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Lautaro Cella

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Do Voters Reject Gay Candidates? Partisanship, the Far-Right, and the Electoral Effect of Candidate Sexual Orientation in Latin America

Journal article

Lautaro Cella, Rodrigo Castro Cornejo
Journal of Politics in Latin America, 2026
DOI: 10.1177/1866802X251415389
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APA   Click to copy
Cella, L., & Cornejo, R. C. (2026). Do Voters Reject Gay Candidates? Partisanship, the Far-Right, and the Electoral Effect of Candidate Sexual Orientation in Latin America. Journal of Politics in Latin America. https://doi.org/10.1177/1866802X251415389

Chicago/Turabian   Click to copy
Cella, Lautaro, and Rodrigo Castro Cornejo. “Do Voters Reject Gay Candidates? Partisanship, the Far-Right, and the Electoral Effect of Candidate Sexual Orientation in Latin America.” Journal of Politics in Latin America (2026).

MLA   Click to copy
Cella, Lautaro, and Rodrigo Castro Cornejo. “Do Voters Reject Gay Candidates? Partisanship, the Far-Right, and the Electoral Effect of Candidate Sexual Orientation in Latin America.” Journal of Politics in Latin America, 2026, doi:10.1177/1866802X251415389.

BibTeX   Click to copy 

@article{lautaro2026a,
  title = {Do Voters Reject Gay Candidates? Partisanship, the Far-Right, and the Electoral Effect of Candidate Sexual Orientation in Latin America},
  year = {2026},
  journal = {Journal of Politics in Latin America},
  doi = {10.1177/1866802X251415389},
  author = {Cella, Lautaro and Cornejo, Rodrigo Castro}
}

Abstract

In recent years, LGBT rights and candidacies have expanded in Latin America. Some argue such progress may provoke a conservative reaction. Do voters punish gay candidates? To answer this, we conducted survey experiments in Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. We find no punishment in the general electorate; voters in Argentina reward gay candidates, while Chilean and Mexican citizens are indifferent. We interpret the absence of a voting penalty as evidence of tolerance toward sexual diversity, even if it does not imply broader support for LGBT rights. We then focus on right-wing voters, employing a typology that distinguishes between the moderate mainstream right and the reactionary far right. Consistent with our expectations, those aligned with the mainstream right do not penalize gay candidates in any of the countries. In Argentina, supporters of Freedom Advances do not punish them either. In Chile, however, voters aligned with the far-right Republican Party do.