Was the Joke on the Democrats Again? Turnout and Partisan Choice in the 2004 U.S. Election

Authors

  • Michael Martinez
  • David Hill

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.2007.28.0.81-95

Abstract

The peak turnout rate in the 2004 presidential election highlights an important question for students of electoral participation: Did the higher levels of turnout advantage one of the two major party candidates? In this paper, we analyze state and county-level presidential and gubernatorial election results in 2000 and 2004, and find that Bush won the presidential election in spite of, rather than because of, the increase in turnout. The partisan effects of turnout varied across gubernatorial elections, and we found no evidence that local partisan minorities benefited from higher levels of turnout.

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Published

2007-07-01

Issue

Vol. 28: Summer 2007

Section

Articles

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