COVERING THE LAVENDER CANDIDATE: LGBT CANDIDATES, CAMPAIGNS, AND THE MEDIA

<p dir="ltr">The news media play a powerful role in the success of candidates running for office, ranging from distributing information about candidates to influencing voters’ political evaluations. The news media can influence what people think about when evaluating a candidate and how to interpret that information. For candidates from underrepresented groups, the news media can reinforce existing power hierarchies by reinforcing a candidate’s outsider status and single-issue focus on challenging societal inequities. Historically, the news media have covered lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) candidates as undesirable and solely focused on LGBT rights. The ability of the news media to manipulate which candidate attributes and issues are covered, and the amount of coverage candidates receive, can change voter perceptions about LGBT candidates and limit the ability of LGBT people to gain electoral office. There has been a growth in the number of LGBT candidates running for office in the United States, yet few studies have explored how the news media influence whether LGBT people to run for office, and if they do, how LGBT candidates are portrayed during their campaign, how they engage with the news media and voters, and voters’ candidate preferences. </p><p dir="ltr">This dissertation aims to investigate the role the news media play in upholding sexual and gender norms in politics by examining the electoral process for LGBT candidates, from their initial consideration of running for office to when constituents vote for them. To understand this phenomenon, I use an analysis of secondary survey data of LBTQ women from the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, finding that negative coverage of LGBTQ candidates thwarts the political ambition of would-be candidates. I then use multiple data sources to triangulate how campaigns prepare for and address candidates’ identities in the news media. I find that LGBTQ candidates tend to avoid discussing their identity or lean into other issues to gain more beneficial coverage. Further, using original data from 30 different news outlets across the political spectrum in a case study of gay 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary candidate, Pete Buttigieg, I find that, unlike heterosexual candidates, the news media tend to discuss him using stereotypes and tropes. Finally, I test whether this coverage influences how the average voter politically evaluates LGBTQ candidates with a survey experiment in which I randomize news media depictions of gay candidates. I find that coverage using stereotypes and tropes does not electorally harm gay candidates.</p>