ABSTRACT

Visual Political Brand Identities in the 2018 U.S. Midterm Election

Katie Orgunov

Director: Dr. Chris Pullig

Political candidates’ logos can shape voters’ perceptions of candidates and inform them of candidates’ political brands through their design. This paper explores the design elements used in logos and their relationships with the candidate and views them in terms of brand differentiators and boundary conditions. Through conducting a content analysis on a stratified sample of thirty candidate logos from the 2018 U.S. midterm election, this study found that there are significant relationships between logo elements such as colors, typefaces, and text, and candidate characteristics such as gender, political party, incumbency status, and geographic region. A semiotic analysis of the same sample further revealed how logos were often reflective of a candidate’s platform or personal identity. These findings are reflective of a shift in American politics that increases the importance of branding and design in campaigns.

APPROVED BY DIRECTOR OF HONORS THESIS:

______

Dr. Chris Pullig, Marketing

APPROVED BY THE HONORS PROGRAM:

______

Dr. Elizabeth Corey, Director

DATE: ______

VISUAL POLITICAL BRAND IDENTITIES IN THE 2018 U.S. MIDTERM

ELECTION

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty

Of Baylor University

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Honors Program

By

Katie Orgunov

Waco, Texas

August 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Figures ...... iii

Table of Tables ...... iv

Preface: Inspiration for Thesis Topic ...... v

Acknowledgements ...... vi

Dedication ...... vii

Chapter One: Introduction ...... 1

Chapter Two: Literary Search and Development of Case Pool ...... 7

Chapter Three: Content Analysis ...... 23

Chapter Four: Semiotic Analysis ...... 36

Chapter Five: Results and Discussion...... 79

Appendices:...... 83

Appendix A: Coding Instructions ...... 83 Appendix B: Coding Results ...... 87 Appendix C: Chi-Square Tests ...... 88

Works Cited ...... 93

ii

TABLE OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Brand Distinctiveness (Source: Scammell 2015)……………………………….9 Figure 2: Tripartite Model………………………………………………………………. 17 Figure 3: United States Geographical Regions………………………………………….. 19 Figure 4: Aaron Swisher………………………………………………………………… 39 Figure 5: Bush ’92………………………………………………………………………. 40 Figure 6: Craig Keller………………………………………………………………….... 41 Figure 7: Grace F. Napolitano……………………………..……………………………. 42 Figure 8: Joshua Scott…………………………………………………………………… 44 Figure 9: Lucille Roybal-Allard………………………………………………………… 45 Figure 10: Russ Fulcher…………...…………………………………………………….. 47 Figure 11: Dan Crenshaw……………………………………………………………….. 48 Figure 12: Jana Lynne Sanchez…………………………………………………………. 50 Figure 13: Kyrsten Synema……………………………………………………………... 51 Figure 14: Mike Siegel…………………………………………………………………...52 Figure 15: Ted Cruz……………………………………………………………………... 53 Figure 16: Anita Malik………………………………………………………………….. 55 Figure 17: Dean Phillips………………………………………………………………… 56 Figure 18: Jason Smith………………………………………………………………….. 58 Figure 19: Kimberly Bizon……………………………………………………………… 59 Figure 20: Randy Bryce…………………………………………………………………. 60 Figure 21: Tina Smith…………………………………………………………………… 61 Figure 22: Bill Johnson………………………………………………………………….. 62 Figure 23: Justin Kanew………………………………………………………………… 64 Figure 24: Mike Espy…………………………………………………………………….65 Figure 25: Roger W. Allison……………………………………………………………..66 Figure 26: Roger W. Allison Outline………………………………………………….…67 Figure 27: Trent Kelly………………………………………………………………...... 68 Figure 28: 90’s Pepsi logo………………………………………………………………. 69 Figure 29: Carol Miller………………………………………………………………….. 69 Figure 30: Debbie Wasserman Schultz………………………………………………..…71 Figure 31: Chrissy Houlahan……………………………………………………………. 72 Figure 32: Gotham Houlahan…………………………………………………………….72 Figure 33: Glenn Thompson…………………………………………………………….. 73 Figure 34: Joseph D. Morelle…………………………………………………………….74 Figure 35: Mikie Sherrill………………………………………………………………... 75 Figure 36: McCain-Palin…………………………………………………………………76 Figure 37: Steny H. Hoyer………………………………………………………………. 76 Figure 38: Ayanna Pressley……………………………………………………………... 77

iii

TABLE OF TABLES

Table 1: Sample…………………………………………………………………………. 21 Table 2: Coding Variation……..………………………………………………………... 25 Table 3: Color Frequency……………………………………………………………….. 26 Table 4: GENDER * RWB Crosstabulation…………………………………………….. 27 Table 5: GENDER * BLUE Crosstabulation………………………………………….....27 Table 6: GENDER * ORANGE Crosstabulation……………………………………..… 28 Table 7: GENDER * GREEN Crosstabulation………………………………………..… 28 Table 8: GENDER * GRAY Crosstabulation…………………………………………… 29 Table 9: PARTY * RWB Crosstabulation…………………………………………….… 29 Table 10: Typeface Frequency………………………………………………………...…30 Table 11: INCUMBENT * SANS SERIF Crosstabulation…………………………...… 30 Table 12: INCUMBENT * SERIF Crosstabulation……………………………………...31 Table 13: Name Styling Frequency……………………………………………………... 32 Table 14: Text Frequency……………………………………………………………..… 32 Table 15: PARTY * SLOGAN Crosstabulation………………………………………… 33 Table 16: REGION * MENTION STATE Crosstabulation…………………………….. 34 Table 17: Symbol Inclusion Frequency…………………………………………………. 34 Table 18: Symbol Frequency………………………………………………………….… 35

iv

PREFACE

Inspiration for Thesis Topic

In the months leading up to the 2018 midterm election, I witnessed a deluge of yard signs, stickers, and buttons around Waco neighborhoods and the Baylor campus that read “Beto For Senate”. This particular campaign logo caught my eye not only because I saw it repeatedly, but because it bore an unusual font and a black-and-white color palette that was more reminiscent of a Whataburger sauce container than a political sign. I began thinking and reading about political logo designs and quickly realized that political campaigning is evolving from a traditional RWB patriotic template to include complex personal branding and marketing principles, initially sparking my idea for this thesis topic. The next semester, I took Strategic Brand Management with Dr. Chris Pullig, my thesis advisor, and was able to gain a knowledge foundation that aided me throughout this project.

v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This project would not have been possible without the help and expertise of my thesis advisor, Dr. Chris Pullig, who took on this responsibility on top of an already incredibly busy schedule and faithfully offered his knowledge and experience in research and data analysis to aid with this project. The project could not have been finalized without Jim Roberts and Eric Eckert, whose cheerful assistance I am grateful for. I am also thankful to Ben Allen, who contributed his time to aide in the content analysis and balance out any personal bias present in my classifications.

vi

DEDICATION

To my God,

to my family,

and to my future husband:

Thank you for supporting me

on this journey.

vii

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

"Design is personality. When used well in election campaigns branding it says more than a candidate’s name. Color, type, and image contribute to the perception of that name, sometimes the person, too" noted Heller on Twitter. Maybe that's part of the triumphant case of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the Democrats' biggest stars from this midterm cycle and officially the youngest woman elected to US Congress.

Cortez ditched the red, white and blue palette and chose purple instead. "The color represents red and blue coming together and Tandem also used nontraditional yellow to associate positivity with Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign. Blue is the third official color, which is the Democrat’s traditional hue" reports Vox.

"Arenas, Starrett, and the Tandem team looked to revolutionary posters and visuals from the past to inspire Ocasio-Cortez’s branding — particularly those of Cesar

Chavez and Dolores Huerta, Latino labor activists and co-founders of the United Farm

Workers in the 1960s — and union badges. 'That was the closest representation to a populist, social-minded, justice-inclined, inspirational campaign that was about positivity and taking back the power,' Starrett says".

"Ocasio-Cortez’s designs clearly reference 20th-century leftist propaganda posters, and her poster’s color scheme and Heroic Everywoman photo evoke the iconic

'Rosie the Riveter' poster. Simultaneously, the designs could also double as fresh subway posters advertising a new app or Netflix series. Consistent brand application multiplies

1 the force of this great design" notes Type of the campaign (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez X

Tandem).

The media fascination with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign branding was widespread in the wake of her upset House victory in 2018, with many commentators attributing her success to her campaign’s highly strategic design choices. Although

AOC’s campaign was one of the most discussed, hers was only a vibrant example of a whole new era of political campaigning that relies heavily on visual design and branding.

