Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T10:17:02.021Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Similarities and Differences in Support of Minority and White Republican Candidates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Scott H. Huffmon ,
H. Gibbs Knotts  and
Seth C. McKee
Scott H. Huffmon
Affiliation:
Winthrop University
H. Gibbs Knotts
Affiliation:
College of Charleston
Seth C. McKee*
Affiliation:
Texas Tech University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Seth C. McKee, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX. E-mail: sc.mckee@ttu.edu
Get access

Abstract

History has shown that voters tend to support candidates of their own race. This reality has proven particularly challenging for black candidates who have often had difficulty running for office in majority white electorates. However, the vast majority of research on this topic has focused on minority Democrats, not minority Republicans. In this study, we take advantage of a unique set of circumstances in South Carolina's (SC's) 2014 elections where voters had the opportunity to cast ballots for an Indian-American Republican Governor and an African-American Republican Senator. Additionally, the presence of a white Republican Senator seeking reelection provides an important comparison case for determining if there is significant variation in support of these candidates given their different racial profiles, but shared party affiliation. Using unique data from The Winthrop Poll, we find that the determinants of approving of, and voting for, minority Republican candidates, are quite similar to support for the white Republican candidate. It appears that party and ideology are foremost in guiding approval and vote choice decisions among voters in contemporary American politics. Hence, even in SC, support for minority Republicans approximates that given to a white Republican.

