Race, Gender, and Campaign Finance in the 2018 and 2020 elections

• In Event: Gender, Race, and Intersectionality in the US and Europe

Abstract

As the U.S. population grows increasingly diverse, Congress, and particularly Republican members, continue to lag behind in representation of women and minorities. While the 2018 midterm elections ushered in a historically large group of new female and minority congresspeople, barriers still remain to minority candidates trying to run, raise money, and win. Collecting individual candidate data from the 2018 and 2020 congressional campaigns, the authors study the fundraising of political candidates by race, gender, and political affiliation, pairing an email survey in which candidates self-identify race and gender with data on electoral outcomes and political fundraising. While Democrats ran more diverse candidates than Republicans in terms of women and people of color in the 2018 midterms, the Democratic candidate pool was still less diverse than the electorate, particularly in competitive races. Additionally, black women face disadvantages in fundraising, particularly from large individual donors. While women raised more money than men in 2018, much of this increase in female fundraising in 2018 was driven by female candidates raising a disproportionate amount of money from female donors. We also explore the spending patterns of outside spending entities and how these disproportionately attack women and candidates of color regardless of political affiliation. Although the 116th Congress is much more diverse than those prior, there remain significant barriers to disadvantaged groups in running for office. Additionally, we explore how fundraising in primary elections disadvantages candidates of color in Democratic primary contests in the 2020 contests.

Author

• Sarah Bryner, Center for Responsive Politics