Journal of Social Science for Policy Implications

Where Do Women Run? A Case for the Study of “Women Friendly Districts” in State Legislative Primaries
Nathan K. Mitchell, Billy Monroe

Abstract
This study explores the political, institutional, and socio-demographic factors that contribute to the entry of women candidates in state legislative primaries. Using a dataset constructed from 49 partisan state legislative primary elections from 2001- 2010, a binary time series cross-sectional logistic model is used to determine which factors are independently related to the probability of a woman candidate running for office. Women candidates run in districts that have a higher income, more professional people, are typically in cities with a higher urban population. Women candidates typically do not run in states with more professionalized legislatures, but are more likely to run in districts that are in session longer. Women are more likely to be present in districts where there is a lot of competition for a seat, i.e. multimember districts. The electoral environment that women face is different than men.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jsspi.v2n4a3