Much has been written about the American cultural shift to imagery and visual messaging in recent decades. As a whole, media content has become shorter, more image-based, and more easily and frequently created than ever before. This change in communication has come with the proliferation of social media that incentivizes eye- catching and easily digestible content with likes and algorithm favorability. This cultural shift has also seen the rise of the brand. According to the American Marketing

Association, a brand is a “name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition”. This narrow definition applies well to corporate, profit-driven brands that consumers are used to thinking of as brands.

However, a “brand” can also be defined as “the complete mental representation of all that is associated with an attitude object”. The term “attitude object” opens the door for branding to apply to a range of entities, including businesses, places, and individual people.

Corporate branding is highly visible through brand elements such as signage, storefronts, websites, and social media accounts. Social media has furthered brand

2 marketing by allowing corporate brands to put on a personable approach. Brands like

Denny’s and Wendy’s have achieved popularity and notoriety for their humorous and millennial-targeted Twitter content, often interacting with consumers directly from the brand Twitter account. As corporate brands develop more human-like personalities, private individuals can amass followings and build their brands through social media, many large enough to rival corporate followings. Bloggers, influencers, YouTubers, and other content creators wield carefully curated personal brands that are evident through their content, websites, logos, colors, and collaborations among other branding elements.

Not only can individuals achieve fame through social media, but established celebrities such as actors and singers can also connect directly with the masses through digital platforms, allowing the public to feel intimately connected to public figures that used to be unreachable. The result of modern digital media is, then, a blurring of the lines between institutions that did not use to communicate within the same sphere, as well as a boosted importance to brand image.

One such institution, politics, will serve as the focus of this project. Though politics have traditionally been viewed through the lens of political science, marketing and branding principles are now becoming increasingly applied. As distinguishable entities with promised benefits, individual politicians can be branded and analyzed according to branding frameworks. Campaigning for a vote has become increasingly like marketing for a product sale. Due to this, this paper uses “voter” and “consumer” interchangeably when discussing the market-driven model of political campaigning and marketing. Recent years have seen a shift in campaigning methods to more visual and

3 digital strategies as well as the development of political branding and marketing as fields of study and research.

Barack Obama's 2008 presidential election is widely regarded as a trailblazer in the arena of political marketing, with news media articles and critics analyzing and assigning great importance to the Obama campaign's choice of Gotham as its official font. As the font of American public transportation services, Gotham was chosen to build an image in voters’ minds of Obama as a man of the people who could bring hope for a brighter future. With this ground-breaking design choice that was strategically chosen to reflect personal brand identity, the Obama campaign gave writers and researchers abundant new fodder for the new field of political branding. Obama also used social media as a campaign tool, as did politicians after him. Trump's Twitter presence has received exceptional public and media attention and has played a major role in daily defining his brand.

Personal political brands are ever developing as time goes on, especially evident in a design trend shift amongst political campaign posters. For years, a campaign yard sign was easily identifiable by a red, white, and blue color scheme and patriotic elements such as stars and stripes. As a result, a vast majority of American campaign signs were indistinguishable from each other (Doom 2016). A growing number of campaign signs are now markedly different, breaking out of the mold of identifying the candidate as a politician and trying to differentiate and position the candidate as a brand. The colors and symbols chosen in campaign signs are increasingly reflective of the personal characteristics of the politician. Despite this trend, research in the political marketing sphere remains limited.

4

Fonts, colors, and graphics are all aspects of a politician’s brand that now serve to inform voters about a politician, which is becoming increasingly synonymous with informing the voter about politics. Image-based politics, or voter-driven politics, as political marketing has come to be called, has stirred up debate on whether it is beneficial or detrimental to American democracy. Since voters are now accustomed to short, cohesive messages often communicated through visuals, political marketing does not often labor to explain a politician's policies. Instead, political brands are curated to gain votes by creating an appealing image rather than focusing on the minutiae of the policy changes the candidate plans to bring about. Brand messaging can be argued to often rely on emotional appeals rather than rational ones. As a result, American voting behavior can be heavily determined by the image the voter has of a politician or political party in their minds, which can be based on very minimal image-based information. This has brought about concern from critics about a lack of informed voting in the U.S.

This study will focus on campaigns from the 2018 midterm elections, conducting content and semiotic analyses of the logos as units of analysis. The colors, fonts, and symbols used all make up a candidate’s trade dress, which is a brand’s distinctive aesthetic design. The limited space and text in a sign or logo force the candidate’s design team to emphasize the most important aspects of the politician in the logo. Since these few characteristics serve as the brand identifier in voter’s minds and impact voter decisions, studying candidate logos is a crucial area that is underdeveloped in current literature.

A political brand is made up of two portions: brand image and brand identity.

Brand image is the representation of the brand in the mind of the voters, while brand

5 identity is the portion of the brand created by the politicians themselves. This paper will focus on the brand identity created by politicians and their design teams to analyze the messages communicated to voters through design. While design elements are the primary focus of this study, the goal is to determine what messages the brand designs communicate to voters.

Following this introductory chapter, Chapter II will delve into the current literature on political branding, consumer-based politics, content analysis, semiotic analysis, and consumer-based branding models. Chapter II will also explain the methodology followed to obtain and develop the sample. Chapter III will include a content analysis of candidate logos, and Chapter IV will delve into a semiotic analysis of politicians’ visual brands. Chapter V provides a discussion of the key findings of the analysis as well as an examination of whether the initial hypotheses were correct. Chapter

V will also cover limitations to this study and areas for further research.

6

CHAPTER TWO

Literature Search and Development of Case Pool

Although the study of political marketing and branding is not new, this field of research does not often keep pace with the quickly growing use of branding principles in the political arena. In their 2014 work, Lees-Marshment, a political marketing expert at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and Conley, an Assistant Professor of

Government at Suffolk University in Boston, MA, report that “research suggests that transactional marketing applies to the political sphere” (Lees-Marshment and Conley

2014). Marketing, and specifically branding, offer tools to understand continuous campaigning and political party imagery (Scammell 2015). With their logos, colors, taglines, advertising, mission statements, and products that they aim to “sell” (ideology, policy, and even candidates), American political parties easily fit the description of

“brands”. Traditionally, when marketing frameworks have been applied to politics, parties were viewed as brands, and candidates were viewed as products of the brand.

However, the party candidates themselves can function as brands apart from the party organization. Human brands are both people and products, where the person is the human force and the namesake behind the public-facing brand (Dion and Arnould 2016). The phenomenon of branded humans, with a relationship between them as people and them as brands, is complex, as the branded humans' characteristics become brandable qualities promising a certain outcome to consumers (Dion and Arnould 2016). These blurred lines bring authenticity and resonance to the brand, but they also carry risk as human

7 politicians are susceptible to undesirable characteristics that tarnish the brand such as scandal or incompetence (Fournier and Eckhardt 2018). Nonetheless, politicians are spending increasingly more effort to shape their brand identities.

In their analysis of presidential candidates’ brand images in the 2006 Mexican election, Guzman, a marketing professor at the University of North Texas, and Siera, a statistics professor at the Universitat Ramon Llull in Barcelona, Spain (2009) provide a first step into examining individual politicians as brands. They develop a brand image framework to view candidates as individual brands, made up of physical attributes, personality, and promised benefits, using principal component analysis and structural equation modeling. This specific study found that Mexican voters’ mental brand images of candidates are most affected by the candidates’ perceived capabilities, empathy, openness, and handsomeness. Since voters can often be politically uninformed, these personal qualities serve as indicators of how the candidate will perform in office and can substitute researching the candidate’s ideology and policy issues when voters make decisions. Like Guzman and Siera (2009), Margaret Scammell, lecturer in the School of

Politics and Communication Studies at the University of Liverpool, asserts the centrality of personality to understanding political brand images and proposes a brand distinctiveness model based on communication strategies to evaluate political brands.

Political branding is a valuable resource for analyzing politics, and image and communication in politics cannot be ignored in favor of “hard” parts of politics like policy, track record, and ideology, especially since the former often has a greater influence on voters (Scammell 2015). Since image is intertwined with political party identity and ideology, Scammell’s model of political brand distinctiveness includes both

8 the “soft” and “hard” aspects of a political brand, brand differentiators and boundary conditions/substantive performance indicators.

Figure 1: Brand Distinctiveness (Source: Scammell 2015)

Brand differentiators are the soft, image-focused part of brand identity, including cultural, social, and psychological differentiators. Boundary conditions are the hard, fact- based aspect of brand identity, including record and attributes. Boundary conditions are the ideologies, policies, and track records that show how effective a politician is in office, but brand differentiators are what set a candidate apart in a saturated market of political hopefuls. Boundary conditions (the rational aspect) are important, but without brand differentiators (the emotional aspect), voters will not be motivated to take action and support the political brand (Scammell 2015).

