Abstract
Using quantitative methods, this article seeks to explore the electoral fortunes of black high-profile statewide candidates in the South. In doing so, we examine both the correlation between vote support for black candidates across counties, as well as the relationship between voter support and the influence of candidate characteristics, such as political apprenticeship, party support, money, incumbency, and media endorsement on electoral support. Although we find that there is a core of white voters who will vote against a black gubernatorial or US Senatorial candidate no matter the circumstance, several unexpected and interesting developments emerge that have profound consequences for the election of future Southern black high-profile statewide hopefuls.
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Notes
The words black and African American are used interchangeably according to sound and context.
Deval Patrick was re-elected governor of Massachusetts in 2010.
One reviewer of this article questioned why the authors did not examine the 2006 US Senate race in Tennessee. The answer is simple: (1) because the sample was randomly selected and (2) even if that particular election had been selected, it is so obvious that race-baiting on the part of the Republican candidate impacted some white voters who could not stand the thought of Congressman Ford partying with white women at the Playboy mansion that any examination of that race would have undoubtedly revealed what most students of politics already know. The Republicans unleashed an ad that featured a scantily clad white woman telling the viewer how she’d meet Ford at a party at the Playboy’s mansion. At the end of the ad, the woman winks at the camera and tells Ford to give her a call. This ad raised latent fears among southern whites who were probably not entirely comfortable with the thought of a Black U.S. Senator representing their state. It has often been said, that the greatest fear of many southern whites is the dating of a white woman by a Black man.
Alan Keyes also lost a US Senate election in Illinois in 2004.
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The term High-Profile Statewide Office was coined by the first author 15 years ago to describe the offices of governor and US Senate.
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Jeffries, J.L., Wavro, M.A. Can African Americans Win High-Profile Statewide Offices in the South? A Study in Southern Inhospitality. J Afr Am St 15, 415–432 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-010-9152-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-010-9152-z