The Entrance of Women to the U.S. Congress: The Widow Effect

Abstract

This article explores what is perhaps the single most important method of entrance into Congress for women—replacing a deceased husband. As was evident with the death of Governor Mel Carnahan (D-MO) and his wife, Jean Carnahan (D-MO), who subsequently served in the Senate, the succession of dead congressmen by their widows has been treated popularly by the news media, but has not received too much scholarly attention. In this study we examine the dramatic differences between widows and non-widow females and find that the groups differ in statistically significant ways in terms of their characteristics, their length in office, and their manner of leaving office. We also look at the difference between southern widows and non-southern widows and find support for the theory that widows from the South are more likely to serve short terms—act as stand-ins—until the party can determine who the more traditional candidate ought to be. We theorize that widows are apt to run for these seats because they enjoy high name recognition, which makes running in an election less risky. This, as Bledsoe and Herring (1990) demonstrate, increases the likelihood for women to run for office. We model widow succession in terms of the theoretical basis for the widow effect and find that the more senior a House member is before he dies, the more likely the widow is to serve in his place.

The Career Length and Service of Female Policymakers in the US House of Representatives

“…According to Gertzog (2002), there are three distinct ‘pathways’ that women have pursued to enter the US Congress and, more in general, develop political careers. In earlier years, the majority of women elected to Congress were either widows of deceased MCs or women who came from families of great wealth or with well-known regional or national political connections (Foerstel and Foerstel 1996; Kincaid 1978; Solowiej and Brunell 2003). Between 1966 and 1982 this picture began to change, and 58 per cent of all women elected to the US House of Representatives could be defined as ‘strategic politicians’ (Gertzog 2002).…”

Name Recognition and Candidate Support

“…On the other hand, other studies suggest an important relationship between name recognition and candidate support, in various types of elections and across various types of candidates. Thus, name recognition has been linked to the electoral success of incumbent congressional candidates and their challengers (e.g., Mann and Wolfinger ; Panagopoulos and Green ); congressional primary candidates (e.g., Burden ); presidential primary candidates (e.g., Bartels ; Lenart ); widows (e.g., Solowiej and Brunell ); and “celebrity” candidates who can sometimes capitalize on a highly visible public image (Squire ). In contrast to the old adage that “familiarity breeds contempt,” this line of research suggests that familiarity breeds support.…”

Bloody widows? Discourses of tradition and gender in Ghanaian politics

“…Widow’s succession is not a new practice (see Adams, 2019; Congressional Research Service report, 2021; Jalalzai and Hankinson, 2008; Solowiej and Brunell, 2003). It is a practice (from the early 20 th century) of replacing politicians who died in office with their widows to retain their seats.…”