Traditional studies of political participation assume an electoral environment in which voters decide between two White candidates, and find Latino citizens less politically engaged. Given the growth in the number of Latino candidates for office over the past 20 years, this article tests whether ethnicity impacts Latino voting behavior. I argue that the presence of a Latino candidate mobilizes the Latino electorate, resulting in elevated voter turnout and strong support for the co-ethnic candidates. Although some research provides a theoretical basis for such a claim, this article brings together a comprehensive body of empirical evidence to suggest that ethnicity is salient for Latinos and provides a coherent theory that accounts for the empowering role of co-ethnic candidates. Analysis of recent mayoral elections in five major U.S. cities reveals that Latinos were consistently mobilized by co-ethnic candidates.

http://mattbarreto.com/papers/mayoral_apsr.pdf

İSí Se Puede! Latino Candidates and the Mobilization of Latino Voters

There has been extensive research into the extent to which voters utilise short cuts based on gender and race stereotypes when evaluating candidates, but relatively little is known about how they respond to other background characteristics. We compare the impact of candidates' sex, religion, age, education, occupation and location/residence through a survey experiment in which respondents rate two candidates based on short biographies. We find small differences in the ratings of candidates in response to sex, religion, age and education cues but more sizeable effects are apparent for the candidate's occupation and place of residence. Even once we introduce a control for political party into our experimental scenarios the effect of candidate's place of residence continues to have a sizeable impact on candidate evaluations. Our research suggests that students of electoral behaviour should pay attention to a wider range of candidate cues.

/pdf/what-voters-want-reactions-to-candidate-characteristics-in-a-26xbis60q9.pdf

What Voters Want: Reactions to Candidate Characteristics in a Survey Experiment

In November 1996, voters cast ballots for candidates running for 57 seats on 15 community advising and zoning boards in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Voters had little knowledge about the candidates ...

Gender, Ethnicity, and Ballot Information: Ballot Cues in Low-Information Elections:

This study tests the theory of politicized ethnic identity’s shaping Latino political behavior. The authors consider whether candidate quality moderates the effects of political ethnic attachments on co-ethnic candidate preferences. Ordered logistic regression models are developed to predict Latino voter preferences for co-ethnic candidates with varied degrees of qualification. Candidate quality significantly mitigates collective ethnic political behavior, yet the authors find Latinos with strong ethnic attachments remain inclined to prefer a co-ethnic even when less qualified than a non-Latino candidate. Political ethnic identity theory is useful in explaining minority political behavior, but there are boundaries to collective identity’s shaping political preferences.

Take One for the Team? Limits of Shared Ethnicity and Candidate Preferences

Little empirical research has investigated the influence of racial identification on Latino vote choice. This article examines this relationship controlling for socioeconomic and demographic factors. I argue that because race is central in determining the life chances and social positions of groups in the United States, racial self-identification influences the Latino voter's decision to cast a ballot for a coethnic candidate over a non-Latino candidate. Ordered probit models show that race is a significant predictor of Latino vote choice. The findings raise interesting questions about Latino bloc voting, candidate preference, and participation more broadly.

Racial Identity and Latino Vote Choice

Most research on Latino voting behavior conclusively finds that as a group, Latinos vote at lower rates than other racial and ethnic groups in the United States. In this article, we argue that give...

Mario Villarreal

Papers

Metropolitan Latino Political Behavior: Voter Turnout and Candidate Preference in Los Angeles