When Do Voters Respond to Campaign Finance Disclosure? Evidence from Multiple Election Types

In recent American elections political candidates have actively emphasized features of their fundraising profiles when campaigning. Yet, surprisingly, we know comparatively little about how financial information affects vote choice specifically, whether effects differ across types of election, and how robust any effects are to other relevant political signals. Using a series of conjoint experiment designs, I compare the effects of campaigns’ financial profiles on vote choice across direct democratic and representative elections, randomizing subjects’ exposure to additional political cues. I find that while the financial profile of candidates can affect vote choice, these effects are drowned out by non-financial signals. In ballot initiative races, the explicit policy focus of the election appears to swamp any effect of financial information. This paper is the first to explore the comparative effects of financial disclosure across election type, contributing to our understanding of how different heuristics interact across electoral contexts.

Why the Opportunity School District Failed? An Examination of Coalitions and the Politics of School Improvement

In this study, we examine coalition building and coordination using a qualitative case study of the coalition opposing a ballot initiative to create a state-run turnaround district in Georgia. The findings highlight three important strategies in coalition building: (a) incorporating new actors, especially noneducation advocacy groups and noneducator groups in education; (b) incorporating noneducation and African American advocacy groups in the leadership of the coalition; and (c) identifying and coalescing around core beliefs early to unite a diverse coalition. Time to organize, prior relationships, and interest group autonomy were key factors in navigating tensions between coalition breadth and coalition cohesion. Salient coalition coordination strategies included the following: (a) “keep it local and grassroots,” and (b) diverse messaging.

Turnout and Amendment Four: Mobilizing Eligible Voters Close to Formerly Incarcerated Floridians

Recent scholarship shows that eligible voters in neighborhoods home to many arrested and incarcerated individuals vote at lower rates than those in less-affected neighborhoods. Little work, however, has investigated how this turnout gap might be counteracted. This paper uses Amendment Four, a 2018 Florida ballot initiative that promised to re-enfranchise most individuals whose voting rights had been revoked due to a felony conviction to investigate whether this turnout disparity can be narrowed by a ballot initiative of particular significance to communities most affected by incarceration. Using prison release records, I identify the neighborhoods and households where formerly incarcerated individuals live and assess the voting history of their neighbors and housemates. I find no evidence that Amendment Four increased these voters’ turnout in 2018 relative to other voters. While ending felony disenfranchisement is necessary, closing the turnout gap resulting from histories of policing and incarceration will require greater investment and engagement.

Defeating JUUL’s Effort to Rewrite San Francisco’s E-Cigarette Regulations

In 2019, San Francisco, California, prohibited the sale of electronic cigarettes lacking US Food and Drug Administration authorization. JUUL then promoted a ballot initiative (Proposition C) to replace San Francisco’s e-cigarette legislation with legislation JUUL wrote that required future legislation to be approved by the voters. JUUL promoted Proposition C as a way to reduce youth e-cigarette use while allowing adult choice. Health groups argued that JUUL’s measure could nullify San Francisco’s prohibition on selling flavored tobacco products. Health groups benefitted from having an established campaign network that recently defended the flavor ban. They successfully framed Proposition C as a tobacco industry ploy to undo San Francisco’s e-cigarette regulations, particularly the prohibition on selling flavored tobacco products. JUUL ended its campaign on September 30, 2019, and the measure failed on election day, with 82% voting against it. Lessons learned from the campaign include the importance of framing an industry initiative as a threat to local public health lawmaking and the potential for the e-cigarette issue to attract parents as new leaders and engage a powerful constituency to support tobacco control measures.

Fighting and Defeating the Charter School Agenda

This chapter examines the dynamics behind a high-profile campaign led by the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA). In 2016, right-wing forces sought to expand charter schools through a ballot initiative. Initially, all signs suggested that the charter expansion would easily pass. The MTA mobilized, and the ballot measure was defeated in a landslide. This chapter identifies several mechanisms that contributed to the teachers' success. Most important, the MTA committed to fighting. Together with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Jobs with Justice, and others, this grassroots coalition defeated Wall Street's money and showed the power of social justice organizing. Fifteen months later, in spring 2018, a string of strikes in red states showed that educators in many places have both the inclination and the capacity to fight, even where teacher strikes are prohibited.