Matthew J. Streb

Teams without Uniforms: The Nonpartisan Ballot in State and Local Elections

The use of a nonpartisan ballot was one of the many Progressive reforms introduced around the turn of the century that is still heavily used today. The intent of the change to a nonpartisan format was, and still is, to remove party cues from a voters decision, thereby causing the voter to seek out other information about a candidate. This study seeks to examine the effects of nonpartisan elections on patterns of voter decisionmaking. We examine the structure of electoral choice in partisan and nonpartisan elections at the state and local levels using paired comparisons and interrupted time series. Using precinct and district level voting data, we compare mayoral races in the sister cities of Champaign and Urbana (IL) and state legislative elections in Nebraska and Kansas. In addition, we examine the city of Asheville (NC) during its change from partisan to nonpartisan elections in the early 1990s and state legislative elections in Minnesota during its change from nonpartisan to partisan contests in the early 1970s. The analysis of these cases helps us to understand the effects of removing party identification from the ballot. We find that nonpartisanship depresses turnout and that in nonpartisan contests voters rely less on party and more on incumbency in their voting decisions. The nonpartisan ballot “works,” but how one evaluates the results depends on ones view of the electorate and the purpose of elections.

The Partisan Heuristic in Low-Information Elections

Much literature has focused on the influence of partisan information on voter decision making. In this article, we attempt to gain a better understanding of this effect by comparing the survey responses of vote-choice questions that provide party labels and those that do not. We show that less educated survey respondents are substantially less likely to express a vote preference when party labels are not available to them. In addition, we also find evidence that those who can state a vote intention in nonpartisan races are less able to link their candidate choice to their party identification. We conclude by demonstrating that, when surveys do not provide partisan cues, the small number of re- spondents who are willing to state their vote intentions and the large number of those who appear to be guessing create great difficulties for pollsters trying to predict election results.

Conditions for Competition in Low-Information Judicial Elections: The Case of Intermediate Appellate Court Elections

Although much work has examined the conditions for competition and incumbent defeat in high-visibility elections, scholars have conducted little research on these conditions for less visible offices. We look at one particular type of low-information election: those to state intermediate appellate courts (IAC). Using a comprehensive data set of all IAC elections involving incumbents from 2000 to 2007, we estimate models of challenger entry and incumbent success once challenged. Our results comport, in some cases, and diverge, in others, with the findings of studies of more visible judicial and legislative offices.

Voter Rolloff in a Low-Information Context Evidence From Intermediate Appellate Court Elections

Hall notes that ballot rolloff in supreme court races is substantial but not random. Various institutional, election-specific, state, and district-level contextual forces lead rolloff to increase in some cases and decrease in others. However, it is not clear that Halls findings apply to lower-level judicial elections because of the low-information environment in which those elections occur. Analyzing rolloff in 755 intermediate appellate court (IAC) elections from 2000 to 2007, we, with a few deviations, replicate Halls study. The findings indicate that in many ways the variables that affect rolloff in supreme court elections are similar to those in IAC races although some differences do exist.

A New Look at the Republican Advantage in Nonpartisan Elections

Conventional wisdom has long held that Republicans are advantaged when partisan labels are removed from the ballot. However, in this article, the authors argue that the advantage gained from nonpartisan elections favors the minority party because the low-cost partisan cue is hidden from voters who otherwise would be inclined to support majority party candidates. The authors test this hypothesis using aggregate-level data from state legislative races in nonpartisan Nebraska and partisan Kansas, mayoral races in nonpartisan Phoenix and partisan Tucson, and California statewide races including the nonpartisan contest for superintendent of public instruction. Findings indicate that nonpartisan elections have partisan consequences but that the effect is in favor of the minority party rather than the Republican Party.

Paying the Price for a Seat on the Bench: Campaign Spending in Contested State Intermediate Appellate Court Elections

The subject of judicial elections has garnered an increasing amount of attention by scholars over the past decade. Campaign spending in judicial elections has occupied a central focus of this research, but most of this scholarship has examined campaign finance at the state supreme court level. Our study departs from that tradition by examining what factors predict campaign expenditures in 172 contested state intermediate appellate court (IAC) races from 2000–06. The results indicate that the characteristics of the race, institutional factors, and the context of the campaign all influence how much money is spent in IAC elections. Although similar in some respects to state legislative and supreme court elections, notable differences exist as well.

Electing Judges: The Surprising Effects of Campaigning on Judicial Legitimacy, by James L. Gibson: Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2012. 240pp.

terrain resulting from the budget surplus, a booming stock market, and the shifting culture landscape” (p. 236). For scholars of presidential elections who seek to explain campaign outcomes through economic or retrospective voting models, party identification, or the messages offered by the candidates, The Candidate is a reminder that campaigns contain influential organizational elements not reflected in the most popular academic models that attempt to predict the vote. The winning candidate and solid campaign team who supports him or her will understand not only that the economy matters but that the route by which the candidate came to run for the presidency matters as well. In chapter 9, Popkin provides an overview of what is needed to make teams work. He notes that there is no magic formula, but certain elements must be in place in order for the team to help the candidate and to complement his or her strengths. Students, scholars, and practitioners of political campaigns can learn much from The Candidate: What It Takes to Win—and Hold—the White House. Popkin’s writing is clear and compelling. Through the use of historical anecdotes and analysis, Popkin demystifies why some seemingly smart, strong, and charming candidates do not win presidential campaigns. A winning candidate for president must have a winning team behind him or her. Without a flexible yet dedicated team who understands the role by which a candidate came into the race, the candidate will remain just that—a candidate rather than a winner.