. 469) in 2014. This

was a huge victory for Rooney and demonstrates the large amounts of voters who are in his

reelection constituency. Even though “Republicans maintain a 5-point registration advantage in

the district,” (Cohen et al. 470) in actuality that advantage is much larger as demonstrated by

Rooney winning by an almost 20% margin in 2012 and by Mitt Romney and John McCain easily

carrying the district in their presidential elections (Cohen et al. 469). Many of the citizens of the

17th district who voted for McCain or Romney in previous election cycles, likely support
 4

Rooney as well. The voter margins that Rooney receives and that presidential candidates receives

are very similar which points to a similarity between the voters for Rooney and recent

Republican presidential candidates. His reelection constituency includes many citizens who live

in suburban and rural areas who are conservative, lean conservative, or are independents. Since,

the voters in this district have traits and characteristics that are more likely to be associated with

Republicans and since Rooney wins reelection with large margins, there are more voters in

Rooney’s reelection constituency than those who are not.

Home Style

Rooney mostly utilizes two presentation styles when in his district. Rooney first uses a

personal style when campaigning and engaging with his constituents. When campaigning in his

slightly altered district which now includes southern Sarasota County, “Rooney mainly steered

away from political talk and said he wanted Sarasotans to get a sense of who he is” (Bergen 1)

while giving a speech to a crowd. Instead of focusing on policy and his positions on issues,

whether controversial or not, Rooney talked about himself, his upbringing, and who he was as a

person. Rooney uses a personal style when campaigning and when talking with his constituents.

There was not too much information regarding his campaigning style over his last few reelection

bids, but some information was found.

The utilization of a personal style while campaigning in his Congressional District which

covers parts of central Florida can be explained by his primary and reelection constituency which

is comprised of many rural voters. As stated before, 19.2% of citizens in his district live in rural

areas (Cohen et al. 470). These voters like to know the type of Representative they are electing.

In addition to policy stances, the morals and values of a candidate that rural voters elect is

extremely significant as it demonstrates parts of the candidate’s character that a vote or policy
 5

stance cannot. Rural voters care deeply about how they feel about the person they are electing.

That is not to say that policy stances are not important, but that a personal style has a large

impact on rural voters. Thus, a positive impression of a Congress member when talking with

constituents about himself and about the lives of the constituents can impact a voter’s perception

tremendously. A personal style also allows voters who do not know a lot about policy and issues

to talk with a Congress member and leave the conversation with more information compared to a

policy discussion.

Rooney also uses a service style as well. Over the course of his time as a Congress

member, he held mobile office hours in different areas of his large district. Rooney announced

mobile office hours in which his staff would set up walk in hours where they would assist

constituents with problems regarding “the VA, issues with the VA, the Social Security

Administration and other federal agencies” (“Rooney Announces Mobile Office Hours in

Wauchula”).

Rooney’s home style is very congruent with his constituencies and for the most part can

be explained because of his constituencies. Rooney’s service style can be explained by the high

level of veterans and military members and elderly in his district. Those who are in the military

or are veterans may need assistance navigating the federal bureaucracy to receive benefits within

the VA. Thus, using his staff to assist any and all veterans with problems they may have

receiving healthcare is extremely useful to a sizeable portion of his geographic constituency.

Likewise, the elderly in his geographic constituency may need help in retrieving Social Security

benefits. Thus, offering mobile office hours for the elderly ensures that they receive the

assistance they need from Tom Rooney. There is also a large portion of 35 to 64 year olds in his

district which signifies that there are many citizens coming close to retirement age and thus,
 6

these office hours can benefit them too if they have questions about the process of receiving

Social Security. Furthermore, moving these mobile office hours all around his district in different

counties and cities ensures that all constituents have a chance to talk with his staff to solve their

problems with the federal government. The service style helps all citizens (particularly several

unique groups) with problems ensure that their problems and questions are solved by Rooney

and his staff. Thus, when a citizen is helped by Rooney and his staff, that citizen will have him to

thank for the assistance and will likely lead that person to having a positive view of Rooney.

