@article {1452755, title = {Yea or Nay: Do Legislators Benefit by Voting Against Their Party?}, journal = {Legislative Studies Quarterly}, volume = {44}, number = {3}, year = {2019}, pages = {421-453}, abstract = {This article asks whether legislators are able to reap electoral benefits from opposing their party on one or more high-profile issues. Using data from a national survey in which citizens are asked their own positions on seven high-profile issues voted on by the U.S. Senate, as well as how they believe their state{\textquoteright}s two senators have voted on these issues, I find that senators generally do not benefit from voting against their party. Specifically, when a senator deviates from her party, the vast majority of out-partisans nonetheless persist in believing that the senator voted with her party anyhow; and while the small minority of out-partisans who\ are\ aware of her deviation are indeed more likely to approve of and vote for such a senator, there are simply too few of these correctly informed citizens for it to make a meaningful difference for the senator{\textquoteright}s overall support.}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/lsq.12233}, author = {Christopher P. Donnelly} }