The politics and impact of party leader visits in Australia.

Local visits by party leaders are an integral part of election campaigning around the world. In the age of media-driven elections, do they matter? How are local contests selected for a visit? Most importantly, what effect do they have on the vote? Using a unique dataset covering local visits by the major party leaders during the 2013 and 2022 Australian federal election campaigns, we address these questions. We find that marginality is the main criterion for selecting a seat for a visit, followed by its geographical location. Leader visits in 2013 mattered more to the vote than in 2022. We explain the differences between the two elections and the four leaders by the relative standing of each of the leaders among voters. Overall, we conclude that the electoral impact of a leader visit is modest and context-dependent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]