Testing Voter Responses to New Style Judicial Campaign Appeals: What Works—Policy Promotion or Experience?

Historically, judicial campaigns in America centered on candidate appeals to experience and expertise in the law. In more recent years, state supreme court campaigns have become more issue-based, representing a “new style” campaign as termed by public law scholars. This study examines how voters respond to judicial candidates’ policy-based appeals versus traditional appeals to experience. Using an experiment embedded in the 2010 Cooperative Congressional Elections Study survey, we examine how these different messages affect the vote choice of individuals toward judicial candidates. Our results show that judicial voters do not react negatively to policy promises per se, as some public law scholars have feared. Rather, these voters respond favorably to specific issues when a judicial candidate promotes a position consistent with the voter's opinions. Interestingly, however, we find that some candidates benefit more from “New Style” campaign messages than others. Related Articles McKenzie, Mark J., and Michael A. Unger. 2011. “ ‘New Style’ Campaigning, Citizen Knowledge, and Sources of Legitimacy for State Courts: A Case Study in Texas.” Politics & Policy 39 (5): 813-834. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00317.x/abstract Reid, Traciel V., and Robert S. Moog. 2011. “Voter Information, Voter Participation, and the North Carolina Judicial Election Reforms: The Views of the Voters.” Politics & Policy 39 (2): 223-250. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00289.x/abstract McCall, Madhavi. 2003. “The Politics of Judicial Elections: The Influence of Campaign Contributions on Voting Patterns of Texas Supreme Court Justices, 1994-1997.” Politics & Policy 31 (2): 314-343. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2003.tb00151.x/abstract Related Media Informed Voters Project of the National Association of Women Judges. 2014. Kansas Justices Cheryl Rios Kingfisher and Evelyn Wilson from the 3rd District interviewed by KTWU public television. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7vOnimq8e4&feature=youtu.be Fair Courts Page. 2015. YouTube Videos. https://www.youtube.com/profile?user=FairCourtsPage Historicamente, las campanas judiciales en los Estados Unidos se centran en la experiencia y conocimiento legal del candidato. Sin embargo, recientemente las campanas para ministro en las cortes de justicia estatales se han enfocado mas en un tema o problema, creando un nuevo estilo de campana de acuerdo con academicos legales. Este articulo analiza como responde el electorado al enfoque basado en temas comparado con un enfoque en experiencia del candidato. Usando un experimento incluido en la encuesta CCES 2010, analizamos como estos diferentes mensajes afectan la decision de voto de los individuos. Nuestros resultados muestran que el electorado judicial no reacciona de forma negativa a las promesas de campana, algo que algunos investigadores temian. Se encuentra que el electorado responde de manera favorable a temas especificos cuando el candidato tiene una posicion consistente con la opinion del elector. De forma interesante, tambien se encuentra que ciertos candidatos parecen obtener mayores beneficios del nuevo estilo de campana que otros.