The Geography of Black Candidate Electoral Success

Authors

  • Marcus Allen
  • Marvin King

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.2010.31.0.333-356

Abstract

In this manuscript, we reexamine claims about the geography of electoral success of African American candidates. Barack Obama’s historic election in 2008 prompted journalists, partisans, and scholars to review prior notions of where African American candidates can successfully contend for elected office. Although Obama’s victory is just an anecdotal national example (albeit an important one), we review the available evidence at the state level to understand what factors might impede African American electoral success. Heretofore, the literature focused on the density of the black population, and the interconnectedness of region and white racial attitudes. This paper shows that these old standbys can no longer explain African American electoral success.

References

Barrett, Edith J. The Policy Priorities of African American Women in State Legislatures. Legislative Studies Quarterly 20:223-247. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/440449

Bobo, Lawrence, and Franklin Gilliam, Jr. 1990. Race, Sociopolitical Participation, and Black Empowerment. American Political Science Review 84:377-393. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1963525

Bositis, David A. 1998. The Future of Majority-Minority Districts and Black and Hispanic Legislative Representation. Pp. 9-42 in Redistricting and Minority Representation: Learning from the Past, Preparing for the Future. Washington, DC: Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

Bositis, David A. 2002. Black Elected Officials: A Statistical Summary, 2000. Washington, DC: Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

Brace, Kimball, Bernard Grofman, and Lisa Handley. 1987. Does Redistricting Aimed to Help Blacks Necessarily Help Republicans? Journal of Politics 49:169-185. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2131139

Bullock III, Charles S. 1975. The Election of Blacks in the South: Preconditions and Consequences. American Journal of Political Science 19:727-739. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2110724

Bullock III, Charles S., and Richard Dunn. 1999. The Demise of Racial Districting and the Future of Black Representation. Emory Law Journal 48:1209-1253.

Bullock III, Charles S., and R. Keith Gaddie. 2010. The Triumph of the Voting Rights Act in the South. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Burns, Nancy, Kay Schlozman, and Sidney Verba. 2001. The Private Roots of Public Action: Gender, Equity, and Political Participation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Canon, David. 1999. Race, Redistricting, and Representation: The Unintended Consequences of Black Majority Districts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Citrin, Jack, Donald Philip Green, and David Sears. 1990. White Reactions to Black Candidates: When Does Race Matter? Public Opinion Quarterly 54:74-96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/269185

Conover, Pamela. 1984. The Influence of Group Identifications on Political Perception and Evaluation. Journal of Politics 50:985-1010. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2131388

Davis, Darren, and Ronald E. Brown. 2002. The Antipathy of Black Nationalism: Behavioral and Attitudinal Implications of an African American Ideology. American Journal of Political Science 46:239-252. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3088374

Dawson, Michael C. 1994. Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Engstrom, Richard, and Michael McDonald. 1981. The Underrepresentation of Black on City Councils: Comparing the Structural and Socioeconomic Explanations for South/Non-South Differences. Journal of Politics 44:1088-1199. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2130675

Fenno, Richard. 2003. Going Home: Black Representatives and Their Constituents. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226241326.001.0001

Feree, Myra. 1974. A Woman for President? Changing Responses: 1958-1972. Public Opinion Quarterly 38: 390-399. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/268175

Gay, Claudine. 1999. Choosing Sides: Black Electoral Success and Racially Polarized Voting. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. Atlanta.

Gay, Claudine. 2001. The Effect of Black Congressional Representation on Political Participation. American Political Science Review 95:589-602. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0003055401003021

Grofman, Bernard, and Lisa Handley. 1989a. Black Representation: Making Sense of Electoral Geography at Different Levels of Government. Legislative Studies Quarterly 14:265-279. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/439760

Guinier, Lani. 1994. The Tyranny of the Majority: Fundamental Fairness in Representative Democracy. New York: Free Press.

Hajnal, Zoltan. 2001. White Residents, Black Incumbents, and a Declining Racial Divide. American Political Science Review 95:603-617. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0003055401003033

Henry, Charles. 1982. Racial Factors in the 1982 California Gubernatorial Campaign: Why Bradley Lost. Pp. 76-94 in The New Black Politics, 2nd ed., eds. Michael B. Preston, Lenneal J. Henderson, Jr., and Paul L. Puryear. New York: Longman.

