Pathways to Party Power: Exploring the Gendered Paths to State Party Leadership

This paper evaluates whether the men and women who hold the position of state party chair have different previous experiences and explores which factors correlate with state parties electing women chairs. Given the gender gap in political ambition, I predict women state party chairs will more commonly have previous experience in their political party organization, such as serving as county chair or vice chair, than to have previously held elected office. In comparison, I predict men are more likely to have previously held elected office. Considering the career paths of state Democratic and Republican party chairs from 2015 to 2024, I find support for these expectations. State party chairs who previously served as vice chair of their state party are more likely to be women, while state party chairs who have previous experience in public, nonparty office are more likely to be men.