With the proliferation of computers and graphically designed content as well as increased digital communication, graphic design has become an important communication tool that builds candidates’ brand images and can play a huge role in communicating messages about the candidate in a succinct way. In examining political

9 commentary, it is not at all uncommon to come across articles analyzing and forming opinions on a candidate’s latest graphic design choice, from photo to font. A candidate’s logo and poster can be used to communicate boundary conditions and brand differentiators, depending on the focus of the campaign. In Decoding the Candidates: A

Semiotic Analysis and Literacy Guide to Graphic Design Principles in Political

Campaign Branding, CNN producer and Georgetown University graduate, Doom (2016), examines the symbolism and cultural meanings behind the 2016 presidential campaign logos. Each of the thirteen case study logos featured fonts and symbols with numerous cultural implications, and all followed a general strategy of promising a result and appealing to a wide audience. Each element, from typeface to color shade, carried implications that both inspired media commentary and affected the candidate’s brand image. Although individual candidates differed in their fonts, symbols, and adherence or lack thereof to the traditional red, white, and blue color palette, Doom could not detect a differentiating design strategy between candidates of different parties.

Delia Dumitrescu, lecturer at the School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and

Communication Studies at the University of East Anglia, also examined the relationship between design and brand in Know Me, Love Me, Fear Me: The Anatomy of Candidate

Poster Designs in the 2007 French Legislative Elections, and found that politicians of different French party affiliations crafted campaign posters that were more likely to possess certain graphic design and layout principles that correlated to political party membership. For example, candidates from major parties allocated greater space on posters to photos of the candidate and the candidate name and less space to copy and the party name. On the other hand, niche party candidates had relatively small candidate

10 photos and names and devoted a larger portion of space to list the full name of the party and descriptive copy. This makes intuitive sense, as a major party candidate is likely to be more recognizable based on name and face due to other media exposure, while a niche party candidate is likely to be comparatively unknown and need to introduce and sell themselves with additional copy (Dumitrescu 2010).

Within the layout of a design, the fonts featured on campaign materials are often chosen with a specific branding strategy in mind. "Generally speaking, typography contributes to the development of political brands in two key ways: by crafting candidate image visually, and by increasing the economy of expression in campaign advertisements" (Billard 2016). Research has found that viewers identity fonts with different personalities, and even read them in a different voice in their minds (Billard

2016). Since the typeface can act as an extension of the brand image and voice, choosing a typeface that closely matches the desired image identity of the politician is crucial to have a resonant brand. For example, Obama's Gotham font is described as "heavy, bold, authoritative letters that once convinced a nation he was to be trusted" (Garfield 2010).

In this case, Obama's image and emotion-heavy campaign message of "hope" and

"change" was complemented by a strategically chosen heavy typeface that signaled stability and authority to imply that Obama could be trusted with the power to bring about change to the nation. The choice of the font Gotham is regarded to be a groundbreaking and successful branding design decision, and the reason may lie in the results of a study done by Miriam Ahmed (2013), a graphic design lecturer at Howard

University, which found that respondents reported the font "Gotham" as matching the same rhetorical qualities they identified in the text of the Obama advertisements. By

11 combining a message and font that match in "personality", the Obama campaign created a cohesive brand image to which voters responded well. Arizona State University professor

Eva R. Brumberge's 2003 research supports this conclusion by showing that consumers can detect both appropriateness and incompatibility in font and message pairings. Some fonts, like Times New Roman, have the impression of being honest and fair because viewers have been conditioned to think of them in certain contexts that value those qualities (Garfield 2010). Likewise, Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign font

“New Baskerville” carried implications of legal endorsement, while McCain’s 1950’s

“Optima” typeface was used in Vietnam War Memorials (Garfield 2010). Since Clinton was a lawyer and McCain had a military background before becoming a politician, these fonts were chosen to complement their brand identities.

Viewers can draw meaning from fonts and designs based on a limited understanding "of ubiquitous cultural scripts and values" (Billard 2016). Graphic design allows gives candidates the ability to communicate values and messages through the look and feel of their campaign materials. This cuts down on the need for excessive text by informing the voter through symbolism that only requires a glance to understand. This economy of expression is especially important in a landscape of voters conditioned for short and continuous pieces of information from media. “Successful logos have visual simplicity but semiotic depth” (Billard 2016). Objectively stating the meanings behind fonts and symbols is complex, however, as the meanings they carry depend on the social context and are open to interpretation by viewers.

The visual cues from posters factor into the brand, or the mental image of the candidate voters build by viewing strategically designed campaign materials, can serve as

12 shortcuts when voting. In Branding in Politics –Manifestations, Relevance and Identity-

Oriented Management, Helmut Schneider, Associate Dean for Research & Graduate

Programs at Louisiana State University, shows that not only do political brands exist, but they also have a discernible influence on voter's decisions through the results of a study of 88 students at the University of Münster and a representative study from the market research institute Polis on the image of German politicians. Schneider finds that politicians that are frequently highlighted by the media have brands with high awareness, high knowledge, and a differentiated brand image. Next, Schneider's research supports that political party, an aspect of the candidate's brand as well as a brand itself, plays a large factor in voter policy preference. Participants in Schneider's study were much more likely to support a piece of legislation if told that their party proposed it than if the same proposal was introduced by an opposing political party. Schneider argues that a political party brand is like a service-offering company brand in that it provides informational efficiency, lowers consumer risk, and has sentimental utility. The results of Schneider’s studies indicate that all three brand functions are relevant to voters. In this case, political party brands act as shortcuts as to what the candidate is most likely to support if elected into office. Political brands also provide the psychological and social benefit of voting alongside and for like-minded individuals with similar values.

The political campaigning industry’s evolution to be professionalized and sophisticated in regards to graphic design strategy is part of the phenomenon of consumer-driven politics, which has stirred up controversy. With the rise of consumerism, politicians have taken on brand personas to communicate with the masses like the brands they come in contact with in the market every day. (Reeves et al. 2006).

13

Political communication taking on the marketing approach involves using short, easily understandable and often emotional advertisements that can be understood by even the most uninformed viewer. Campaign communications have changed from the historically ideological strategy to being voter-driven.

With this shift, American political party behavior can be argued to resemble a market-oriented party within the Lees-Marshment and Conley Model (2014). According to this model of political party evolution, political party behavior can be traced back to being product-oriented. Product-oriented parties “argue for what [they] stand and believe in” (Reeves et al. 2006). With policy and political behavior as the product, product- oriented parties are market drivers who do not alter their beliefs based on external forces such as social desires. The next level of the Lees-Marshment model is a sales-oriented party, which still keeps its original product focus, but adds an effort to “sell” its product better by persuasion. Finally, the level of the Lees-Marshment model that modern

American political parties have been written to have become is market-oriented. Market- oriented parties are consumer-driven, with their focus being providing products that have a consumer demand (Reeves et al. 2006). When applied, this means that politicians change their professed stances and policies based on whatever sentiment is most prevalent in the cultural climate at the time and put a heavier emphasis on marketing these consumer-driven positions. It is important to note that while a general trend towards market-oriented politics has been identified, not all contemporary political behavior falls under this category (Reeves et al. 2006).

There are two main opposing views of political consumer-driven marketing. The inside-out approach views political marketing as a negative force used to manipulate

14 voters into voting for the candidate instead of informing them of the often complex

“product” behind the appealing message. On the other hand, the outside-in approach views marketing as a positive force making politicians more responsive to the desires of the voters (Reeves et al. 2006). The rise of business principles such as branding and consumer-driven marketing being applied to the political realm can be traced to the rise of consumerism and neoliberalism in the mid to late twentieth century (Reeves et al.

2006).

Branding has become a language deeply ingrained in the American consumerist culture, and Americans are not only accustomed to navigating a world of brands and advertisements, but they are also growing to see other humans as brands. Also, through the rise of e-commerce and digital marketing targeting capabilities, Americans are driving an evolving marketplace that serves personalized brand advertisements to individual consumers. Because of how intertwined marketing has become with the lives of voters, they are now likely to view politics as a matter of brands and services and choose candidates using methods similar to how they navigate purchase decisions.

Candidates have employed marketing research techniques in forming their brands such as focus groups, polls, and demographic segmentation (Reeves et al. 2006). The more political institutions use marketing techniques, the more applicable business marketing frameworks and principles become to understanding the political sphere. The goal of politicians can now be viewed as selling a product and no longer easily simplified to pushing a personal belief to office. After winning an election, incumbent politicians continue marketing themselves and employing relationship management to induce repeat purchases (Needham 2005).

15

A tension exists in political branding because ideologically-driven issues are not only the traditional status quo for politics, they are also necessary for long-run government, while voter-driven issues are necessary to win votes and approval ratings

(Reeves et al. 2006). Political scientists have historically resisted the application of branding principles to analyze and understand politics because it takes away from the study of politics as a purely ideological phenomenon. However, as political marketing visibly changes from historic methods and adapts to a more aesthetic and emotional consumer-driven strategy, new, more appropriate theoretical frameworks are necessary to understand them.