Keywords

2014 electionsminority RepublicansSouth Carolina (SC)The Winthrop Poll
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 91 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © The Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bass, Jack, and Nelson, Jack. 1996. The Orangeburg Massacre. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.Google Scholar
Becker, John F., and Heaton, Eugene E. Jr. 1967. “The Election of Senator Edward W. Brooke.” Public Opinion Quarterly 31 (3): 346–58.Google Scholar
Bejarano, Christina, and Segura, Gary. 2007. “What Goes around, Comes around: Race, Blowback, and the Louisiana Elections of 2002 and 2003.” Political Research Quarterly 60 (2): 328–37.Google Scholar
Black, Earl, and Black, Merle. 2002. The Rise of Southern Republicans. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Bullock, Charles S., and Dunn, Richard E.. 1999. “The Demise of Racial Districting and the Future of Black Representation.” Emory Law Journal 48 (Fall): 1209–53.Google Scholar
Canon, David T. 1999. Race, Redistricting, and Representation: The Unintended Consequences of Black Majority Districts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Citrin, Jack, Green, Donald Philip, and Sears, David O.. 1990. “White Reactions to Black Candidates: When Does Race Matter?” Public Opinion Quarterly 54 (1): 74–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, John C., Kellstedt, Lyman A., Smidt, Corwin E., and Guth, James L.. 2013. The Soul of the South: Religion and Southern Politics in the New Millennium. In The New Politics of the Old South, eds. Bullock, Charles S. III and Rozell, Mark J.. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 291–312.Google Scholar
Highton, Benjamin. 2004. “White Voters and African American Candidates for Congress.” Political Behavior 26 (1): 1–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Highton, Benjamin. 2011. “Prejudice Rivals Partisanship and Ideology When Explaining the 2008 Presidential Vote across the States.” PS: Political Science and Politics 44 (3): 530–35.Google Scholar
Hillygus, D. Sunshine, McKee, Seth C., and Young, McKenzie. 2015. “Reversal of Fortune: The Political Behavior of White Migrants to the South.” Manuscript.Google Scholar
Hood, M. V. III, Kidd, Quentin, and Morris, Irwin L.. 2015. “Race and the Tea Party in the Old Dominion: Split-Ticket Voting in the 2013 Virginia Elections.” PS: Political Science and Politics 48 (1): 107–14.Google Scholar
Hood, M. V. III, and McKee, Seth C.. 2010. “What Made Carolina Blue: In-Migration and the 2008 North Carolina Presidential Vote.” American Politics Research 38 (2): 266–302.Google Scholar
Hood, M. V. III, and McKee, Seth C.. 2015. “True Colors: White Conservative Support for Minority Republican Candidates.” Public Opinion Quarterly 79 (1): 28–52.Google Scholar
Key, V. O. Jr. 1949. Southern Politics in State and Nation. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Dale-Riddle, Allison. 2012. The End of Race? New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Knuckey, Jonathan. 2010. “Beyond the Politics of Race? Explaining the Vote in Recent Louisiana Gubernatorial Elections.” Politics & Policy 38 (2): 285–305.Google Scholar
Lublin, David. 1997. The Paradox of Representation: Racial Gerrymandering and Minority Interests in Congress. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Lynch, Matthew. 2012. “Before Obama: Remembering Black Reconstruction Era Politicians.” Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-lynch-edd/reconstruction-black-politicians_b_1256914.html (Accessed February 8, 2012).Google Scholar
McCarty, Nolan, Poole, Keith T., and Rosenthal, Howard. 2006. Polarized America: The Dance of Ideology and Unequal Riches. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
McDermott, Monika L. 1998. “Race and Gender Cues in Low-Information Elections.” Political Research Quarterly 51 (4): 895–918.Google Scholar
McKee, Seth C., and Teigen, Jeremy M.. 2016. “The New Blue: Northern In-Migration in Southern Presidential Elections.” PS: Political Science and Politics. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
McKee, Seth C., and Springer, Melanie J.. 2015. “A Tale of ‘Two Souths’: White Voting Behavior in Contemporary Southern Elections.” Social Science Quarterly 96 (2): 588–607.Google Scholar
Reeves, Keith. 1997. Voting Hopes or Fears? White Voters, Black Candidates, and Racial Politics in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schaffner, Brian F. 2011. “Racial Salience and the Obama Vote.” Political Psychology 32 (6): 963–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schreckhise, William D., and Shields, Todd G.. 2003. “Ideological Realignment in the Contemporary U.S. Electorate Revisited.” Social Science Quarterly 84 (3): 596–612.Google Scholar
Sigelman, Carol K., Sigelman, Lee, Walkosz, Barbara J., and Nitz, Michael. 1995. “Black Candidates, White Voters: Understanding Racial Bias in Political Perceptions.” American Journal of Political Science 39 (1): 243–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skinner, Richard, and Klinkner, Phillip A.. 2004. “Black, White, Brown, and Cajun: The Racial Dynamics of the 2003 Louisiana Gubernatorial Election.” The Forum 2 (1): Article 3.Google Scholar
Skocpol, Theda, and Williamson, Vanessa. 2012. The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sonenshein, Raphael J. 1990. “Can Black Candidates Win Statewide Elections?” Political Science Quarterly 105 (2): 219–41.Google Scholar
Stephens-Davidowitz, Seth. 2013. “The Cost of Racial Animus on a Black Presidential Candidate: Using Google Search Data to find what Surveys Miss.” Manuscript.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strickland, Ruth Ann, and Whicker, Marcia Lynn. 1992. “Comparing the Wilder and Gantt Campaigns: A Model for Black Candidate Success in Statewide Elections.” PS: Political Science and Politics 25 (2): 204–12.Google Scholar
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 (4): 1032–53.Google Scholar
Tesler, Michael, and Sears, David O.. 2010. Obama's Race: The 2008 Election and the Dream of a Post-Racial America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Theriault, Sean M., and Rohde, David W.. 2011. “The Gingrich Senators and Party Polarization in the U.S. Senate.” Journal of Politics 73 (4): 1011–24.Google Scholar
Traugott, Michael W., and Price, Vincent. 1992. “A Review: Exit Polls in the 1989 Virginia Gubernatorial Race: Where Did They Go Wrong?” Public Opinion Quarterly 56 (2): 245–53.Google Scholar
White, Steven. 2014. “The Heterogeneity of Southern White Distinctiveness.” American Politics Research 42 (4): 551–78.Google Scholar