Politics with Paul

Approachable, nonpartisan, and nonideological analysis of various political topics by nonpartisan political analyst, writer, researcher, and speaker Paul Rader.

Politics with Paul #48: Is Split Ticket Voting in US Elections Dead? Will it Make a Comeback?

E49 • Jul 8, 2025 • 46 mins

Is split-ticket voting is US elections dead? How do we measure split-ticket voting? What impacts our analysis of it? What does split-ticketing look like from historical data and how did it shape up in the 2024 election? Is there any cause for concern? And: Will split-ticketing make a comeback? Today we explore not only data behind split-ticketing but the more descriptive aspects of how we study it and some philosophical implications behind it. Is split-ticketing really on the decline as much as some political observers have said? And how different - or similar - is it to years past? What does it all mean? What does the future hold? Let's find out.

Key Points

By several measures, the trend of split-ticket voting shows it generally increasing over the first half of the 1900s, peaking around the 1960s to 1980s, declining in 1990s and 2000s, and then sharply decreasing further in the past 10-15 years.
There are several complicating factors in analyzing split ticket voting, such as the timing of elections, the number of contests on ballots, and varying state practices regarding partisan and nonpartisan races.
While split ticket voting is not entirely dead, its frequency is at one of its lowest points historically, raising concerns about increasing political tribalism and groupthink.

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Speakers

Paul Rader

Host • 100%

Chapters

0:00	Introduction to Split Ticket Voting
1:52	Straight-Ticket Voting vs. Split-Ticket Voting
8:32	How Do We Measure Split-Ticket Voting?: Geographical Units
13:43	How Do We Measure Split-Ticket Voting?: Election Results
17:31	Factors Complicating/Limiting Split-Ticket Voting Analysis
24:05	Historical Data on Split-Ticket Voting: My Analysis
29:34	Historical Data on Split-Ticket Voting: Ballotpedia Analysis
36:28	Split-Ticket Voting in the 2024 Election
38:57	Final Thoughts: Will Split-Ticket Voting Make a Comeback?

Transcript

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