It is no secret that the cost of elections continues to increase in each election cycle. Although we often think about the implications of the cost to run at the congressional level, these effects also have an impact in state-level elections. According to the National Institute on Money in Politics,Footnote ¹ in 2018, state legislative candidates for lower and upper chambers collectively raised more than one billion dollars. Because state legislatures are the pipeline to congressional office (Palmer and Simon Reference Palmer and Simon2003), it is important to understand how and to whom the money flows for candidates to fund their campaigns.

It is important to understand how all state legislative candidates fund their campaigns; however, my research focuses particular attention on Black women. Given the ways in which this group historically has been economically and politically disadvantaged, previous work on their propensity for political engagement suggests that they are more engaged than we might expect (Brown Reference Brown2014; Farris and Holman Reference Farris and Holman2014; Smooth Reference Smooth2006). Yet, it is because of these historical economic and political disadvantages that rising campaign costs and the increasing percentage of seats held by Black women comprise an interesting puzzle. This is especially the case because there is evidence that campaign finance is a cause for concern among women of color candidates (Sanbonmatsu Reference Sanbonmatsu2015), and there can be gender disparities in campaign fundraising (Barber, Butler, and Preece Reference Barber, Butler and Preece2016).

This article addresses two questions: (1) Where do Black women receive funds, and (2) Are they advantaged or disadvantaged relative to other women in total campaign fundraising? Evidence at the congressional level suggests that the presence of nonwhite candidates in an election can impact who is likely to contribute (Grumbach and Sahn Reference Grumbach and Sahn2020). That is, nonwhite candidates attract nonwhite donors. Although I do not have the fine-grained detail to account for who is contributing, I considered how different types of donors contribute to Black women’s campaigns. Using 2012 and 2014 state legislative candidate data (Scott Reference Scott2022) and the Database on Ideology, Money in Politics, and Elections dataset (Bonica Reference Bonica2016), I matched state legislative candidates to their campaign contribution amounts. I also accounted for state-level factors using the Correlates of State Policy dataset (Jordan and Grossman Reference Jordan and Grossmann2020) in modeling money raised by women candidates across racial groups.Footnote ²

How do Black women’s campaign-funding sources compare to other women candidates? As shown in figure 1, the average total contribution to Black women candidates lags behind white, Latina, and Asian American women. However, Black women surpass Native American women candidates. Regarding receipt of PAC contributions, Black women are surpassed only by Latinas. For both Black women and Latina candidates, PAC contributions accounted for about twice the average individual contribution. Of all women candidates, Asian American women received the highest average amount from individual donors and Black women received the least.

Table 1

Model Estimates of Women’s Total Campaign Contributions

Figure 1

Average Campaign Receipts for Women by Race

Note: This figure shows average campaign contributions for women by race.

In modeling campaign contributions received by women across racial groups in 2012 and 2014, I focused on the total logged contribution amounts as the dependent variable. The main independent variable in the model is an interaction term that includes the race and incumbency status of the women candidates. I controlled for a number of factors, including candidate ideology using the Campaign Finance Score (Bonica Reference Bonica2014); state legislative chamber; percentage of women state legislators; state culture; median policy liberalism (Caughey and Warshaw Reference Caughey and Warshaw2016); and a dichotomous indicator for whether the governor was a woman. I also accounted for the candidate’s party as well as party control of state government. Because my main interest was how Black women fared in electoral fundraising in comparison to other women, I used Black women as the baseline for the model.

As shown in figure 2, incumbency has advantages for women’s total fundraising. Incumbent Black women are no different from incumbent white, Latina, Asian American, and Native American women in total contributions. As might be expected, women across most racial groups in open-seat elections fared significantly better than challengers in total contributions.Footnote ³ However, there are racial differences among women challengers and among women in open-seat elections. For instance, Latinas in open-seat elections are significantly more successful in fundraising than Black and white women. Moreover, Black women challengers raise significantly less money than their white women counterparts.

Figure 2

Effect Plot of Women’s Total Campaign Receipts by Race and Incumbency Status

Note: This figure shows women’s total campaign receipts by race and incumbency status.

Overall, when we consider what this means for Black women’s ability to fundraise and their overall campaign viability, they are not at a loss when they already have “a seat at the table.” Incumbency matters for their campaign-fundraising prospects. However, they do face an uphill battle when fundraising as challengers and even for an open-seat election. Although it is only descriptive, it is telling that Black women lag behind other groups in average contributions, and it is important to note how much PAC money appears to matter for their political prospects. As Black women’s numbers in state legislative seats continue to grow, PACs that focus on Black women (e.g., Higher Heights) and established groups that fund all women (e.g., Emily’s List) will continue to play a strong role in Black women’s electoral story. However, even these organizations choose who is in a winnable race and therefore have an impact on who is able to run a competitive campaign.

It certainly is the case that women of color are still running in predominantly majority-minority districts at the state level (Shah, Scott, and Juenke Reference Shah, Scott and Juenke2019), but imagine the possibilities for Black women when they can think beyond majority-minority districts and state legislative seats more generally. At a time when a Black and South Asian woman is the Vice President of the United States, we still have never had a Black woman serve as governor and few Black women are leaders in their state legislature and government. It is clear that money not only matters but also dictates which women are able to assume the mantle of political leadership.