EMILY's Friends: The Emerging Relationship between EMILY's List, Organized Labor, and Women Candidates in U.S. House Elections, 2002-2008

37 Pages Posted: 19 Jul 2010 Last revised: 7 Sep 2010

Date Written: August 15, 2010

Abstract

This paper seeks evidence of a similar partnership between organized labor and women’s PACs on behalf of women congressional candidates. I examine the electoral and fundraising activity of EMILY’s List and AFL-CIO’s PAC, the Committee on Political Education (AFL-CIO COPE) in the four most recent House election cycles (2002–2008). I find that EMILY’s List and AFL-CIO work in cooperation, not competition, on behalf of preferred women House candidates. The endorsement of a woman candidate by EMILY’s List, measured by the receipt of a hard money contribution, significantly increases the likelihood of the woman also receiving funds from AFL-CIO. I attribute the willingness of AFL-CIO to work in partnership with EMILY’s List to important demographic and organizational changes within the union (Asher, et al. 2001; Francia 2006). That EMILY’s List and AFL-CIO cooperate on behalf of women candidates raises intriguing possibilities for Democratic women candidates and provides one explanation for the growing party gap between Democratic women and their Republican counterparts in Congress.

Keywords: EMILY's LIST, organized labor, women congressional candidates

Suggested Citation

Cooperman, Rosalyn, EMILY's Friends: The Emerging Relationship between EMILY's List, Organized Labor, and Women Candidates in U.S. House Elections, 2002-2008 (August 15, 2010). APSA 2010 Annual Meeting Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1641791

Rosalyn Cooperman (Contact Author)

University of Mary Washington ( email )

1301 College Avenue
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
United States

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