Even as politics becomes more voter driven, Brands and Political Loyalty argues that voters are becoming increasingly uninformed (Needham 2005). In a digital age where information is abundant, it would seem intuitive that it is easier for voters to be informed about politics, but because of the abundance of multiple sources, not all of them reputable, sifting through untrustworthy information increases the cost of being informed

(Needham 2005). To relieve decision fatigue and confusion when coming across contradictory pieces of information about political candidates, voters rely on shortcuts, such as the image of candidates as portrayed in and through media to make decisions.

This image is the candidates is their brand and is communicated through media such as traditional television and print news media and advertisements as well as social media.

Because of voter need for simple, resonant messages to stimulate voting, successful politicians build brands based on a simple message represented by a few key policies rather than comprehensive legislation (Needham 2005). This use of an image as a shortcut is exemplified in the American political party practice of focusing attention on

16 front-runner politicians who then act as symbols to embody the positives of the party

(Needham 2005). Voters can then use the candidate's image as a shortcut to that the party stands for and expect a similar brand when they see other, less publicized politicians from the same party.

Scholarship is currently lacking an abundance of studies of political brand identity communication, and as a result, choosing a framework to use in analysis is not straightforward. Considering the established application of brand marketing principles to political campaigns, one framework the provides insight into political brand analysis is the Tripartite Model of Attitude. The Tripartite Model proposes that attitudes toward objects are made up of three distinct components: affect, behavior, and cognition.

Figure 2: Tripartite Model

In his empirical validation of these components, Breckler (1984), researcher and program director at the National Science Foundation, found strong support for the already prevalent model. Affect, behavior, and cognition were found to have high intercomponent

17 correlations toward both attitude objects physically present and abstract ideas and symbols. As such, politician’s brands could be analyzed based on which attitude component they target the most through their emotional appeals, rational appeal, and calls to action. This approach is modified by Scammel (2015) in her model designed specifically to analyze the brand’s identity. Identity is the image candidates aim to communicate to voters and is distinct from voters’ attitudes toward the brand. This separation is useful for studying political brands, as it allows the distinction of candidate- originated campaign materials from earned media and voter reactions and opinions.

Scammel’s (2015) framework is based on the “affect” and “cognition” elements of the tripartite model but renamed “brand differentiators” and “boundary conditions” respectively. Due to this framework’s usefulness for brand identity research, Scammel’s work provides the framework for analysis in this paper. in conjunction with content analysis and semiotic theory.

This study operates based on the principle that campaign logo designs serve to shape the candidate’s brand and can communicate information about the candidate and their platform. The following two hypotheses are tested:

H1: Candidates within the same category (political party, gender, incumbency,

and geographic region) will construct their logos in similar ways, establishing a

symbolic relationship between certain design features and candidate identity

attributes that voters may subconsciously begin to identify.

H2: Candidates will employ established semantic and symbolic visual signifiers to

convey personal information about the candidates to voters.

18

To study the nature of political brand identities, thirty candidates in the 2018 U.S. midterm elections were chosen as samples from a population of candidates that had at least a ten percent chance of winning according to the Center for US Politics and Design

(CAPD 2018). A valid analysis must include units of study that are common to each candidate. Since candidates across the country each craft their campaign strategy differently and allocate their budget to a variety of marketing channels, some candidate’s brand may be more fully communicated on a poster or yard sign while others choose buttons or websites. Analyzing content across these different channels would not make for a fair analysis as each format is associated with a different style of communication and different content. Due to this diversity, candidate logos were chosen as units of analysis for each candidate’s brand identity. Logos are a standard feature of midterm campaigns, with 910 out of 917 candidates displaying a logo associated with their campaign. The Center for US Politics and Design has an organized database of these logos and was used as a resource for this research.

To achieve a sufficiently diverse and representative sample of candidates from across the United States, a stratified random sample was drawn. I divided the United

States into five widely accepted region divisions: Northeast, Southeast, Southwest,

Midwest, and West. These regions were divided according to the boundaries shown in

Figure 3.

19

Figure 3: United States Geographical Regions

Six candidates were selected from each of the five regions. To achieve an unbiased sample, a random number generator was used to choose a starting point. Then, the number of candidates in each region was divided by 6 to establish an “nth” number. Starting from the randomly generated number, every “nth” candidate was selected to be included in the sample. In the rare case that this number landed on a candidate without a recognized logo, the next consecutive candidate was selected and used as the starting counting point to select the next candidate.

The resulting sample included a representative mix of Congress with both House and Senate, male and female, and Democratic and Republican candidates selected from each of the five geographic regions. The selected candidate group was 63% Democrat and

37% Republican, 60% male and 40% female, and 13% Senate candidates with the rest being candidates for the House of Representatives. The final sample is as displayed in the following table.

20

Democrat/ House/ Male/ Region Name State Republican Senate Female (D/R) (H/S) (M/F) W Aaron Swisher ID D H M W Craig Keller WA R H M W Grace F Napolitano CA D H F W Joshua Scott CA R H M W Lucille Roybal-Allard CA D H F W Russ Fulcher ID R H M SW Dan Crenshaw TX R H M SW Jana Lynne Sanchez TX D H F SW Kyrsten Sinema AZ D S F SW Mike Siegel TX D H M SW Ted Cruz TX R S M SW Anita Malik AZ D H F MW Dean Phillips MN D H M MW Jason Smith MO R H M MW Kimberly Bizon MI D H F MW Randy Bryce WI D H M MW Tina Smith MN D S F MW Bill Johnson OH R H M SE Justin Kanew TN D H M SE Mike Espy MS D S M SE Roger Allison NC R H M SE Trent Kelly MS R H M SE Carol Miller WV R H F Debbie Wasserman SE Schultz FL D H F NE Chrissy Houlahan PA D H F NE Glenn Thompson PA R H M NE Joseph D. Morelle NY D H M NE Mikie Sherrill NJ D H F NE Steny H. Hoyer MD D H M NE Ayanna Presley MA D H F

Table 1: Sample

21

After selecting a diversified sample, research was conducted to understand the campaign and background of each candidate, explaining their political party, background, and any notable facts surrounding their campaign. The candidates’ policy platforms and personal identities were also examined to determine if a trend appeared between the design and aspects of the campaign, denoting symbolism. As such, campaign websites, news articles, and blogs were all consulted for research purposes to understand the social context behind the logo design as well as to see if the visual design appropriately matched the key message of the campaign.

22

CHAPTER THREE

Content Analysis

Due to the communication and design-based nature of this research, content analysis and semiotic theory were chosen as tools to determine methodology. Content analysis is a research technique for the objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication (Berelson 1952, p. 55). It is the scientific method applied to communication analysis and requires an objective coding of content according to predetermined criteria. To correctly conduct content analysis, the analysis must have the following qualities:

Systematization

Categories and analysis should be systematically applied to each unit of analysis, whether or not the results fit the thesis or desired outcome of the study. Partially analyzed content does not fulfill systematization (Kassarjian 1977).

To conduct the analysis systematically, I created a set of coding guidelines before starting the coding process and applied these guidelines systematically to each unit of analysis. This coding guide includes definitions and specific instructions to follow and can be examined in Appendix A. Each logo’s variables were evaluated based on the following categories: colors, typeface, name styling, text, and symbols.

23

Objectivity

For the analysis to fulfill the quality of objectivity, the categories of analysis must be so exactly defined that there is little to no room for interpretation or variation among analysts. If a different analyst were to code the same content, they should arrive at the same results as the first analyst if the analysis satisfies objectivity (Kassarjian 1977).

Even with a set of coding guidelines, personal perception can result in bias, breaking the objectivity requirement. To achieve a greater degree of objectivity, Ben

Allen, a 2019 Baylor graduate with a BA in Political Science, was recruited to serve as

Coder B. Coder B was provided with the same systematic set of instructions that Coder A followed. Table 2 shows the number of times Coder A and Coder B disagreed on the classification or presence of an element, grouped by category. In the case of each variation, Coder A and Coder B discussed their reasonings and a consensus was reached.

The final consensus was the coding version employed in the analysis.

One category, “other symbol”, was thrown out of the analysis due to high rates of inter-coder variation. “Other symbol” was too loosely defined and Coder A and Coder B often differed on what constituted a noteworthy element that required coding.

The remaining category with the highest variation percentage was “color”. With

9 color options given and 30 candidates, there were 270 total color options, and the category had a 4.81% variation between the two coders. Most of the differences resulted from differing perceptions of color shades. In the case of confusing color classification, the color’s HTML code was used to identify the correct color family. The addition of a second perspective identified elements that may be perceived differently by various voters, and the ensuing discussion and consensus added credence to the analysis.

