ORIGINAL

Abstract

Do people disproportionately vote for those who look like them? This paper examines descriptive representation and linked fate in recent Democratic primaries. Specifically, I look at the effect of race and gender on voter preference, as measured by the American National Election Survey, polling data, and individual campaign contributions. Overall, I find that there was a significant effect of shared race and a lesser effect of shared gender on support for a particular candidate. In 2008, I find that Barack Obama benefitted from black support, and Hillary Clinton benefitted to a lesser degree from female support. In 2016, Clinton had an outsize percentage of female support, but not to a statistically significant degree. Finally, among the 12 candidates I examine in 2020, support based on shared race was consistently high, while support based on shared gender was less so. Ramifications and future expansions are discussed.