Do Donors Punish Extremist Primary Nominees?

About this episode

The episode explores how political donors react to the nomination of ideologically extreme candidates in party primaries.

What happens when a political party nominates a candidate in its primary who is ideologically extreme? Do donors, especially those outside the party’s base, react — and if so, how? That question is explored in a new paper by Andy Christopher Wayne Myers, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at Stanford University. He uncovers how donors respond when a relative “moderate” is replaced by a more extreme nominee and if the force of donors is actually weaker than it once was.

People in this episode

Guest: Andy Christopher Wayne Myers

Topics covered

• political donations
• extremism
• primary elections
• donor behavior
• political science

Keywords

• donors
• extremist nominees
• political parties
• moderate candidates
• donor response

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stanford University

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