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Abstract The symbolic importance of women in the political system has been well documented in recent studies. However, these studies frequently overlook the intersectional effect of race and gender on women’s political engagement. This article expands the existing research on symbolic representation, assessing the extent to which race shapes female candidates’ symbolic political influence. We analyze data from the 2000, 2002, and 2004 NES in order to assess whether the presence of African American female House candidates results in increased political participation among African American women. Our findings show that the presence of black female candidates increases African American women’s likelihood of proselytizing and voting. This research bolsters arguments regarding the salience of identity and its broad and lasting consequences for engagement. It also challenges existing perceptions of how women candidates influence political attitudes and behaviors.
Stokes‐Brown et al. (Wed,) studied this question.