Do Local Candidates Succeed by Emphasizing National Issues?

• In Event: Information Flows and Policy Priorities in Local Elections

Abstract

Recent scholarship finds that local elections are becoming increasingly nationalized – that is, outcomes for local offices are increasingly correlated with the vote shares observed in federal elections. But do Americans resist or embrace local candidates who campaign on national issues? In this paper, I present the results from a conjoint experiment that asks a nationally representative sample of Americans to choose between hypothetical candidates for their city or town council. Candidate profiles are randomly assigned to emphasize their position on either a local or a national issue. Results from the experiment will indicate whether voters are more likely to choose candidates when they campaign on national versus local issues, thereby providing insight into the question of whether voters reinforce or resist the increasing nationalization of local elections.

Author

• Brian F. Schaffner, Tufts University