Abstract

Research suggests that women who run in elections for state supreme court tend to do well in those elections. However, this begs the question: how do those women fare in judicial primary elections and is the subsequent success just a reflection of a more arduous primary process? Using a unique dataset of judicial primary elections from 1990 through 2016, I establish similarities and differences in the structural process and test hypotheses about the paths women take when running for state supreme court. Taking into account the different structural paths available to women, I find women have an advantage in primary elections in that they are more likely to “win” and move to the general elections. However, I also find incumbent women are more likely to attract women as challengers when running in primary elections, and women are more likely to attract challengers in nonpartisan judicial elections. This finding may be mitigated by differences in the primary process based on state. Overall, I find women do not have a disadvantage in the judicial primaries, and often have an advantage over similarly situated men. As a whole, this work paints a nuanced picture of the ways women are elected to state supreme court. These findings also dispel many assumptions about the disadvantages women are thought to have when running for state supreme court.

摘要

研究表明，参加州最高法院选举的女性往往在这些选举中表现出色。然而，这引出了一个问题：这些女性在司法初选中的表现如何，随后的成功是否只是一个更加艰巨的初选过程的反映？使用 1990 年至 2016 年司法初选的独特数据集，我确定了结构过程中的异同，并检验了有关女性在竞选州最高法院时所采取的路径的假设。考虑到女性可用的不同结构路径，我发现女性在初选中具有优势，因为她们更有可能“获胜”并进入大选。然而，我也发现现任女性在初选时更有可能吸引女性作为挑战者，在无党派的司法选举中，女性更有可能吸引挑战者。这一发现可以通过基于状态的主要过程的差异来缓解。总的来说，我发现女性在司法初选中没有劣势，而且往往比处境相似的男性更有优势。总的来说，这部作品描绘了女性被选入州最高法院的方式的细致入微的画面。这些发现也消除了许多关于女性在竞选州最高法院时被认为处于不利地位的假设。这部作品描绘了女性被选入州最高法院的方式的细致入微的画面。这些发现也消除了许多关于女性在竞选州最高法院时被认为处于不利地位的假设。这部作品描绘了女性被选入州最高法院的方式的细致入微的画面。这些发现也消除了许多关于女性在竞选州最高法院时被认为处于不利地位的假设。