While it is generally believed that favors and games of influence are an inherent part of the legislative process, the empirical evidence remains limited. This paper uses data on US federal earmarks, which are discretionary budget items that were allocated to members of Congress. Exploiting an exogenous discontinuation of earmarks, the paper estimates their effects on voting behavior and elections in the House of Representatives over the period 2007-2010. The results show that Representatives systematically traded votes against earmarks, aligning themselves with their party’s leadership, because earmarks helped them win elections. Accordingly, the results indicate that the earmark stoppage weakened party voting discipline and intensified electoral pressure, which favored an increase in the influence of special interests.