Abstract
From David Axelrod to Karl Rove, political consultants have come to play a crucial role in American elections, and yet we know little about how they influence the political process. In particular, consultants serve as an important part of the web of informal relationships that play an important role in contemporary parties. Using data from Politics magazine (formerly Campaigns & Elections), we present the first systematic analysis of the networks of Republican and Democratic consultants and their House and Senate general election clients from 1992-2008. After introducing the characteristics of these networks, we estimate a spatial lag model demonstrating that campaigns' positions in the network of campaign consultants influences the strategies they use. We then show that consultants whose clients achieve significant electoral victories become increasingly central to the consultant-candidate network in the subsequent election cycle. In this way, consultants play a crucial role in helping parties successfully adapt to changing electoral circumstances.