Today, CAWP released the latest report in our Women, Money, and Politics series, The Money Race for the State Legislature by Kira Sanbonmatsu and Claire Gothreau. This report examines fundraising for state legislative races in 2020 from both a donor and a recipient perspective. Some key findings:

  • Women out-vote men, but men out-give women. Men outgave women 2 to 1 in all state legislative contests.
  • However, elections with women candidates appear to mobilize women donors; women donors were more likely to give to candidates in contests with at least one woman candidate.
  • The report finds significant differences among states. The top half of states in women’s state legislative representation were more likely to have a higher share of women contributors (39%) than the states that are lower on women’s state legislative representation (an average of 34%).
  • While women of color are much less likely to be Republican, those who do are usually financially disadvantaged compared with Republican women candidates who are white.
  • Most Democratic women of color candidates raised similar amounts to Democratic white women candidates.
  • Democratic women fared better in fundraising than Republican women.
  • Where there were gender differences in the amount of money raised from small contributions, women usually raised more from small contributions than their male opponents. Raising money in smaller denominations may require more time than raising money in larger denominations.
  • Men were more likely to contribute to their own campaigns than women.

Read the full report here and find the previous reports in the series at our Women, Money, and Politics page.