University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Supervised Undergraduate Student Research Baker Scholar Projects and Creative Work 5-2016 Political Implications of Medicaid Expansion: A Decision for Five Incumbent Southern Governors Seeking Re-election in 2014 and 2015 Samuel R. Henninger University of Tennessee, Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_bakerschol Recommended Citation Henninger, Samuel R., "Political Implications of Medicaid Expansion: A Decision for Five Incumbent Southern Governors Seeking Re-election in 2014 and 2015" (2016). Baker Scholar Projects. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_bakerschol/33 This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Supervised Undergraduate Student Research and Creative Work at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Baker Scholar Projects by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Political Implications of Medicaid Expansion: A Decision for Five Incumbent Southern Governors Seeking Re-election in 2014 and 2015 By Samuel R. Henninger A senior thesis submitted to fulfill the requirements of the Howard H. Baker Jr. Policy Scholars Program at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. May 2016 Thesis Supervisor: Professor William F. Fox Henninger 1 I. Introduction Research Question If winning re-election is the only goal of an incumbent politician, should the governors of five states—Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee—have accepted Medicaid expansion prior to the Republican primaries in 2014 (AL, GA, SC, TN) and 2015 (MS)? Argument If winning re-election is the only goal of an incumbent politician, the governors of five states—Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee—should not have accepted Medicaid expansion prior to the Republican primaries in 2014 (AL, GA, SC, TN) and 2015 (MS).