Coattail Effect: A Simple Explanation For Non-Experts

The coattail effect is a phenomenon whereby a political candidate or leaders popularity leads to improved vote totals for fellow party candidates further down the ballot. A coattail refers to a part of the coat extending below the waist that provides extra coverage. The term coattail effect refers to trickledown support that the other candidates on a ticket receive due to the support that a more popular candidate on that same ticket receives. It is typically a candidate running for a higher office increasing the support for a candidate running for a lower office. The coattail effect describes the ability of popular political candidates to attract electoral support for other candidates of the same party.

Voters may hear of a candidate for congress riding on the presidents coattails, for instance. Coattail effect the influence of a popular candidate on the electoral success of other candidates on the same party ticket. The coattail effect is a term in american politics used to describe the impact an extremely popular or unpopular candidate has on other candidates in the same election. A popular candidate can help sweep other election day hopefuls into office.