LGBTQ+ Voters' Affinity for LGBTQ+ Politicians

Centre for the Study of Democracy and Diversity Speakers' Series

Quinn Albaugh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Studies. Their work focuses on gender and sexuality in electoral and party politics in Canada. They have won the John McMenemy Prize for the best article published in the Canadian Journal of Political Science (2023) and the Kim Nossal Award for Undergraduate Teaching (2024-2025). Their work has appeared in the Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, and Politics and Gender, among other journals. They are an Associate Editor of the European Journal of Politics and Gender (2026-2029).

Abstract: LGBTQ+ people are a growing voting bloc, and LGBTQ+ candidates have begun running in greater numbers and positions of political leadership. However, most of what we know about voters' reactions to LGBTQ+ candidates comes from straight cis (non-LGBTQ+) voters. How do LGBTQ+ voters react to LGBTQ+ politicians? I argue that LGBTQ+ affinity plays an important role in explaining support for prominent LGBTQ+ candidates and leaders, such as Pete Buttigieg and Kathleen Wynne. However, this affinity may not translate into votes for LGBTQ+ politicians in less prominent electoral contexts, such as local races in Canadian federal elections. Then, I examine how LGBTQ+ voters react to candidates of different racial, gender, and sexual identities using a conjoint experiment fielded on a targeted sample of LGBTQ+ Americans. Finally, I discuss the goals and design of a SSHRC-funded research agenda on LGBTQ+ affinity in Canada and the United States that tackles new questions in the study of LGBTQ+ affinity and aims to provide lessons for studying voter affinities among other groups.