%0 Report
        %A Gardner, Graham
%A McCrary, Kayleigh
%A Spencer, Melissa
        %T Direct Democracy and Candidate Choice:  Evidence from Abortion Ballot Measures
        %D 2026
        %8 2026 Sep
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 18928
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18928
        %X Do ballot measures generate spillover effects on voters’ choice of candidates? We examine this question by studying 16 abortion ballot measures in the 2022 and 2024 US general elections. Nationwide electoral returns show that the 2022 measures aided Democrats, but the 2024 measures aided Republicans. These effects are not explained by turnout. Instead, ballot measures incentivize voters to select candidates along margins other than the ballot measure issue. Survey data from 2024 show that moderate voters who preferred abortion rights and had the chance to vote on abortion ballot measures became more likely to vote Republican.
        %K abortion
%K voting
%K elections