Abstract: Given the technical nature of the district attorney's job, voters may select candidates based on technical competence as well as on policy positions. If competent candidates are more likely to hold conservative policy views, progressive candidates will be less likely to win. Using text analysis to classify 240 district attorney candidate positions in five states, I show competent candidates are more likely to hold tough-on-crime issue positions. In real election contests in these states, competent candidates are 15 points more likely to win, while candidate positions are unrelated to election outcomes. In a conjoint experiment where I provide voters information on both competence and candidate positions, voters still often select incongruent but competent candidates. These results suggest the movement to elect “progressive prosecutors” will have limited success even if voters support criminal justice reform. More broadly, they point to limits to democratic responsiveness when elected officials are both politicians and bureaucrats.

Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any event do not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented.