Understanding female candidates and campaigns for governor

The under-representation of women in American political institutions is emerging as an area of study in political science. The low percentage of women legislators and U.S. Representatives has been examined in great detail over the last decade. However, female candidates for state governorships have been largely overlooked in previous analyses. This project examines the process of women running for governor in order to discern: (1) how and why women formulate upward ambition from lower offices to state governorships; (2) why women act on their ambition and enter gubernatorial races and (3) how female gubernatorial candidates run their campaigns compared to their male counterparts. In this research, I construct original data sets of the population of female candidates for gubernatorial primaries and general elections, campaign issues stressed by both male and female candidates over a decade time period, as well as interviews with previous gubernatorial candidates and former governors. This dissertation examines the entire process of running for governor, from ambition formation, to entering the gubernatorial race, to running the election. Ultimately, this comprehensive analysis of the campaign process for state governorships offers a theoretical understanding of how statewide cultural and societal characteristics, as well as gender stereotypes impact the decision making process for female candidates