Resumen de Testing Spatial Models of Elections: The Influence of Voters and Elites on Candidate Issue Positions

John Frendreis, Shannon Jenkins, Alan R. Gitelson, Douglas D. Roscoe

• This research tests spatial models of electoral competition using survey data on state legislative candidates' policy positions and ideology in eight U.S. states. Our data support several hypotheses: 1) candidates' issue positions do not converge; 2) party elites have more extreme positions than do candidates; 3) candidate issue positioning is a function of party-elite issue positions and union involvement in the campaign, as well as constituency characteristics; and 4) when candidates rely heavily on elite resources during their campaign, elites become more important in shaping candidate issue positions.