Black Candidates and Black Turnout: A Study of Mayoral Elections in Louisiana∗

What effect does candidate race have on co-racial voter turnout? Recent studies suggest that the presence of a black candidate results in an increase in black turnout. We argue that much of these findings can be attributed to the different design choices of previous researchers, and absence of attention paid to strategic candidate behavior. In this study we examine mayoral elections in the state of Louisiana between 1988 and 2011, matching cities along an important dimension size of the black population. We find that when we compare turnout levels in places with similar black populations, the effect of a black mayoral candidate are modest at best. By accounting for the strategic behavior of black candidates and black voters, our results bring into question studies which simply seek to assess the effects of black candidates on turnout by comparing blacks who have the option of voting for a black candidate with those who do not.