Disproportionate Influence of Out of District Donations

Economic, Occupational, and Racial Disparities in Massachusetts State Campaign Fundraising

Completed Research on the practical and ethical implications of out of district donations on local political campaigns. Focuses on the economic, occupational, and racial factors by incorporating:

Home Price Estimates through Zillow's Zestimate API
In Depth Occupational Analyses through Tableau Dashboards
Racial Analysis with Bayesian Improved Surname Geocoding

Economically, we identified a 41% discrepancy between mean in district and out of district donations. We also found a 5% to 24% increase in the normalized mean home price of out of district donors. Occupationally, we found that occupations with a social stake in their communities contributed more in district (e.g, educators at 41.6% in district) vs. those without it (e.g, executives at 17.3% in district). Lastly, we found evidence of increased support of racial minorities among out of district donors, indicating the duality of out of district donations to support historically underrepresented candidates.

Abstract