2025/06/26 by Joanna Everitt, Kenny William Ie, Karen Bird +2 · 2 voices
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Gender Politics and Representation #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy
paper · doi:10.1177/10659129251355606
Affinity theory suggests that 2SLGBTQI+ candidates might empower and motivate 2SLGBTQI+ voters to become more politically engaged because they demonstrate that the political system is open to queer participation and voices. However, most research has focused on high-profile 2SLGBTQI+ candidates. Little attention has been paid to the impact of local candidates, particularly in a multi-party parliamentary system. This paper explores this candidate-voter affinity by incorporating information about the 70 2SLGBTQI+ candidates who ran in the 2021 Canadian federal election into survey results of the 2021 Canadian Election Study (CES). Comparing responses of 2SLGBTQI+ voters in districts with 2SLGBTQI+ candidates to those of 2SLGBTQI+ voters who do not have such candidates to select enables us to demonstrate the impact of these affinities on voter turnout. Our results reveal positive affinities, meaning 2SLGBTQI+ individuals are indeed more likely to vote and their turnout is higher in the districts with 2SLGBTQI+ candidates.