Washington Activities

Tom Rooney is an active Congress member, who has served on various committees,

worked with many House members (both Democrats and Republicans), and has listened to the

concerns of his constituents. The committees Tom Rooney is on include the Appropriations

Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (“Committee Assignments”).

Rooney’s involvement with the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence aligns with his

geographic constituency as a large portion of his constituents are either veterans or military

service members that are very interested in national security issues. Thus, with Rooney being a

member of this committee, he is able to demonstrate to this important group that he is educated

and an authority on national security issues in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, Rooney’s

involvement with the Appropriations Committee allows him to appeal to his conservative base in

his district which would like to see less government spending.

Rooney’s personal voting and his stances on issues remains fairly conservative,

especially among economics. The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) gave Tom Rooney a

3% approval rating during the 2014 year (Cohen et al. 469). This rating is not surprising as

Rooney is a strong advocate for farmers in his district regardless of the environmental impact
 7

that these farming practices may have on the land. The American Conservative Union (ACU)

gave Rooney a 76% rating for the 2014 year while the Americans for Democratic Action gave

Rooney a 0% rating for 2014 (Cohen et al. 469). The 0% rating is in contrast to the

bipartisanship that Rooney demonstrates on several issues and therefore is an outlier in the

research presented. The ACU seems very accurate and the rating given to Rooney can be

understood by his reelection and geographic constituency as his district is largely Republican and

conservative leaning.

As recently as January 2017, Rooney by introducing the Preventing Crimes Against

Veterans Act with Ted Deutch (D-FL) demonstrates that he works with any Congressman,

regardless of party, to pass legislation pertaining to veterans and other issues that he can find

common ground on (“Washington: Rooney, Deutch - Team Up To Protect Veterans”). On

February 6, 2017, Rooney made a joint statement and an introduction of legislation with two

different House Democrats regarding Lockheed Martin with John Larson (“Washington:

Rooney, Larson Statement on Lockheed’s F-35 Announcement”) and fair hiring practices with

Alcee L. Hastings (“Washington: Hastings and Rooney Introduce Resolution Encouraging Fair

Hiring Practices”). This cosponsorship of a bill and joint statement are just a few of the most

recent examples of his willingness to work across the aisle with Democrats. Tom Rooney

through his terms “has been unusually adept in working with Democrats on issues of common

interest” (Cohen et al. 471). Rooney has been working with Democrats on creating legislation

and discussing important issues since his first election. The bipartisanship exhibited by Rooney

is unusual for most House members, especially those who live in uncompetitive Congressional

Districts like Rooney. His district has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+10 (Cohen et al. 470)

which signifies that this district leans heavily Republican. Thus, Rooney’s tendency to work with
 8

Democrats likely comes from himself and not his relationship to his constituents. Tom Rooney’s

Congressional District is safely Republican, but he works across the aisle with Democrats fairly

frequently. The district Rooney represents is fairly Republican, but Rooney regularly cosponsors

bills with other Democrats. This factor cannot be explained by the constituency of his district.

Working across the aisle and trying to solve issues is most likely a personal choice made by

Rooney.

However, when issues arise that directly impact his primary or reelection constituency,

Rooney remains very partisan. Rooney in 2015 responded to EPA legislation that would allow

the EPA the authority to regulate more bodies of water, by stating in a press release that

“‘complying with the EPA's new rules would cost Florida farmers, families and local

governments billions of dollars’” (“Rooney: Protecting Florida Farms from EPA Power Grab”).

Rooney often attacks and goes against the EPA when their legislation would negatively impact

or burden the farmers in his district. Since his primary constituency is made largely of rural

farmers of all kinds, speaking out against the EPA helps Rooney gain support among this

important group in his district. In addition, Rooney sent out a press release that signaled his

support for the repeal of Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements for meat products by

stating that the bill to repeal this legislation “‘is critical to avoiding a trade war that could

devastate Florida's farmers and ranchers, hamper our state's economic growth, and damage

agriculture and manufacturing industries across the country’" (“Protecting Florida Ranchers,

Farmers from Trade War”). Rooney’s explanation of why he is voting to repeal the COOL

requirements demonstrates that he is always contemplating how laws and regulations will affect

farmers of any kind in his district. Laws or regulations that deal with any sort of agricultural

production that arise in Congress will likely be important votes for Rooney and he would likely
 9

vote on the legislation according to how the farmers in his district want him to vote as they are

an integral part of his primary constituency.

