How Many Communications from Constituents Does a Congressmember Get?

[MineralMan]

It's an interesting question, but not easy to answer. However, I did find recent information from one Congressman, Dr. Dan Benisheck from Michigan's 1st district. According to a report on all communications from constituents through the entire year of 2012, he received 55,238 individual communications from constituents. That comes to 4603 per month or 153 per day in a 30-day month.

I only have that one report, so I don't know if that's typical or more or less than others receive. His district is the most northern district in Michigan and is mostly rural, so it may be that other congress members receive more communications than he does. I don't know.

And yes, I know he's a Republican. It was the only such report I found in a quick Google search, and it had actual numbers.

In any case, I can't calculate how many person-hours it would take to deal with that many communications each day. Maybe someone who deals with clerical paper flow might have an idea.

[Walk away]

1. I have no answer to you question but I wonder how many of those are "robo" emails.

These days any group can start an email burst by having their members send a prepared letter or email by clicking on a site and entering a name and email address. Do they mean more or less than personal letters and phone calls?

[MineralMan]

2. I have no idea. The details weren't there,

breaking them down in any way. Just that annual total. It wasn't easy to find, either. And I have no idea about his district, so I don't know if it's typical. Next time I talk to Betty McCollum, I'll ask her how many her office gets. She represents almost all of St. Paul, MN and some suburban cities. Busy place. She's busy, too, so I'm not going to bother her with this question right now.

[MineralMan]

3. From other sources, I can give you some idea.

Phone calls just get tallied, and the same goes for communications you make in the form on the Congress member's website. Emails to the member's actual email address (not easy to find) are looked at more closely, and paper letters get the most attention of all.

Congress members work on a numbers basis, mostly. They have form letter responses for the most common issues, but do answer communications more directly if there isn't a form letter response for that particular issue. It's unusual for a representative to answer anything personally, though. It happens, but pretty much only if you have an established relationship with that representative, or your communication is exceptional in nature.

[Walk away]

4. Thanks!

It pay to know your issue and write about it personally. That's good to know. I always worry that everything gets jumbled together. It's nice to know so many people are interested enough to communicate with their representatives.