Money In and Money Out: The Effects of Race and Gender on Campaign Finance

The role of campaign finance in the success of a candidate is undeniable. Research currently examines the role of race and gender as separate actors in determining how well candidates are able to fund their campaigns. This project uses an intersectional framework arguing that race and gender together combine to influence the kinds of money candidates receive as well as where and how they spend it. Using data from 2006 and 2008 Congressional election cycles, this analysis takes a first step in determining well how Black women and Latinas are able to fund campaigns for the House of Representatives. The results indicate that these two groups of women resemble neither the women and politics literature on campaign finance or the minority politics literature on campaign finance. Women of color occupy a unique space in campaign finance due to the simultaneous effects of race and gender in electoral politics