The Color of Congress Database

In conjunction with New York University’s Bobst Library Data Services Studio, we are engaged in compiling a fully searchable and exportable database of all candidates (including their race, gender, number of votes earned, money raised and spent, among other information) who ran in elections for the U.S. Congress since 1968. When completed, the database will be made available to all scholars who wish to use it, and it will include a user-friendly Web interface for anyone who would like to search and find information.

We presented a paper relating to this project, as well as some preliminary descriptive findings, at the 2010 annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. That paper can be downloaded here.