Expert: Democrats may never again run two white men on the same presidential ticket

For Democrats, the 2020 election represents a first — and possibly a last. Last week, California Senator Kamala Harris made history when she officially became the party’s vice presidential nominee, and the first Black or Asian American woman on a major presidential ticket.

The Democratic Party's presidential and vice presidential candidates have been either a woman or a person of color for the last four election cycles, which suggests the top of the ticket may never again be occupied exclusively by white men, an expert told Yahoo Finance recently.

“We know that the norms are actually changing and they’re changing very quickly,” Sparsha Saha, a lecturer at Harvard University’s Department of Government, told Yahoo Finance’s “On the Move” last Friday.

“I don't know if we're ever going to see a Democratic ticket that's two white men ever again,” she added.

From ‘martyr’ to ‘go-getter’

Saha recently conducted research examining voter bias when it comes to ambitious women and found most people actually do not mind seeing female candidates in office. The research found voters did not treat ambitious women differently than they did ambitious men.

“In the last 10 years, bias against a potential female president has halved amongst everyone in the U.S.,” Saha said. “What’s left to change are the party gatekeepers— the old men who kind of like to hold the door.”

Saha and her colleague Anna Catalona, a professor at the University of Bath, were inspired to take on this research after studying Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 presidential bid.

“She was kind of a martyr,” Saha told Yahoo Finance. “We all were kind of able to see the battles and the obstacles that women in politics face.”

But Saha is optimistic that voters are changing and believes they will want to see more ambitious women in politics. The first step is the newly nominated Harris, she said.

“Voters do want to see Kamala the go-getter,” she said. “They want to see Kamala being the one who’s going to give it to the other side.”

Valentina Caval is a producer at Yahoo Finance.

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