Still, the re-election rate for Congressional incumbents - 98 percent - is extraordinarily high.

Last year the re-election rate for incumbents was 100 percent.

And it's become worse in the last decade with a re-election rate of 98 percent for House members.

It's no wonder that the Legislature's re-election rate has been around 99 percent for decades.

But the legislative re-election rate in Albany is 98 percent.

Democrats counter that incumbents have always had high re-election rates.

The re-election rates for 1980 and 1982 were about 90 percent, considerably lower than in recent years.

The laws have contributed, many critics say, to an incumbent re-election rate that is among the highest of any state in the nation.

Still, the re-election rate for House incumbents in the last two elections was 98 percent.

It is not by accident that the re-election rate is more than 98 percent.