The Cost of the Dance-Card: Women Candidates, The Price of Campaigning, and the Representation Shortfall.

The lingering shortfall in the representation of women in state government may be due to differences in the campaign finance process for gubernatorial candidates. Prior research at the legislative level, has found that female candidates tend to raise as much as men and, in some cases, their campaign receipts exceed those of their male counterparts (Burrell 1994; Darcy et al. 1994; Werner 1997). However, Sanbonmatsu (2009) and Jenkins (2007) find that women believe the fundraising process will be more difficult. In addition, Jenkins (2007) finds that female candidates must ask more sources for money in order to keep pace with male candidates. Thus, it is possible that women still face obstacles, whether perceived or real, within the realm of campaign finance. Although the campaign finance process has been examined extensively within the field, the bulk of this research has been conducted within the legislative branch at the state and federal level. This leaves many unanswered questions about the potential for campaign fundraising to impede the success of female gubernatorial candidates. In this paper, we seek to gain a broader understanding of the role of campaign finance in gubernatorial elections and how gender, party, and candidate status might impact the fundraising process. In particular, we try to answer some basic questions revolving around the cost of women successfully campaigning for office. Are there differences between male and female candidates in the amount they raise overall and in the number of contributors to their campaigns? Are there differences in the sources of campaign finance from which they draw? In other words, are there differences in the level of support each candidate gains from the political party, from labor unions, from business sources, etc.? We explore the answers to these questions with an examination of campaign finance records across 35 states during the 2014 election cycle. When examining differences between male and female candidates without regard to candidate status, we find that male gubernatorial candidates raise more in total receipts and from the finance, general business, labor, construction, defense and ideology/single-issue sectors. This holds true for male candidates regardless of the method of election or the party affiliation of the candidate. When controlling for candidate status, female challengers repeatedly out raise male challengers while a mixed picture emerges for open seat candidates and incumbents. In addition, we find that women often have more records relative to men, meaning that women raise their sums from a larger number of donors relative to men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]