Coattail Effect: How To Use It Ethically And Effectively

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 coattail effect is a form of bandwagoning, in which voters support a candidate or measure because they believe it is the winning side. A coattail effect occurs when a less popular candidate or measure benefits from the popularity of a more popular candidate or measure on the same ballot. In this guide, well explore how the term coattail effect came into the national vocabulary, what campaigns have served as poignant examples of the coattail effect, and how we can approach this concept in the context of the 2024 elections.

By coattail effects we understand that institutional and other features of one government level affect election outcomes at another government level. In the 2016 presidential election, for example, the republican establishment became increasingly concerned about its candidates for u. s. Senate and house when it became clear donald trump was a formidable candidate. Democrats, meantime, had their own polarizing candidate to worry about: