Factors Affecting Local Public Officials' Decisions to Seek Reelection

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Abstract
Data were collected from a sample of 946 elected officials serving jurisdictions in 79 nonmetropolitan counties of Ohio to examine factors that are predictive of public officials' decisions to seek reelection. Review of current literature on occupational stress and burnout provided the means of identifying variables used to build a theoretical perspective based on selected components of social learning theory. The study findings demonstrated that the theoretical model had limited utility for explaining the phenomenon under investigation. The level of stress reported by respondents was a poor predictor of willingness of the officials to seek reelection. Family and jurisdictionbased support systems were shown to be the best explanatory factors included in the model. It is suggested that future research on elected leaders' decisions to seek reelection should place more emphasis on symbolic support factors.

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