The Cost of Going for the Gavel: Individual Candidate Spending in Intermediate Appellate Court Elections*

Abstract

Substantial research in recent years has studied judicial campaign spending. Most of this research has concentrated on state supreme court elections. Less is known about candidate spending in lower-level judicial elections. Moreover, research has focused on the costs of campaigns with the race as the unit of analysis. This study probes patterns of spending by 470 candidates in all contested races for state immediate appellate court seats from 2000 to 2009. It makes the first comprehensive evaluation of the systematic factors that drive spending in lower-level judicial elections with the individual candidate as the unit of analysis. It explores several different explanations for variations in spending, as well.

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