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In this analysis of three biracial 1982 New Orleans municipal run-off elections—mayor, civil sheriff, and district judge-we examine the relationship of race and class to political mobilization and vote choice, and racial bloc voting. We found the elections characterized by high voter turnout, low voter dropoff in subordinate elections, and bloc voting by both whites and blacks (but especially by blacks). Class was found relevant only in locating white support for black candidates. Furthermore, the data analyzed suggest the need to reexamine the impact of electoral institutions on electoral behavior.

Elections are intended to provide voters a means of exercising control over public policy, but the implications of some empirical studies are that variables having little policy rele vance are often important in understanding electoral outcomes. This study examines the relative impact of incumbency, candidate social status, method of recruitment, and electoral context to see whether they outweigh policy-relevant traits of candidates in deter mining success in a set of local school board elections. Opposition proves to be largely a function of incumbency, but in contested races policy-oriented variables appear to play a key role in determining outcomes.

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