What’s in a Campaign Logo? Exploring Differences in Candidate Self-Presentation through Campaign Logos

Differences in how candidates present themselves to voters is a key concern for scholars of campaigns and elections. Candidate advertisements, speeches, and websites form the basis of our knowledge on the subject, but ignore some of the most pervasive and discernible features of political campaigns: campaign logos featured on signage, stickers, apparel, buttons, websites, and advertisements. This study provides a descriptive examination of gender differences in candidate logos from the 2018 mid-term election. It extends our knowledge of how women and men present themselves by examining how candidates sell themselves in more symbolic terms based on colors, fonts, imagery, and slogans. We argue these logo choices reflect candidate brand positioning strategies, which are connected to attributes of the rival candidate and the preferences of the constituency. We then outline a future agenda for how the study of political campaign logos can inform theories of political science and brand positioning.