Similarly, Rooney in 2015 “voted in favor of the Department of Homeland Security

Appropriations Act, legislation that funds critical security and law enforcement programs while

blocking implementation of the President's executive order on immigration” (“Rooney Votes to

Defund Executive Amnesty, Strengthen National Security”) explaining that his constituents were

against President Obama’s executive action on immigration. His stance on immigration and law

enforcement programs can be traced to his reelection constituency which is heavily conservative

and Republican. Stances like the one mentioned on immigration can be traced back to his

reelection constituency in his district. Of course, Rooney is also a conservative and likely

believes what his constituents do, but Rooney discusses what his constituents want when he

explains his votes. Thus, his votes on issues are congruent with his constituencies. Rooney’s

explanations for most of his voting behavior on issues like spending, immigration, environmental

regulation, and agriculture are that his constituents (primarily reelection constituency) want a

certain position to be taken on bills and issues and Rooney will follow what his constituents

want.

Overall, some of Rooney’s Washington activities can be explained by his constituency

whereas some of his actions, most notably working across the aisle, is likely a personal choice.

Most of Rooney’s Washington activities are congruent with his constituencies and can be

explained by understanding the various constituencies under Tom Rooney. His committee work

appeals to his conservative and Republican base as would his voting record on bills that come

through the House of Representatives. Unlike many partisan members in the House, Rooney is

bipartisan and works with Democrats whenever he can to advance legislation or make joint
 10

statements about important issues. His presentation style in his district focuses on a service style

and a personal style when talking with constituents and campaigning. These styles fit well with

the Congressional District that Rooney represents. While in Washington, Rooney is a strong

supporter for farmers and veterans and those in the armed forces as his district is made up of a

high percentage of each of these groups. Rooney enjoys high levels of support in his district as

evidenced by his high reelection margins and this is likely because his district is largely

Republican and that he votes on key issues which appease the groups that support him the most.
 11

Works Cited

Bennett, George. “Rooney’s Western Strategy Pays Off.” Palm Beach Post, 28 August 2008, p.

1B. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.

Bergen, Katy. “Rooney visits area he hopes to represent | The Okeechobee Republican’s district

is changing to include part of Sarasota County.” Sarasota Herald Tribune, 22 January

2016, p. 1. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.

Cohen, Richard E., et al. The Almanac of American Politics 2016: Members of Congress And

Governors: Their Profiles and Election Results, Their States and Districts. Bethesda,

MD: Columbia Books, Inc, 2015. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 19 Feb. 2017.

“Committee Assignments.” Thomas J. Rooney. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.

https://rooney.house.gov/about-tom/committee-assignments

“Protecting Florida Ranchers, Farmers from Trade War.” US Official News. (May 23, 2015):

425 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.

“Rooney Announces Mobile Office Hours in Wauchula.” US Official News. (May 7, 2015): 156

words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.

“Rooney: Funding Announcement Critical to Fighting Citrus Disease.” US Official News.

(February 10, 2015): 713 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.

“Rooney: Protecting Florida Farms from EPA Power Grab.” US Official News. (May 16, 2015):

258 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.

Rossetter, Shelley. “Rooney set for Decisive Victory.” Tampa Bay Times, 15 August 2012, p.

7B.

“Washington: Hastings and Rooney Introduce Resolution Encouraging Fair Hiring Practices.”
 12

US Official News. (February 6, 2017): 381 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 19 Feb.

2017.

“Washington: Rooney, Deutch - Team Up to Protect Veterans.” US Official News. (January 16,

2017): 435 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.

“Washington: Rooney, Larson Statement on Lockheed’s F-35 Announcement.” US Official

News. (February 6, 2017): 272 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.