Race, Gender, and Nascent Political Ambition

How do race and gender together shape Americans’ political ambition? Using original survey data with over-samples of black and Hispanic respondents, we analyze citizens’ nascent ambition for eight political offices across racial/ethnic groups and gender. We reveal that the primary gap in nascent political ambition is not between men and women but between white men and the majority of the polity. There is no consistent gender gap in ambition among black or Hispanic respondents, nor between black and Hispanic men and white women. The gap between white men and other respondents is most pronounced for local offices, which mark both the starting point and final stage of many political careers. Our findings further indicate that while white men are particularly responsive to encouragement from non-political sources, ambition gaps narrow among respondents encouraged by political actors. Together, these insights help explain the persistence of white men’s overrepresentation in US politics.