The Effect of Gentrification on Urban Majority-minority Districts.

• In Event: Who Represents Whom in Local Elections

Abstract

Majority-minority districts are drawn to create opportunities for politically cohesive minority communities to elect their candidates of choice to Congress, state legislatures, and city councils. Gentrification has the potential to change electoral dynamics in many majority-minority urban neighborhoods, as wealthier white voters displace minority voters. In this paper we examine the effects of gentrification on majority-minority districts in several cities. Using a mix of census data, voter files, and precinct-level election results, we compare the voting behavior of minority voters to the new white voters moving to these districts, and assess the effects of gentrification on both general elections and primaries. Our results have important implications for understanding elections in gentrifying neighborhoods and for the drawing of new majority-minority districts following the 2020 census.

Authors

• Katherine Levine Einstein, Boston University

• Maxwell B. Palmer, Boston University