Study: Racism Could Cost Obama 3-5% Of Votes In Election

Racist attitudes could hurt President Obama’s re-election by 3-5%, according to a study.

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz examined Google searches to find the media markets where the racial epithet “nigger” was most often used. He found that in those markets Obama underperformed previous Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, even though Obama got much more votes in 2008.

Barack Obama

In markets with less racial animus, Obama did better and outperformed Kerry.

Writing in the New York Times, Stephens-Davidowitz — a doctoral candidate in economics at Harvard — explains: “The state with the highest racially charged search rate in the country was West Virginia. Other areas with high percentages included western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, upstate New York and southern Mississippi.”

He also notes that “prejudice could cost Mr. Obama crucial states like Ohio, Florida and even Pennsylvania.”

Barack Obama

Examining search data from 2004 to 2007, then comparing it with results from 2008 to present, the research found that Obama’s name increasingly began to be associated with racist search activity.

20 Most Racist States, Based On Google Searches

According to Stephens-Davidowitz’s research, the following 20 states had the most racist Google search data:

1. West Virginia
2. Louisiana
3. Pennsylvania
4. Mississippi
5. Kentucky
6. Michigan
7. Ohio
8. South Carolina
9. Alabama
10. New Jersey
11. Tennessee
12. Florida
13. New York
14. Rhode Island
15. Arkansas
16. North Carolina
17. Georgia
18. Connecticut
19. Missouri
20. Nevada