Why is Mayor Quimby still mayor?

Question

In spite of being corrupted, why has Mayor Quimby from The Simpsons not been replaced from the position of mayor yet. We have seen him taking bribes from Fat Tony, again some theft from tax money. So what is the reason that he is still the mayor of Springfield?

I know that he is largely just supposed to be funny, like many other characters that still have their jobs despite their incompetence (e.g. Chief Wiggum, Dr. Nick, Otto, ...). But apart from this, has it ever been adressed inside the show itself why Springfield fails to either recognize Quimby's inappropriateness for the job or do anything against it? Or is this left entirely unadressed as part of the joke around his character?

Answer 1

He usually runs unopposed. The only time he did run against anyone he lost but that was to Sideshow Bob. Quimby was re-instated when Bob is found guilty of fraud and imprisoned. He also survives a recall election, with no candidate in the race against him garnering the five percent necessary to force a recall

Answer 2

While the Simpsons absolutely exist "in the now" they never age within their own universe. So I think it's fair to say that in addition to perpetual state of age, that it'd make sense to have perpetual state of employment by default.

There's also the practical issue of these voice actors already having a whole lot on their plate. That they have this many voices is pretty amazing...but likely the upper limit.

Answer 3

The Simpson's is an "episodic" series not a a "serial", like many situation comedies. Very often in an episodic series events in one episode often have no or little impact on future episodes. You could ask why homes that were blown up in one episode are back in the next for instance.