Abstract: The intrusions of national issue and political forces into elections at all levels of government is one of the defining characteristics of American electoral politics throughout the early twenty-first century. Whether it is driven by presidential politics or salient and divisive issues, down ballot elections are far less insulated from national politics than they once were. Even nonpartisan local elections in cities of all sizes have begun to turn on presidential politics and issues like economic inequality, racial injustice, and abortion politics. This chapter reviews and offers a descriptive account of how greater nationalization impacts voter decision-making in offices up and down the ballot.

Abstract: During the last several elections, numerous high-profile candidates for the U.S. Senate have raised a majority of their campaign funds from donors who reside in a different state. These efforts have garnered substantial media coverage and have been fodder for attacks by the candidate’s opponents. Despite the increased attention to the role of out-of-state donors, it is not clear if these cases are outliers or if this is now common practice in our more nationalized electoral environment. In this paper, we examine trends in Senate candidate’s fundraising from out-of-state donors between 2000 and 2020. We find that there has been a general increase over time in Senate candidates’ reliance on out-of-state donations. There is, however, variation in terms of who relies heavily upon the support of a more national donor base. A Senate candidate’s share of out-of-state donations varies with factors like incumbency, electoral competition, and geography.