24

Category Variations Total Possible Variation (%) Color 13 270 4.81% Typeface 3 90 3.33% Name Styling 0 90 0.00% Text 2 180 1.11% Symbols 0 360 0.00%

Table 2: Coding Variation

Quantification

Content should have counts, values, or scales assigned to create data that can be further analyzed using statistical methods (Kassarjian 1977). Quantification should allow for summary counts, interpretations, and inferences.

When coding, the presence of each identified variable was assigned the value “1”, and the absence of the variable was assigned a “0”. These values allowed for summary counts as well as more advanced analysis to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in design variables present for politicians of different parties, genders, incumbency status, and geographical region. The rest of the chapter includes tables that show frequencies as well as cross-tabulations and chi-square tests. Cross tabulations and chi-square tests were run on every combination of the following rows and columns using IBM SPSS to discover statistically significant trends:

Rows: Party, Region, Gender, Incumbent

Columns: Color, Typeface, Name Styling, Text, and Symbols

Out of all these tests, only the tests that resulted in a statistically significant chi-square value are shown and discussed.

25

Color

Red, white, and blue (RWB) are the standard components of political color palettes, so RWB was listed as a separate color option in this analysis. If a candidate’s logo did not use RWB, each of the colors used was recorded separately. In the sample of

30 candidates from the 2018 midterms, 40 percent used an RWB color palette. While the

RWB option was employed more by logos than any other color, the fact that less than half of candidates used this classic color palette is reflective of the developing changes in

American visual political communication. Of those who strayed from RWB, a large portion stayed with one of the component colors. 30 percent of candidates included blue in their logos apart from RWB. Blue makes up the largest non-RWB color choice used by candidates, followed by red at 23 percent.

Color Prevalence (%) RWB 40% Blue 30% Red 23% Yellow 20% Black 20% Gray 13% Purple 10% Orange 7% Green 7%

Table 3: Color Frequency

Data analysis revealed that a candidate’s gender plays a role in the color of their logo.

26

GENDER * RWB Crosstabulation Count RWB No Yes Total GENDER F 10 2 12 M 7 11 18 Total 17 13 30

Table 4: GENDER * RWB Crosstabulation

A Chi-square analysis found males to be more likely to employ RWB in their logos than females, with a p-value of .016. Of the 12 female candidates, 10 did not employ RWB, opting for other colors. Since female congressional candidates are a relatively recent historical phenomenon, it is not surprising to learn that females are less inclined to use a traditional political color scheme.

GENDER * BLUE Crosstabulation Count BLUE No Yes Total GENDER F 6 6 12 M 16 2 18 Total 22 8 30

Table 5: GENDER * BLUE Crosstabulation

Also, females are more likely to include blue in their logos apart from an RWB palette than males. With a p-value of .018, a chi-square analysis revealed that males are less likely to feature blue in their logos. After seeing repeated political campaign signs that

27 follow this pattern, voters may begin to associate an all-blue color palette with the female gender, despite being typically associated with males in other contexts.

While the above two findings are decidedly statistically significant, the following relationships were statistically significant at a significance level of .1, a greater threshold.

GENDER * ORANGE Crosstabulation Count ORANGE No Yes Total GENDER F 10 2 12 M 18 0 18 Total 28 2 30

Table 6: GENDER * ORANGE Crosstabulation

The chi-square analysis of gender and orange resulted in a p-value of .073, with females appearing to use orange more frequently than males.

GENDER * GREEN Crosstabulation Count GREEN No Yes Total GENDER F 10 2 12 M 18 0 18 Total 28 2 30

Table 7: GENDER * GREEN Crosstabulation

Green also had a p-value of .073, with females once again seeming to use green in their logos more than males.

28

GENDER * GRAY Crosstabulation Count GRAY No Yes Total GENDER F 12 0 12 M 14 4 18 Total 26 4 30

Table 8: GENDER * GRAY Crosstabulation

Based on a chi-square test, gray seems to be a more male color with a p-value of .079.

PARTY * RWB Crosstabulation Count RWB No Yes Total PARTY D 13 6 19

R 4 7 11 Total 17 13 30

Table 9: PARTY * RWB Crosstabulation

While not a strong statistical significance, political party was related to the usage of

RWB with a p-value of .088. According to this test, Democrats are more likely to use a non-RWB color palette, while Republicans are more likely to use RWB in their logos.

Typeface

The next group of variables that were evaluated was whether the candidate's logo employed serif, sans serif, or script typefaces. A serif font is distinguished by serifs, or small strokes at the ends of larger letter strokes, such as those in Times New Roman, while a sans serif font is a typeface that lacks serifs, such as Arial. A script font is one

29 that possesses elements of handwriting, often being fluid. The Brush Script typeface found in Appendix A is an example of a script font. As shown in Table 10, sans serif fonts were present in 83 percent of logos in the sample, being by far the most commonly used typeface among politicians.

Typeface Prevalence (%) Sans Serif 83% Serif 43% Script 13%

Table 10: Typeface Frequency

Crosstabulations and chi-square tests revealed that sans serif was the most used font among politicians regardless of gender, party, or geographical region. However, there is a statistically significant relationship between typeface and whether or not the candidate is an incumbent.

INCUMBENT * SANS SERIF Crosstab Count SANS SERIF No Yes Total INCUMBENT No 1 20 21 Yes 4 5 9 Total 5 25 30

Table 11: INCUMBENT * SANS SERIF Crosstabulation

As Table 11 shows, political newcomers are significantly more likely to use sans serif fonts in their logos than incumbents are (p=.008).

30

INCUMBENT * SERIF Crosstabulation Count SERIF No Yes Total INCUMBENT No 15 6 21 Yes 2 7 9 Total 17 13 30

Table 12: INCUMBENT * SERIF Crosstabulation

Conversely, as Table 12 shows, incumbents are significantly more likely to use serif fonts in their logos compared to newcomers, with a p-value of .013. With sans serif rising in popularity and usage in graphic design and serif falling from mainstream style, it is reasonable that political newcomers today have logos designed according to current graphic trends. Likewise, if a candidate has been in office for an extended period, they often reuse their logo from election year to election year, resulting in time passing between logo updates and an outdated logo. As a result, a logo that includes a serif font may be an indicator that the candidate is an incumbent with experience.

Name Styling

When styling their names, candidates can select including their first name, last name, or both. A first name logo can allow voters to feel they are on a "first-name basis" with the candidate and offer a sense of populism, while the last name keeps the logo simple but doesn’t give away the gender of the candidate. Including a first and last name gives the most information about the candidate and is the most-used name styling option, with 77 percent of candidates in the sample opting to include both their first and last names in their logo. No statistically significant relationship was found between any

31 particular name styling option and a candidate’s gender, political party, incumbency status, or geographical region.

Name Styling Prevalence (%) First and Last Name 77% Last Name Only 20% First Name Only 3%

Table 13: Name Styling Frequency

Text

In addition to the candidate’s name, political logos often include other text such as a tagline or slogan. By far the most common text used is a variation of a “For Congress” or “For U.S. Senate” tagline. 80 percent of candidates included this tagline, which gives context to the name and informs the voter of the position this candidate is campaigning for. A mention of the candidate’s state is a distant second, with 27 percent of candidates choosing to include their state name in their logo. Only 3 percent of logos included the candidate’s political party affiliation. With the number of voters that vote according to party lines, this small percentage of party disclosures in general elections is surprising.

Text Prevalence (%) "For Congress/Senate" 80% Mention of State 27% Call to Action 20% Slogan 17% Website 10% Party Affiliation 3%

Table 14: Text Frequency

32

Despite most logos not including a disclosure of the candidate’s party, there is a statistically significant relationship between political party and including a slogan in the logo (p=.028). Although a majority of candidates in the sample did not include a slogan,

Republican candidates are significantly more likely to feature a campaign slogan in their logo than Democratic candidates.

PARTY * SLOGAN Crosstabulation Count SLOGAN No Yes Total PARTY Democrat 18 1 19 Republican 7 4 11 Total 25 5 30

Table 15: PARTY * SLOGAN Crosstabulation

Also, according to a chi-square analysis, there is a relationship between the region of the

U.S. that the candidate is running in and whether they reference their state (p=.005). As shown in Table 16, candidates in the Southwest region of the United States are most likely to mention their state through text in their logo. This region includes Texas,

Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona.

33

REGION * MENTION STATE Crosstabulation Count MENTION STATE No Yes Total REGION MW 6 0 6 NE 6 0 6 SE 4 2 6 SW 1 5 6 W 5 1 6 Total 22 8 30

Table 16: REGION * MENTION STATE Crosstabulation

Symbols

Political logos often include images or symbol components in addition to color and text. Of the candidates in the sample, a vast majority, 87 percent, chose to include a symbol of some sort in their logo, as shown in Table 17.

