# An elected official resigns mid term - will that affect your vote? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 30, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elected-official-resigns-mid-term-will-that-affect-your-vote/702950 "2014-10-30T00:00:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elected-official-resigns-mid-term-will-that-affect-your-vote/702950/1 "2014-10-30T00:00:46Z")
Inspired, of course, by Sara Palin, but not about her. An elected official resigns from one position, for the sake of argument about dead center into it. You probably voted for this person. The resignation is not due to a scandal. Say this politician runs for another office, or for the SAME office. How much would the resignation play into your vote. To be fair, let’s say this is a primary election, and you belong to that party. If this should be in IMHO, please move it. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elected-official-resigns-mid-term-will-that-affect-your-vote/702950/2 "2014-10-30T00:25:13Z")
It depends on why they resigned, so I can’t give you an answer without knowing context. If they resigned because they were desperately ill, I would certainly consider voting for them after recovery. Likewise, if they resigned one office to take another position in government (say, a governor resigning to take a position in the president’s cabinet), I’d think long and hard, but would not automatically rule out voting for them. If they resigned to take a gig as a talk show host, forget about it. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elected-official-resigns-mid-term-will-that-affect-your-vote/702950/3 "2014-10-30T00:56:57Z")
Yeah, context is everything. It’s very common to resign so that you can pursue the election. I don’t see this as a big problem. Since the OP specifies that there’s no scandal involved, I’ll go ahead and say that the resignation has no effect on my decision to vote. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elected-official-resigns-mid-term-will-that-affect-your-vote/702950/4 "2014-10-30T01:55:34Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > If they resigned because they were desperately ill, I would certainly consider voting for them after recovery. Likewise, if they resigned one office to take another position in government (say, a governor resigning to take a position in the president’s cabinet), I’d think long and hard, but would not automatically rule out voting for them. If they resigned to take a gig as a talk show host, forget about it. Right: In order to decide, I need an explanation. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elected-official-resigns-mid-term-will-that-affect-your-vote/702950/5 "2014-10-30T02:32:46Z")
Since the OP was inspired by Sarah Palin I assume there was no acceptable reason for the departure mid-term. IMHO a candidate who runs for office is making a commitment to serve if elected. No way I would vote for that person again if they quit because they couldn’t stand the heat.