Replication data for: Elections and the Regression-Discontinuity Design: Lessons from Close U.S. House Races, 1942-2008

We present evidence suggesting that sorting in close House elections is due mainly to activities on or before Election Day rather than post-election recounts or other manipulation. The sorting is so strong that it is impossible to achieve covariate balance between matched treated and control observations, making covariate adjustment a dubious enterprise. Although RD is problematic for post-war House elections, this example does highlight the design’s advantages over alternatives: RD’s assumptions are clear and weaker than model-based alternatives, and their implications are empirically testable.