Jacqueline Colao is a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research examines how electoral institutions shape congressional representation in the United States, the trade-offs involved in achieving representativeness, and the mechanisms through which these dynamics unfold.
Her dissertation investigates how voter knowledge, ideology, and party influence interact to shape vote choice in U.S. primary elections. She draws on original panel surveys that she designed and fielded in 45 congressional districts across the 2022 and 2024 election cycles, encompassing more than 37,000 respondents and 9,000 validated primary voters - the largest voter-level survey dataset on House primaries to date. Her findings show that primary voters are significantly more likely to support the candidate closest to them ideologically, despite the lack of party cues and challenging information environments that characterize primaries. This effect persists even when party organizations endorse a rival candidate, revealing an important degree of voter autonomy independent of elite influence.
Colao’s broader research explores differences between primary and general electorates and how perceptions of electability shape support for women and minority candidates. Collectively, her work demonstrates how the structure of two-stage elections in the United States simultaneously empowers and constrains voters, with important consequences for democratic representation.
Major(s): PhD Candidate, Political Science