primary-project-2022/dem_candidates: 1

This directory contains demographic, electoral and endorsement data for Senate, House and governor candidates in the 2022 primary elections (except Louisiana’s). It was used in the following FiveThirtyEight articles:

• Trump’s Endorsees Have Started Losing More. But Don’t Read Into That For 2024.(Aug. 29, 2022)
• People Of Color Make Up 41 Percent Of The U.S. But Only 28 Percent Of General-Election Candidates (Sept. 21, 2022)
• Progressives Took A Step Back In The 2022 Primaries — But They’re Playing The Long Game (Sept. 27, 2022)
• 2022 Is Not Another ‘Year Of The Woman’ (Oct. 10, 2022)

dem_candidates.csv contains information about candidates in Democratic primaries. rep_candidates.csv contains information about candidates in Republican primaries.

Electoral, endorsement and gender data was collected by FiveThirtyEight from state election officials, organization websites, social media and the Center for American Women and Politics. Race data was collected by political scientists Bernard Fraga and Hunter Rendleman using statements made by candidates, membership in racial and ethnic caucuses or organizations, racial and ethnic advocacy organizations, news reports and candidate websites.

Both dem_candidates.csv and rep_candidates.csv include:

Column	Description	Source
Candidate	The name of the candidate.	Official candidate lists and election results on state government websites.
Gender	The candidate's gender.	The Center for American Women and Politics’s website, candidate websites and news reports.
Race 1	What race or ethnicity (including Hispanic origin) the candidate primarily identifies as.	Statements made by candidates, membership in racial and ethnic caucuses or organizations, racial and ethnic advocacy organizations, news reports and candidate websites. Data collected by political scientists Bernard Fraga and Hunter Rendleman.
Race 2	What race or ethnicity (including Hispanic origin) the candidate secondarily identifies as, if any.	Statements made by candidates, membership in racial and ethnic caucuses or organizations, racial and ethnic advocacy organizations, news reports and candidate websites. Data collected by political scientists Bernard Fraga and Hunter Rendleman.
Race 3	What race or ethnicity (including Hispanic origin) the candidate tertiarily identifies as, if any.	Statements made by candidates, membership in racial and ethnic caucuses or organizations, racial and ethnic advocacy organizations, news reports and candidate websites. Data collected by political scientists Bernard Fraga and Hunter Rendleman.
Incumbent	Whether the candidate was an incumbent.	Official U.S. Senate, U.S. House or state gubernatorial websites.
Incumbent Challenger	Whether one of the candidate’s opponents in the primary was an incumbent.	Official U.S. Senate, U.S. House or state gubernatorial websites.
State	The state in which the candidate ran.	State government websites.
Primary Date	The date of the primary in which the candidate ran.	State government websites.
Office	The office for which the candidate ran.	Official candidate lists and election results on state government websites.
District	For U.S. House races, the congressional district number for which the candidate ran.	Official candidate lists and election results on state government websites.
Primary Votes	The raw number of votes received by the candidate in his or her primary. In states with runoffs, the results of the first primary round are used. For races that were canceled because they were uncontested, this number is 1.	Official election results on state government websites.
Primary %	The percentage of the vote received by the candidate in his or her primary. In states with all-party primaries, this is the percentage of the Democratic or Republican vote received by the candidate. In states with runoffs, the results of the first primary round are used. For candidates who were unopposed, this number is 100.	Official election results on state government websites.
Primary Outcome	Whether the candidate “Won” or “Lost” his or her primary or, if applicable, “Made runoff.”	Official election results on state government websites.
Runoff Votes	The raw number of votes received by the candidate in his or her runoff, if applicable.	Official election results on state government websites.
Runoff %	The percentage of the vote received by the candidate in his or her runoff, if applicable.	Official election results on state government websites.
Runoff Outcome	Whether the candidate “Won” or “Lost” his or her runoff, if applicable.	Official election results on state government websites.

dem_candidates.csv also includes the following endorsement data. For these fields, “Yes” indicates that the candidate was endorsed by the organization or person in question before the primary. In states with runoff elections, if an organization or person issued an endorsement after the primary but before the runoff, that is indicated by “Yes (runoff only).” “N/A” is used if the organization or person did not weigh in on the race in question. “No” is reserved only for when the endorser is supporting a candidate’s opponent or if they specifically opposed the candidate. Note that endorsements only count if issued by the national arm of each organization; endorsements by local chapters do not count.

Column	Description	Source
EMILY's List	Whether the candidate was endorsed by EMILY’s List.	EMILY’s List’s website.
Justice Dems	Whether the candidate was endorsed by Justice Democrats.	Justice Democrats’s website.
Indivisible	Whether the candidate was endorsed by Indivisible.	Indivisible’s website.
PCCC	Whether the candidate was endorsed by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.	The PCCC’s website.
Our Revolution	Whether the candidate was endorsed by Our Revolution.	Our Revolution’s website.
Sunrise	Whether the candidate was endorsed by the Sunrise Movement.	The Sunrise Movement’s website.
Sanders	Whether the candidate was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders.	Sanders’s Twitter account and news reports.
AOC	Whether the candidate was endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.	Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter account, her email list and news reports.
Party Committee	Whether the candidate was placed on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue list, was endorsed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee or is an incumbent Democratic governor (the Democratic Governors Association has a policy of always supporting incumbents but not getting involved in primaries that do not feature incumbents).	The DCCC’s website, DSCC press releases and news reports.

rep_candidates.csv also includes the following endorsement data. For these fields, “Yes” indicates that the candidate was endorsed by the organization or person in question before the primary. In states with runoff elections, if an organization or person issued an endorsement after the primary but before the runoff, that is indicated by “Yes (runoff only).” “N/A” is used if the organization or person did not weigh in on the race in question. “No” is reserved only for when the endorser is supporting a candidate’s opponent or if they specifically opposed the candidate. Note that endorsements only count if issued by the national arm of each organization; endorsements by local chapters do not count.

Column	Description	Source
Trump	Whether the candidate was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.	Trump’s website, his TruthSocial account and news reports.
Trump Date	The date on which the candidate was endorsed by Trump.	Trump’s website, his TruthSocial account and news reports.
Club for Growth	Whether the candidate was endorsed by the Club for Growth.	The Club for Growth’s website.
Party Committee	Whether the candidate reached the highest tier of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Young Guns program or is an incumbent Republican senator or governor (the National Republican Senatorial Committee and Republican Governors Association had policies in 2022 of always supporting incumbents but not getting involved in primaries that do not feature incumbents).	The NRCC’s website and news reports.
Renew America	Whether the candidate is listed as a “Renewer” (marked as “Yes”) or a “Divider” (marked as “No”) by the Renew America Movement.	The Renew America Movement’s website.
E-PAC	Whether the candidate was endorsed by E-PAC.	E-PAC’s website.
VIEW PAC	Whether the candidate was endorsed by VIEW PAC.	VIEW PAC’s website.
Maggie’s List	Whether the candidate was endorsed by Maggie’s List.	Maggie’s List’s website.
Winning for Women	Whether the candidate was endorsed by Winning for Women.	Winning for Women’s website.