Black, immigrant, or woman? The implicit influence of Kamala Harris’ vice presidential nomination on support for Biden in 2020

Abstract

Objective In 2020, for the first time, a VP candidate was a black woman of immigrant parentage. This article asks whether Kamala Harris’ vice presidential candidacy may have motivated some white voters and especially those scoring high on racial resentment, anti‐immigrant attitudes, or sexism to vote for Trump instead of Biden. Methods We conducted an online priming experiment with non‐Hispanic white voters in August 2020, shortly after Harris was announced as the Democratic vice presidential nominee. Half of the samples were asked about their support for the president–vice presidential tickets, while the other half were asked only about support for a presidential candidate. Results Our results show that the Harris’ selection may have affected vote choice by pushing many whites, especially among the most racially conservative whites into the Trump column. We find mixed results for anti‐immigrant attitudes and sexism. Conclusion We conclude that one aspect of Harris’ identity—race—dominated the minds of voters relative to other aspects of her identity.