Abstract

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This paper examines the impact of trade liberalization on U.S. Congressional elections. We nd that U.S. counties subject to greater competition from China via a change in U.S. trade policy exhibit relative increases in turnout, the share of votes cast for Democrats and the probability that the county is represented by a Democrat. We nd that these changes are consistent with Democrats in office during the period examined being more likely than Republicans to support legis-lation limiting import competition or favoring economic assistance. (JEL Codes: F13; F16; D72)