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Presentation Type
Presentation
Full Name of Faculty Mentor
Frederick Wood, Political Science
Major
Political Science
Presentation Abstract
The recent US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs to overturn Roe v. Wade removed the constitutional right to abortion from the 14th Amendment and returned the issue to state governments to regulate. In January 2023, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that a state law banning abortion after six weeks violates the state constitution’s guarantee to the right to privacy. Although South Carolina is not one of them, most states use popular elections to select the justices of their high courts. Due to many decisions like these, the process of electing state supreme court justices has become increasingly important and is a growing field of study. I propose to examine the ways in which candidates for these high court offices present themselves to voters in their campaign advertisements. This study will take a deeper look at the specific titles that candidates claim when referencing their name. Franz and Ridout (2010) found that voters are influenced by campaign advertising. Going further, the content of advertisements in judicial elections specifically also has been found to have an impact on voters (Hall and Bonneau 2013). My study will examine the transcripts of television advertisements from 2000 to 2022 to look for different microtargeting elements across the different types of election methods and candidate types. My focus will be on drawing connections between the use of these professional titles, candidate types (incumbent, challenger, open elections) and their impact on election outcomes to determine the effectiveness of different campaign strategies.
Start Date
12-4-2023 12:20 PM
End Date
12-4-2023 12:40 PM
Disciplines
Political Science
Recommended Citation
Allen, Cierra, "Microtargeting Strategies in State Judicial Campaign Advertising" (2023). Undergraduate Research Competition. 39.
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/ugrc/2023/fullconference/39
Microtargeting Strategies in State Judicial Campaign Advertising
The recent US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs to overturn Roe v. Wade removed the constitutional right to abortion from the 14th Amendment and returned the issue to state governments to regulate. In January 2023, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that a state law banning abortion after six weeks violates the state constitution’s guarantee to the right to privacy. Although South Carolina is not one of them, most states use popular elections to select the justices of their high courts. Due to many decisions like these, the process of electing state supreme court justices has become increasingly important and is a growing field of study. I propose to examine the ways in which candidates for these high court offices present themselves to voters in their campaign advertisements. This study will take a deeper look at the specific titles that candidates claim when referencing their name. Franz and Ridout (2010) found that voters are influenced by campaign advertising. Going further, the content of advertisements in judicial elections specifically also has been found to have an impact on voters (Hall and Bonneau 2013). My study will examine the transcripts of television advertisements from 2000 to 2022 to look for different microtargeting elements across the different types of election methods and candidate types. My focus will be on drawing connections between the use of these professional titles, candidate types (incumbent, challenger, open elections) and their impact on election outcomes to determine the effectiveness of different campaign strategies.