The Impact of Candidate Gender and Quality in Gubernatorial Elections

• In Event: Gender Dynamics on the Campaign Trail and in the Statehouse

Abstract

What role does candidate quality play in determining the success of women gubernatorial candidates? While previous studies have incorporated candidate quality in conjunction with candidate gender, these factors are rarely combined in analyses of gubernatorial elections and executive elections more broadly. Further, measures of candidate quality typically exclude non-political experience, limiting our understanding of what types of quality are important determinants in electoral outcomes. Using two original datasets to conduct a two-part observational analysis, one of gubernatorial primary elections and one of gubernatorial general elections from 1974-2018, I examine the relationship between gender and candidate quality in determining how successful women are across the electoral process. I theorize that women face an electoral bias wherein they do not benefit from being well-qualified as much as men do, and when they are less qualified, they face a higher penalty than men do. This analysis serves to examine one potential barrier women face in ascending to executive offices, which has lagged behind women’s representation in other branches of government.

Author

• Megan Kennedy, Penn State University