Hero, Rodney and Caroline Tolbert. 1995. Latinos and Substantive Representation in the U.S. House of Representatives: Direct, Indirect, or Nonexistent? American Journal of Political Science 39:640-652. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2111648

Highton, Benjamin. 2004. White Voters and African American Candidates for Congress. Political Behavior 26:1-25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:POBE.0000022341.98720.9e

Jones, Charles, and Michael Clemons. 1993. A Model of Racial Crossover Voting: An Assessment of the Wilder Victory. Pp. 1128-1146 in Dilemmas of Black Politics: Issues of Leadership and Strategy, ed. Georgia Persons. New York: HarperCollins.

Lublin, David. 1997. The Paradox of Representation: Racial Gerrymandering and Minority Interests in Congress. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

McDermott, Monika L. 1998. Race and Gender Cues in Low-Information Elections. Political Research Quarterly 51:895-918. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/449110 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/106591299805100403

Moskowitz, David and Patrick Stroh. 1994. Psychological Sources of Electoral Racism. Political Psychology 15: 307-329. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3791741

Newman, Brian and John Griffin. 2005. Does Descriptive Representation Produce Political Equality? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago.

Philpot, Tasha, and Hanes Walton. 2007. One of Our Own: Black Female Candidates and the Voters Who Support Them. American Journal of Political Science 51:49-62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00236.x

Pollock, Philip H. 2005. The Essential of Political Analysis. Washington, DC: CQ Press.

Preuhs, Robert R. 2006. The Conditional Effects of Minority Descriptive Representation: Black Legislators and Policy Influence in the American States. Journal of Politics 68:585-599. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2508.2006.00447.x

Reeves, Keith. 1997. Voting Hopes or Fears? White Voters, Black Candidates and Racial Politics in America. New York: Oxford University Press.

Schreiber, E.M. 1978. Education and Change in American Political Opinions on a Woman for President. Public Opinion Quarterly 42:171-182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/268486 http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/268441

Shingles, Richard. 1981. Black Consciousness and Political Participation: The Missing Link. American Political Science Review 75:76-91. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1962160

Sigelman, Carol, Lee Sigelman, Barbara Walkosz, and Michael Nizt. 1995. Black Candidates, White Voters: Understanding Racial Bias in Political Perceptions. American Journal of Political Science 39:243-265. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2111765

Sigelman, Lee and Susan Welch. 1984. Race, Gender, and Opinion toward Black and Female Presidential Candidates. Public Opinion Quarterly 48:467-475. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/268843 http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/268895

Sonenshein, Raphael J. 1990. Can Black Candidates Win Statewide Elections? Political Science Quarterly 105:219-241. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2151024

Squire, Peverill. 1992. Challenger Quality and Voting Behavior in U.S. Senate Elections. Legislative Studies Quarterly 17:247-263. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/440060

Tajifel, Henri. 1978. Differentiation Between Social Groups: Studies in the Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. London: Academic Press.

Tate, Katherine. 2003. Black Faces in the Mirror: African Americans and Their Representatives in the U.S. Congress. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Terkildsen, Nayda. 1993. When White Voters Evaluate Black Candidates: The processing Implications of Candidate Skin Color, Prejudice, and Self-monitoring. American Journal of Political Science 37:1032-1053. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2111542

Voss, D. Stephen, and David Lublin. Black Incumbents, White Districts: An Appraisal of the 1996 Congressional Elections. American Politics Research 29:141-182.

Williams, Linda F. 1990. White/Black Perceptions of the Electability of Black Political Candidates. National Political Science Review 2:45-64.

Yates, Jeff, and Richard Fording. 2005. Politics and State Punitiveness in Black and White. Journal of Politics 67:1099-1121. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2508.2005.00352.x

Murray, Richard, and Arnold Vedlitz. 1977. Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Voting Participation in Large Southern Cities. Journal of Politics 39:1064-1072. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2129944

Piliawsky, Monte. 1989. Racial Politics in the 1988 Presidential Election. The Black Scholar 20:1-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00064246.1989.11412915

Downloads

Published

2011-01-01

Issue

Section

Articles