Overcoming Bias in Voting
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“Strategic discrimination” is a subtle yet pervasive behavior that keeps people from voting for women and people of color.
By Regina Bateson, yesmagazine.org
When Americans vote this fall, the candidates on their ballots will not reflect the diversity of the United States. Despite recent gains, women and people of color still do not run for office as frequently as White men. In part, this is because they face skepticism about their electability. When former U.S. Rep. Katie Hill launched her campaign for Congress in 2017, for example, Democrats told her a woman couldn’t win in her California district.
In Alabama, meanwhile, when Adia Winfrey was exploring a 2018 run for Congress, a senior party official told her there was “no point” continuing with her nascent campaign. The problem? As a Black candidate, she seemed unelectable.
Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) makes a campaign stop at Snyder Park on Oct. 31, 2020, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Harris continues to campaign before Election Day.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
And in Michigan, 2018 congressional candidate Suneel Gupta, an Indian-American, heard similar concerns. As Gupta recounts, the rationale from some local Democrats was, “I’m not racist, but my neighbor is racist … so I don’t think you’d be a strong a candidate.”
As a political scientist and former congressional candidate, I think these comments reflect a subtle yet pervasive form of discrimination in politics. It’s something I call “strategic discrimination.”
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