Symbol Prevalence (%) Yes 87% No 13%

Table 17: Symbol Inclusion Frequency

Of those who included symbols, stars were the most popular, with a third of all candidates including a star or stars in their logo. This count does not include any stars present as part of a state or US flag. The second-most-common symbol was a state shape, most often in the form of an outline or silhouette, followed by a state flag. Unlike mentioning the state through text, there was no statistically significant relationship

34 between geographic region and graphically referencing a state. No other relationships were found to be statistically significant.

Symbol Type Prevalence (%) Star(s) 33% State Shape 17% State Flag 13% Stripes 10% US Flag 10% Eagle 7% Other Animal 3% Nature 3% Flame 3% Human 3% Iron Beams 3% Capitol Building 3%

Table 18: Symbol Frequency

35

CHAPTER FOUR

Semiotic Analysis

Content analysis is useful for studying the manifest content of a communication, but a vast portion of communication is found in the form of latent content. Manifest content is the literal, obvious content, while latent content is the underlying meaning denoted by symbolism and other signs. To meaningfully evaluate the latent content of a candidate's logo, semiotic theory is applied.

Semiotics is the study of signs, drawing heavily from the work of Ferdinand de

Saussure and Roland Barthes. Semiotics focuses on how we make sense of the world around us through signs. According to semiotics, signs are made up of the signifier and the signified. The signifier is the physical content of the sign that creates meaning, similar to manifest content. The signified portion of the sign is the understood meaning and can be broken up into the denotation, or the literal meaning, and the connotation, which is the signified meaning. Signs can be anything from a symbol to the color to a font, each with its own signified meaning depending on the context. Signs can be organized according to five codes developed by Barthes (Simpkins 1997).

Symbolic Code: a symbol is an image that is accepted to mean something other than itself (Simpkins 1997). For example, the cross is a recognized symbol of

Christianity. The placement of the cross on a building allows a viewer to quickly understand that it is a church. Symbols evolve as a people group repeatedly uses an image as a sign for a concept, developing a symbolic code such as a heart shape representing

36 love. In politics, stars, stripes, and the bald eagle are all recognized symbols of the United

States and patriotism.

Proairetic Code: A proairetic, or action, code is a media element that shows an unfinished action (Simpkins 1997). For example, an image of a soccer player winding up in front of a soccer ball is a proairetic code that the player will soon kick the ball.

Proairetic codes are useful in hinting at what actions the viewers can expect in the future.

Semantic Code: Also known as connotative code, semantic code is when an element of a piece of communication is understood to have a connotative meaning. As an example, colors have developed connotative meanings and are often used as semantic codes. In American politics, red is the color most often associated with the Republican party, and blue is the color associated with the Democratic party.

Cultural Code: A cultural, or referential, code is a part of communication designed for understanding by a particular people group which cannot be fully understood outside of it (Simpkins 1997). This type of sign conveys meaning to members of an "in-group" such as a particular ethnicity, age group, time period, geographic location, or other subculture but is obscure to outsiders because they lack the cultural background to understand the reference.

Hermeneutic Code: Alternatively known as enigma codes, hermeneutic codes are mysterious elements of communication that hook that viewer into a desired action, such as further reading, watching, or thinking. A hermeneutic code raises a question that the viewer will desire to answer (Simpkins 1997). These codes are useful for grabbing attention, as humans are drawn to “cliffhangers” and incomplete media designs and are prone to be curious “what will happen next”.

37

These semiotic codes provide a foundation for media analysis, but multiple codes can be present simultaneously within a single media piece. The analysis endeavor is made even more challenging because signs, especially political and cultural signs, are polysemic, meaning they can have multiple meanings depending on the interpretation. In this chapter’s semiotic analysis of each candidate, the political and cultural context, as well as their personal characteristics and policies, will be examined to understand any semiotic meaning in their logos. As there is no regulated standard for what a campaign logo should contain, the selected campaign logos vary in design and content. They also vary in underlying semiotic content. Candidates for Congress range dramatically in their levels of political experience and resources, so there exists a broad range in the quality and depth of campaign logos. As Billard (2016) wrote, a well-designed logo will have visual simplicity and semiotic depth to perform best among a public that is accustomed to a slew of new media messages every hour.

38

Candidate Logos

Aaron Swisher

Figure 4: Aaron Swisher

Aaron Swisher is a Democratic candidate who lost in his bid to represent Idaho’s

2nd Congressional District in 2018 (Swisher 2018). According to his campaign pitch,

Swisher is “an economist, not a career politician”, and his proposed policies place him squarely as a centrist (Swisher 2018). Accordingly, his campaign logo features elements traditionally associated with both Democrats and Republicans. The dark blue background is fitting as blue is the color of his stated party, but the red underlines and font choices make the design feel like it comes from an earlier era, an image usually a trademark of more conservative candidates. The logo design and red underlines are similar to the logo

Bush used in his 1992 presidential campaign logo, which also featured a dark blue background, double red underlines and bold sans serif and all-caps serif typefaces.

39

Figure 5: Bush ‘92

While Bush’s red lines served to underscore the “US” at the center of Bush’s name,

Swisher’s design underlines “wisher”, leaving an impression of a weak candidate.

Swisher's pairing of the bold sans-serif font and the all-caps serif font results in a conflicting message. Sans-serif fonts are a semantic code for informality and being "of the people", which complements Swisher's image as an outsider among career politicians, but serif fonts, especially all-caps, are code for structure and formality. Also, serif fonts are considered more traditional, which is not a characteristic associated with the

Democratic party, which is more progressive. The combined elements complement

Swisher's centrist politics. Because Idaho is majority Republican and Swisher's opponent was a Republican incumbent, it makes strategic sense that Swisher, a Democrat, played it safe and tried to appeal to voters by presenting a campaign design with an RWB color palette and a Bush-era design.

40

Craig Keller

Figure 6: Craig Keller

Craig Keller lost in his campaign to represent Washington’s 7th Congressional

District as a Republican, making 2018 his third consecutive campaign and third consecutive loss (Keller4America). Keller’s campaign logo is fairly unusual compared to typical logos, featuring a great deal more text. The branding message is heavy on policy, as the triangle framing the logo includes Keller’s three main policy focuses: “Defend

U.S. Workers”, “E-Verify”, and “No Amnesty”. This explicit listing of policy in a campaign logo is rare and solidly reveals Keller’s Republican affiliation, as all three statements have to do with controlling and restricting illegal immigration, a key policy issue for Republicans. The Republican identity is further reinforced by the exclusive use of red, which is the party color of the Republicans.

The use of the character “4” as opposed to spelling out “for” marks Keller as an outsider to polished Washington politics and an everyday American man. While the “4”

41 reinforces his policy goal of defending U.S. workers, it carries a strong connotation of unprofessionalism. The usage of “4” instead of “for” is most notably found in text message abbreviation slang traditionally used by teenagers, not an image normally desired by Congressmen. Paired with the unusually large amount of text and varying font treatments gives Keller’s logo a handmade appearance which further distances him from professional politics.

The triangular shape and thick bright red outline make Keller’s logo nearly identical to a yield sign. Yield signs are found at merging intersections, so Keller’s usage of this symbolic code may be a reference to his policy focus on immigration, which is a merging of two cultures and interests. Alternatively, the yield sign may evoke a daily image for American commuters, further cementing Keller’s focus on American workers.

Grace F Napolitano

Figure 7: Grace F. Napolitano

42

Grace F. Napolitano is an incumbent Democratic Representative who won the

2018 midterm election to represent California’s 32nd Congressional District (“About

Grace F. Napolitano”). According to Napolitano’s website, her main platform topics are veterans, water, mental health, and transportation (“Congresswoman Grace Napolitano”).

Napolitano’s logo does not feature the standard RWB color palette at all in favor of a dark green and orange color scheme. The green color has semantic and symbolic ties to the army and the pairing of green and orange evokes military camouflage colors, which complements Napolitano’s veteran focus. Green is also typically associated with the environment and “going green”, which speaks to her water legislation. Lastly, green is also the color of mental health awareness ribbons, which supports her focus on mental health legislation (“Green ribbon for mental health awareness”). Though viewers are unlikely to recognize all these connections, the color green strategically fits Napolitano’s platform and brand image.

Napolitano's rounded sans serif font features lower case, thin letters in a light orange color, all connotatively female indicating factors. The departure from traditional colors and typefaces also indicates that she is most likely a Democrat, the progressive party.

Napolitano's logo features only one but highly detailed symbol: an eagle holding a banner of five stars under three floating stars. Unlike modern logos which tend to be in a simple "flat" design, Napolitano's eagle features many detail lines and shading, which are hallmarks of more traditional design elements. The eagle is the national bird of the

United States and a symbol of American patriotism and the government. Stars also symbolize the stars of the US flag and patriotism. Both the eagle and stars are symbols

43 also associated with the military. The logo of the Department of Veterans Affairs features an eagle with five stars, symbolizing the five branches of the military (“The Seal of the

Department of Veterans Affairs”). Veterans may recognize the eagle and five stars symbolism in Napolitano’s logo and understand that her platform concerns military or veteran topics. The three stars above the eagle are more ambiguous but are most often associated with the three branches of the U.S. government.

