Replication data for: Race, Party, and the Impact of Electoral Influence on Political Participation

The following study is comprised of three essays, each examining a different manner by which race and party impact political participation. Through the analysis of both intra-party primary and inter-party general elections, I find that candidates are more likely to run, and voters are more likely to turn out, when the social groups they belong to comprise a larger portion of the electorate. While race often serves as the key social identity in determining rates of participation, these effects are contingent on partisan forces governing the broader electoral process. First, I reconcile race-based and party-based notions of candidate prospects. I show that candidates are more likely to seek office, and win a party’s nomination, as the district’s ethnic composition tilts in favor of their group. However, at the general election stage, district partisanship subsumes race in determining who wins office. By demonstrating that both race and party determine candidate prospects, but not concurrently, I provide evidence that the influence a sociopolitic al group holds depends on the electoral stage one examines. Second, I explore differences in turnout rates by ethnic group. Previous work suggests minority candidates boost turnout for co-ethnic constituents. Quantifying voter turnout by ethnic group for each congressional district nationwide, I find little evidence of a mobilizing effect of co-ethnic candidates, after accounting for the size of the ethnic group within a district. Instead, minority citizens are more likely to vote as they make up a larger share of the electorate, while non-Hispanic White Republicans may be most sensitive to candidate race. Third, I isolate and track the behavior of primary voters in general elections. I find a significant portion of the primary electorate declines to vote in general elections, and that this demobilization becomes more likely when the general election is uncompetitive. Separating results by voter and candidate race, I also find no evidence that "thwarted" primary voters penalize non co-ethnics. Alternatively, as an ethnic group comprises a larger portion of the primary electorate, the y are more likely to turn out in November. These complimentary findings suggest that candidates can mobilize influential portions of their base, when necessary