We examine why levels of campaign spending vary across U.S. mayoral elections. Although there has been debate about the extent to which spending is damaging or beneficial, few analyses have sought to understand the factors that inhibit or promote campaign spending. We focus on the impact of city-level attributes, political institutions, and contest-specific factors and find that a number of the variables we consider have important effects on campaign spending, including local government form, term length, scope of local government, an experienced candidate pool, and open seat and runoff elections. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for local policy makers.
AbramowitzAlan. 1991. Incumbency, campaign spending, and the decline of competition in U.S. house elections. Journal of Politics53:34–56.
2.
AnziaSarah. 2011. Election timing and the electoral influence of interest groups. Journal of Politics73:412–27.
3.
BardwellKedron. 2003. Campaign finance laws and the competition for spending in gubernatorial elections. Social Science Quarterly84:811–25.
4.
BardwellKedron. 2005. Reevaluating spending in gubernatorial races: Job approval as a baseline for spending effects. Political Research Quarterly58:97–106.
5.
BashamPatrick. 2001. Assessing the term limits experiment: California and beyond. Cato Institute Policy Analysis413: 1–28.
BonneauChris. 2005. What price justice(s)? Understanding campaign spending in state supreme court elections. State Politics and Policy Quarterly5:107–25.
8.
BonneauChrisHallMelinda Gann. 2009. In defense of judicial elections. New York: Routledge.
9.
Box-SteffensmeierJanetTobin GrantJ.. 1999. All in a day’s work: The financial rewards of legislative effectiveness. Legislative Studies Quarterly24:511–24.
10.
ColemanJohn. 2003. The benefits of campaign spending. CATO Institute Briefing Papers84:1–9.
11.
DavisSusan. 1988. Goals and strategies of political action committees. Polity21:167–82.
12.
DowJawEndersbyJames. 1994. Campaign contributions and legislative voting in the California assembly. American Politics Quarterly22:334–53.
13.
FranciaPeterHerrnsonPaul. The synergistic effect of campaign effort and election reform on voter turnout in state legislative elections. State Politics and Policy Quarterly4:74–93.
14.
FrederickBrianStrebMatthew. 2008. Paying the price for a seat on the bench: Campaign spending in contested intermediate appellate court elections. State Politics and Policy Quarterly8:410–29.
15.
GierzynskiAnthonyBreauxDavid. 1991. Money and votes in state legislative elections. Legislative Studies Quarterly16:203−17.
16.
GreenDonald P.KrasnoJonathan S.. 1988. Salvation for the spendthrift incumbent. American Journal of Political Science32:884–907.
17.
GreenDonald P.KrasnoJonathan S.. 1990. Rebuttal to Jacobson’s new evidence for old arguments. American Journal of Political Science34:363–72.
18.
GrierKevin B.1989. Campaign spending and senate elections, 1978-84. Public Choice63:201–20.
19.
HajnalZoltan. 2010. America’s uneven democracy: Turnout, race, and representation in city politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
20.
HajnalZoltanTrounstineJessica. 2005. Where turnout matters: The consequences of uneven turnout in city politics. Journal of Politics67:515–35.
21.
HajnalZoltanTrounstineJessica. Forthcoming. What underlies urban politics? Race, class, ideology, partisanship, and the urban vote. Urban Affairs Review. doi: 10.1177/1078087413485216.
22.
HallMelinda GannBonneauChris. 2008. Mobilizing interest: The effects of money on citizen participation in state supreme court elections. American Journal of Political Science52:457–70.
23.
HallMelinda GannBonneauChris. 2013. Attack advertising, the White decision, and voter participation in state supreme court elections. Political Research Quarterly66:115–26.
24.
HessFrederickLealDavid. 2005. School house politics: Expenditures, interests, and competition in school board elections. In Besieged: School boards and the future of education politics, ed. HowellWilliam, 228–53. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
25.
HibbingJohnBrandesSara. 1983. State population and the electoral success of US senators. American Political Science Review27:808–19.
26.
HoganRobert. 1999. Campaign spending in state legislative primary elections. State and Local Government Review31:214–20.
27.
HoganRobert. 2000. The costs of representation in state legislatures: Explaining variations in campaign spending. Social Science Quarterly81:941–56.
28.
HoganRobert. 2013. Campaign spending and voter participation in state legislative elections. Social Science Quarterly94:840–64. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2012.00897.x.
29.
HoganRobert E.HammKeith E.. 1998. Variations in district-level campaign spending in state legislatures. In Campaign finance in state legislative elections, edited by ThompsonJoel A.MoncriefGary F., 59–79. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
30.
HolbrookThomas M.WeinschenkAaron C.. Forthcoming. Campaigns, mobilization, and turnout in mayoral elections. Political Research Quarterly. doi: 10.1177/1065912913494018
HolbrookThomas M.McClurgScott. 2005. The mobilization of core supporters: Campaigns, turnout, and electoral composition in United States presidential elections. American Journal of Political Science49:689–703.
33.
JacobsonGary. 1978. The effects of campaign spending in congressional elections. American Political Science Review72:469–91.
34.
JacobsonGary. 1990. The effects of campaign spending in house elections: New evidence for old arguments. American Journal of Political Science34:334–62.
35.
JacobsonGary. 2009. The politics of congressional elections. 7th ed. New York: Pearson Longman.
36.
JacobsonGary. 2012. The politics of congressional elections. 9th ed. New York: Pearson Longman.
37.
JacobsonGaryKernellSamuel. 1983. Strategy and choice in congressional elections. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
38.
KrebsTimothy. 1998. The determinants of candidates’ vote share and the advantages of incumbency in city council elections. American Journal of Political Science42:921–35.
39.
KrebsTimothy. 2005. Urban interests and campaign contributions: Evidence from Los Angeles. Journal of Urban Affairs27:165–75.
OliverJ. Eric. 2012. Local elections and the politics of small-scale democracy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (With Shang Ha and Zachary Callen).
42.
PooleKeithRomerThomas. 1985. Patterns of political action committee campaign contributions to the 1980 campaigns for the US House of Representatives. Public Choice47:63–111.
43.
RoscoeDouglasJenkinsShannon. 2005. A meta-analysis of campaign contributions’ impact on roll call voting. Social Science Quarterly86:52–68.
44.
SeabrookNicholas. 2010. Money and state legislative elections: The conditional impact of political context. American Politics Research38:399–424.
45.
SquirePeverill. 1992. Challenger profile and gubernatorial elections. Western Political Quarterly45:125–42.
46.
ThomasScott. 1989. Do incumbent campaign expenditures matter?Journal of Politics51:965–75.
47.
TrounstineJessica. 2011. Evidence of a local incumbency advantage. Legislative Studies Quarterly36:255–80.