Joshua Scott

Figure 8: Joshua Scott

Joshua Scott was Grace F. Napolitano’s Republican opponent in the 2018 campaign to represent California’s 32nd district (“Meet Joshua”). Scott’s logo is strategically chosen to underscore his young, constitutional conservative identity. Scott’s brand value proposition is offering a young face to challenge Napolitano, a representative since 1999. Lacking an extensive political track record, Scott’s two main campaign focuses were his youth and Republican identity (“Meet Joshua”). The 32nd district had not had a Republican on the ballot to oppose incumbent Napolitano since 2014, so Scott’s

44 logo focused on differentiating him as a Republican. Also, Scott had only recently turned

25, the minimum required age to run for Congress, making him the youngest possible candidate (Le 2018).

Accordingly, Scott's logo features a modern, narrow sans-serif typeface and flat, clean design to signify his youth. The script typeface used in the "for" is also a modern, minimalist font that adds a touch of informality and youth to the logo. On the other hand,

Scott's logo features the traditional RWB color scheme and an American flag, albeit a simplified version. The use of explicitly patriotic elements is more customary for

Republicans, so the use of these traditional elements rendered in a modern way signifies

Scott’s conservative politics and youthfulness without signifying any specific topic or policy.

Lucille Roybal-Allard

Figure 9: Lucille Roybal-Allard

Lucille Roybal-Allard won her reelection campaign to represent California’s 40th district in 2018. Having served California as a representative since 1993 and making a name for herself as the first Mexican-American woman elected to Congress and co-

45 author of The Dream Act, Roybal-Allard’s logo serves as a reminder to reelect her instead of introducing her (“Biography - Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard”).

Roybal-Allard’s logo is notable in that it omits any mention of what office she is running for as typically found in campaign logos, including references to the year, Congress, and her state. This choice to not include details of the election implies that Roybal-Allard is so well established that voters should already know what office she wants to be reelected to, and further details such as "for congress" are unnecessary. To emphasize her incumbent status and imply political experience, a trust factor, "Re-elect" is set in a script typeface at an angle.

While Roybal-Allard uses blue, her party color, as the background to her logo, her name is written in bright yellow instead of red or white. While yellow is not characteristic of American designs, yellow and primary colors are customary in Mexican art and culture. By featuring her name in yellow, Roybal-Allard highlights her ethnic identity without using symbols or text through the semantic code of yellow.

46

Russ Fulcher

Figure 10: Russ Fulcher

Republican candidate Russ Fulcher won the 2018 midterm election for his first term representing Idaho’s 1st Congressional District. Running as a “Conservative for

Congress", Fulcher's logo showcases a traditional RWB color palette as well as a star in the "R" ("Russ Fulcher for Congress”). Even though the RWB palette is typical to signify a politician, and often a conservative politician, Fulcher’s RWB shades are muted instead of bright red and blue, resulting in a more updated, modern brand image. This is further cemented by the clean design and simple, strong sans serif typeface. Even though Fulcher is neither young nor progressive, he is a newcomer to Congress, so his logo is visibly up- to-date with 2018 design trends.

The Fulcher logo includes "For Idaho", introducing himself as an Idaho

Representative for the first time. The "R" in Russ is visually split into two separate shapes, red and white. When looking at the left half of the "R", an "I" is highlighted in red. Considering the mention of Idaho in the logo, this hidden "I" could be a reference to

47 the state of Idaho, and painting it red signifies the Republican-leaning nature of the state.

Overall, however, this logo does not signal any specific policy or personality details.

Dan Crenshaw

Figure 11: Dan Crenshaw

Republican Dan Crenshaw won the Representative seat for the 2nd Congressional

District of Texas. The CAPD database uses a different image as the Dan Crenshaw 2018 campaign logo, but Crenshaw’s campaign used multiple campaign signs, with and without his face. The yard signs widely distributed by Crenshaw’s campaign featured his face, and a vectorized version of Crenshaw’s face was the thumbnail logo for Crenshaw’s campaign website, so this particular version of the sign was chosen for this logo analysis as more representative of his campaign brand image (“Crenshaw for Congress”).

Crenshaw's logo features copy and imagery to introduce Crenshaw as a person.

As a former Navy SEAL with a war injury but no political experience, Crenshaw's campaign logo uses his face as a distinguishing factor. Featuring a candidate's face is unconventional but is a key part of Crenshaw's brand due to his eyepatch signaling his

48 war history, and subsequently his patriotism and sacrifice. The three stars above

Crenshaw's name also carry military and patriotic connotations due to the "star" general ranking system and stars in the U.S. flag.

Crenshaw includes an action-oriented message in his logo, "Vote #1 on the ballot", along with a three-part summary of his identity. Compared to other candidates' campaign logos, Crenshaw's is cluttered but follows the strategy of being personality- oriented, focusing on his military past, his native Texan identity, and conservative beliefs.

The mention of the word conservative can signal policies that conservatives are known for, so this word can act as both a personality and a policy sign.

Opting out of the traditional RWB color palette, Crenshaw's campaign designs featured navy and gold, and just gold as an accent color on this version. Navy and gold act as a cultural code to those in or familiar with the military, as those are the colors of the Navy and further solidify Crenshaw's image as a military man. Crenshaw's logo mixes sans serif with traditional serif fonts, fitting for a young but conservative candidate.

49

Jana Lynne Sanchez

Figure 12: Jana Lynne Sanchez

Jana Lynne Sanchez ran for election to represent Texas CD 6 as a Democrat and lost (“Jana Lynne Sanchez”). Sanchez's logo does not include sufficiently meaningful semiotic content to communicate her identity or policies to voters, as most of the logo elements are tied to Texas. The logo is set on the background of a modified version of the

Texas flag, recognizable to Texans even without the Lone Star, acting as a cultural code.

The white outline to the left of Sanchez's name is also of Texas with a star over the 6th

Congressional District, signaling who Sanchez is running to represent.

Sanchez also includes her campaign slogan "Time to Texas Up!" as part of her logo. This slogan alludes to the well-known phrase "man up" and the recent movement behind the phrase "woman up". These phrases are exhortations to exhibit the qualities stereotypically associated with the two genders. "Texas Up" is not a commonly used phrase, but in this cultural context, the slogan could be a call for Texans to behave according to Texan stereotypes and traditions. However, this phrase is highly

50 interpretable and does not communicate a clear meaning to voters that informs them of the candidate or her policy.

Kyrsten Sinema

Figure 13: Kyrsten Synema

Kyrsten Sinema made history by winning the 2018 election to be Arizona’s first female senator and the second openly LGBTQ member of Congress as a Democratic bisexual woman (Jackman 2018). Her campaign logo echoes her groundbreaking campaign, deviating from RWB and patriotic symbols entirely and choosing instead to focus on nature. Arizona, home of the Grand Canton, is a state known for its natural desert beauty, so Sinema’s mountain silhouette signifies an homage to Arizona’s landscape. Also, the focus on nature may act as a signifier to some voters that Sinema is pro-environmental protection, which tends to be a Democratic platform.

51

The heavy usage of the color purple has multiple levels of semiotic meaning.

Most obviously, mountains often appear to have a purple hue during sunsets, which is supported by the apparent sun behind the mountains in the logo. The gradient sun acts as a subtle cultural code referencing Obama's sun logo, marking Sinema as the next candidate of hope. Alternatively, purple is seen as an independent or bipartisan color as a mixture of Republican red and Democrat blue. In recent years, Arizona has become a

"purple" state, no longer being solidly Republican or Democrat. Sinema's campaign website styles her as an "independent voice for Arizona", and the color purple in her logo supports that by not overtly tying her to either party. Purple is also a symbol of bisexual pride. As a mixture of pink and blue, purple represents the combination of same-gender and opposite-gender attraction (Rosiek 2005). As a result, purple can also signal and amplify Sinema’s openly bisexual identity.

Sinema’s logo typeface is sans serif and thin, signifying both modern and feminine qualities. By including her website domain in her logo, Sinema signals that she is not an old-school candidate and invites voters to learn more about her digitally.

Mike Siegel

Figure 14: Mike Siegel

52

Mike Siegel, a Democrat, ran and lost the election to represent Texas’s 10th

Congressional District (“Home - Mike Siegel for Congress”). Siegel’s logo features a clean design with a modified RWB color palette, bold and light versions of a sans serif font and the Texas state flag. The dark blue background and modern design of the logo could signify the Democratic party to some voters, but the signs in this logo are not developed enough to learn any specifics about the candidate or his policies.

