TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Gardner, Graham
AU  - McCrary, Kayleigh
AU  - Spencer, Melissa
        TI  - Direct Democracy and Candidate Choice:  Evidence from Abortion Ballot Measures
        PY  - 2026/Sep/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18928
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18928
        AB  - 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.
        KW  - abortion
KW  - voting
KW  - elections
        ER  -