Jumping on the Trump Train or Ditching the Donald: Campaign Rhetoric and the 2016 Congressional Election

The 2016 general election presented an unusual challenge to Republican congressional candidates: whether to market one's campaign as aligned with or against Donald Trump's controversial candidacy. In this paper, we determine what district and member-level factors influence candidate endors...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of political marketing Vol. 18; no. 1-2; pp. 4 - 30
Main Authors Hayden, Jessica M., Rhinehart, Sarina, Crespin, Michael H.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Philadelphia Routledge 03.04.2019
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Campaigns
Candidates
Congress
Congressional elections
elections
Endorsements
Jumping
Legislative districts
Partisanship
Political campaigns
President
Presidential candidates
Rhetoric
Trump
Voting
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Summary:The 2016 general election presented an unusual challenge to Republican congressional candidates: whether to market one's campaign as aligned with or against Donald Trump's controversial candidacy. In this paper, we determine what district and member-level factors influence candidate endorsements of Trump for president. Second, we study if the endorsements hurt candidates on Election Day. We find that underlying political partisanship, as measured by Mitt Romney's 2012 vote share in congressional districts, predicts much of incumbents' support for Trump, and that candidates' support did not harm them in the general election.
ISSN:1537-7857
1537-7865
DOI:10.1080/15377857.2018.1478650