Women’s paths to political office continue to differ from men’s, and this paper explores the experiences of losing candidates. While significant research has examined women's initial decisions to run and gender differences in political ambition, less attention has been given to what happens after an initial electoral defeat. Given that most candidates—especially women—are unsuccessful at their first attempt, further exploration of the experiences of losing female candidates is warranted.
One of the strongest predictors of eventual electoral success is prior campaign experience. Using original cross-time and cross-country data from the Comparative Candidate Study, we examine key questions: Does electoral loss impact female and male candidates differently? Are women less likely to run again after experiencing defeat? How does loss interact with candidates’ psychological dispositions? Does the scale of defeat matter? Finally, does the (negative) experience of the campaign process deter women more than men?
