ABSTRACT
Certainly, the role of candidate sex and its impact on voters is a complex relationship. Recent work on the 'gender basis of electoral behavior' suggests that 'gender matters differently and to different degrees in different elections' because of a complex interaction of voter, candidate, party, and environmental influences. This chapter explores whether the 'electoral environment' structures the determinants of vote choice in elections with a woman candidate. An argument for the influence of the electoral environment would suggest that the presence of these women candidates and the focus on them and the gender issues they articulated created a unique dynamic that had an impact on voters. There is ample evidence from the election of 1992 that the environment mattered, that the focus on women candidates and gender-related issues had an impact on voters and the public at large. Abortion also demonstrates a relationship to the electoral environment. For Senate races, the impact of issues and the electoral context are limited.
