Ballot Cues, Business Candidates, and Voter Choices in Local Elections

• Author: Edward L. Lascher,Danielle Joesten Martin,Brian E. Adams
• Date: 01 March 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/1532673X20943559
• Published date: 01 March 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X20943559

American Politics Research

2021, Vol. 49(2) 186 –197

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/1532673X20943559

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Article

Consider two claims about American voters. First, they tend

to make heavy use of simple cues and heuristics, including

information that is present on the ballot itself such as party

identification, gender, and ethnicity (Boudreau et al., 2015;

McDermott, 2005). Second, Americans generally express

strong support in the abstract for candidates with a business

background. A 2014 Gallup Poll found that 81% of

Americans thought that the country would be governed bet-

ter if more people with business and management experi-

ence were in political office (McCarthy, 2014). Similarly,

the 1998 Gallup Democratic Processes Survey found that

nearly a third of respondents thought the political system

would be better if decisions were left to successful business

people (Hibbing & Theiss-Morse, 2002, pp. 137–139). As

one recent study (Coffé & Theiss-Morse, 2016, p. 56) stated,

“Many Americans seem to view successful businesspeople

as capable, competent, and efficient, and unlikely to waste

taxpayers’ money.”

While the first claim about heavy use of cues and heuris-

tics is widely accepted by scholars, it is much less clear that

identification of candidates as businesspeople provides a sig-

nificant behavioral cue—it is one thing for voters to express

support for “running the government like a business” and

quite another to be inclined to support a business candidate

when other choices are available. We know relatively little

about how occupational cues affect voting choices in the

United States or abroad (Coffé & Theiss-Morse, 2016),

though the small body of literature in this area suggests they

may be significant (see especially Crowder-Meyer et al.,

2019; Mechtel, 2014). In the American context observational

research typically is hampered because (outside of California)

occupational background is not listed on the ballot, making it

difficult to determine the impact of simple cues in this area.

The limited available empirical evidence therefore often

comes solely from experimental studies, not combined with

observational data.

To understand the potential impact of occupational cues

generally and the businessperson designation specifically, it

makes sense to focus on voting choices in California. This is

because California allows candidates to list their occupation

on the ballot, something that rarely is permitted in other

states. Candidates generally take advantage of this opportu-

nity, allowing researchers to determine how occupational

designations immediately available to citizens by simply

inspecting their ballots influence voting decisions. In addi-

tion, California law prohibits candidates for local office from

identifying party affiliation on the ballot, thereby removing a

943559APRXXX10.1177/1532673X20943559American Politics ResearchAdams et al.

research-article2020

1San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

2California State University Sacramento, Sacramento, CA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Brian Adams, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive,

San Diego, CA 92182, USA.

Email: badams@sdsu.edu

Ballot Cues, Business Candidates,

and Voter Choices in Local Elections

Brian E. Adams1, Edward L. Lascher Jr.2,

and Danielle Joesten Martin2

Abstract

American voters commonly express abstract support for candidates with a business background, yet there is minimal

systematic evidence about whether it advantages candidates in actual electoral contests. We examine this question using

observational data, drawing on a California law allowing candidates to designate their occupational background on the ballot,

and experimental data. Candidates with a business background are prevalent in California. However, neither of our studies

indicate that business candidates enjoy atypical overall electoral success (although Republican leaning constituencies have

a notably more favorable view of such candidates). A political background predicts electoral success far more effectively.

Further, “small business owners” have more success than other business candidates, suggesting that voters consider the

specifics of a candidate’s business experience. These results advance our knowledge of decision making in low-information

elections, how voters weigh private-sector versus political experience, and how they filter occupational information through

a partisan lens.

Keywords

local elections, voting behavior, voting cues and heuristics