State-level corruption scandals do little to change voters’ minds about political parties.

Political corruption scandals seem to have become commonplace in American politics and the state-level is no exception. But do such scandals hurt the affected party at the ballot box? In new research which examines the effects of corruption scandals in North Carolina, Michael D. Cobb and Andrew J. Taylor find that voters are generally unable to identify the scandalous politician or their party. They argue that corruption scandals do little to affect a party’s vote, and that citizens tend to base their voting choices on other matters.