Ted Cruz

Figure 15: Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz successfully ran as the Republican incumbent for Texas Senator

(“About Senator Cruz”). Cruz’s logo features a flame with a star in it superimposed on the outline of the shape of Texas. Cruz has used this flame as his logo in a previous presidential bid, but the flame's previous red, white, and blue stripes made some opponents believe it could represent a burning American flag (Doom 2016). The Cruz campaign has altered the design since then, leaving a white flame with a red star. This flame carries both biblical and patriotic connotations. In the Bible, the presence of a flame represented God’s presence in both Genesis and Acts and was also regularly used as an image for God’s transformative power to change and purify lives. As a

53 conservative, a large part of Cruz’s base is evangelical and would recognize and appreciate the biblical symbolism behind the flame (Doom 2016). However, the flame also carries a patriotic meaning, representing the flame of liberty. The Statue of Liberty in

New York holds a torch with a lit flame, widely accepted as a symbol of enlightenment, guiding the way to freedom. By using a flame, I argue Cruz’s logo attempts to reference a well-known patriotic symbol and provide a promise of a path to liberty for voters.

The dual-color of the Texas shape helps the logo maintain a balance in its RWB color palette, but also refers to the fact that Texas is becoming more and more politically divided. Placing the flame over this divided state could represent Cruz's promise to provide freedom for both red and blue voters. Alternatively, since the flame itself is red, this could be interpreted as Cruz's Republican flame burning bright despite the

Democratic support in the state.

The sans serif typeface that Cruz uses features several “nicks” that give the letters a sense of personality and depth that a simple flat typeface could not achieve. Pairing this typeface with the slogan “Tough as Texas” creates a visual effect of strength and dependability for Cruz. “Tough as Texas” is set in a serif typewriter font, which carries connotations of the past and traditions and serves as a signal of Cruz’s conservative policies. All copy in Cruz’s logo is set in all caps, emphasizing the strength and toughness in Cruz’s brand image.

54

Anita Malik

Figure 16: Anita Malik

Anita Malik, a Democratic candidate, ran to represent Arizona’s Sixth

Congressional District. She won the Democratic primary election as the underdog but ultimately lost the general election in 2018. Malik’s logo features an unusual color palette, eye-catching design, and includes only her first name. Malik is a young political outsider, leaving her job as COO at a tech company to run for office, and her logo reflects her fresh perspective (“Meet Anita Malik: Democrat for Congress in Arizona 6th

District”). By featuring only her feminine first name, Malik highlights the fact that she is a woman. This first-name-only choice also gives her an informal, friendly brand image, allowing voters to be on a "first-name basis" with the candidate. The alliteration of the

A's in "Anita for Arizona" results in a smooth campaign slogan that flows smoothly.

Although Malik’s logo technically includes red and blue, the light shade of blue and red-to-orange ombre set it apart from other political logos and give the logo a feminine feeling. These fresh colors break away from a typical RWB palette could signify that the candidate’s policy is geared in a progressive direction. Part of the “A” in

55

“Anita” is red and extends into an orange curve that fades right before it connects to the orange star dotting the “i”. It is unclear what the candidate intended this extended curve to be, but its similarity to the well-known Nike swoosh logo overshadows other connotations it may have.

Dean Phillips

Figure 17: Dean Phillips

Dean Phillips, a Democrat, successfully defeated the Republican incumbent representative for Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District in 2018 (“About -

Representative Dean Phillips”). Phillips’ campaign logo features an almost traditional

RWB color palette except for the gray “For Congress” and a purple triangle where the red and blue shapes in his symbol overlap. This deviation from RWB paired with the informal bold sans serif font gives Phillips a modern brand image.

This modern design is further established through the symbol to the left of the text, which is a minimalistic, ultra-simplified and deconstructed Minnesota outline. This symbol functions as a cultural code, because voters outside of Minnesota who do not

56 often pay attention to the shape of the state of Minnesota would be significantly less likely to understand that the red and blue shapes represent the state. While the dominant color in the logo and Phillip's name is blue, reflecting Phillip's Democratic party affiliation, the Minnesota shape in the logo is half red and half blue and intersects to be purple in the middle. Like in Cruz's logo, the state's color duality can represent the state's political division. Minnesota leans blue, but only slightly, as almost half the population has voted Republican in recent elections. Unlike in Cruz’s logo, Phillips portrays the red and blue parts of the state coming together, overlapping, and forming a purple middle.

This can represent bipartisanship and offers a visual representation that fully supports the campaign messaging, as Phillips ran on a platform of political unity, expressing a great desire for bipartisanship (“Why Dean Phillips is running for Congress in Minnesota's 3rd

District”). As a result, this logo has both semiotic depth and coincides with both the candidate’s identity as a freshman Democratic politician and his policy strategy of bipartisanship.

57

Jason Smith

Figure 18: Jason Smith

Jason Smith has been the incumbent Republican representative from Missouri’s

8th Congressional District since 2013. Smith grew up working on the family farm, and his logo echoes this characteristic by using an all-caps sans serif typeface to convey a strong but informal image (“About Jason”). Smith’s logo also uses a classic RWB color scheme, correctly signaling that he is a conservative Republican in his policy. The bright shades of red and blue and the styling of the red and white letters on the bright blue background are very similar to political logos in the 1980s and 90s (see Figure 5). By evoking the era of the conservative revolution in the US through the color scheme, Smith’s logo may signify that Smith seeks to restore past sentiments and policies through his time in office.

Also, the symbol behind Smith’s name appears to be a group of red stripes positioned in such a way as to evoke an American flag blowing in the wind. This reference to the American flag signifies patriotism. In contemporary culture, with boycotts against the national anthem, Americans have a complicated relationship with

58 symbols of patriotism, and displaying and supporting the American flag can often signify someone as a conservative.

Kimberly Bizon

Figure 19: Kimberly Bizon

Kimberly Bizon unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat to represent Michigan’s 10th

Congressional District (“Kimberly Bizon - Michigan's 10th Congressional District

Candidate”). Bizon opted not to include her first name, which obscures her female identity, especially as a newcomer politician who is relatively unknown compared to the longtime incumbent. Bizon’s logo serves a dual purpose as both a campaign sign with a call to action (“Elect”) and a campaign website URL (ElectBizon2018.com). This prime featuring of the website URL forms Bizon’s image as a modern candidate with a brand identity centered on her website. Even more modern, Bizon chooses not to capitalize the first letter of her name, signifying herself as informal and approachable. Though lowercase, the bold font signifies strength and the name “Bizon” overpowers the rest of the URL text, signifying a strong personality that voters can rely on.

59

As far as her color pallet, Bizon completely leaves red out of her logo and instead focuses on two shapes of blue, a neutral darker blue and a feminine lighter blue. Leaving out red and featuring two blue shades emphasizes Bizon's Democratic party affiliation.

Randy Bryce

Figure 20: Randy Bryce

Randy Bryce ran to represent Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District as a

Democrat and lost in the general election. Bryce’s blue-collar background sets him apart from most members of Congress who belong to the professional class. A member of

Milwaukee Iron Workers Local 8, Bryce gained attention as a labor activist before running for office (Kaufman 2018). Bryce’s logo is designed to reflect this background and differentiate his campaign from standard RWB flat designs.

The center of Bryce's logo is an image made up of two iron I-beams stacked on top of each other. This reference to his iron-working background differentiates Bryce's logo from political logos with patriotic elements and focuses instead on Bryce's identity

60 as an everyday man. Iron beams also symbolize strength and could reflect Bryce's personality.

Bryce's logo is further set apart from RWB logos by its black and gray color scheme, cold colors that work well with references to metal and do not evoke patriotic or partisan associations like red or blue would. Both fonts used are an informal and modern sans serif, further pointing to Bryce's nonprofessional heritage. Finally, the entire logo is accented by a distressed wear-and-tear effect, making the logo look well-worn. This effect acts as a final visual cue that the candidate comes from a background that involves manual labor instead of office work due to the physical wear shown on the logo.

Tina Smith

Figure 21: Tina Smith

Tina Smith won a 2018 special election to become a Democratic Minnesota senator after former Senator Al Franken (Democrat) resigned due to sexual misconduct allegations (Stracqualursi 2018). Smith’s logo is straightforward and efficient, communicating Smith's bid to become a female Minnesota Senator through the copy and

61

Minnesota state outline. The logo also implies Smith's party affiliation through semantic codes such as using the color blue, the Democratic color, and the color green, which is associated with the environment. Environmental protection is a key issue in Smith's platform and an issue typically associated with the Democratic party. In addition, the particular shades of blue and green chosen for Smith's logo are not bright, primary shades, but modified, softer, more feminine shades, pointing to her progressive and female identity. The color choices and inclusion of the first and last name to signal

Smith's female identity would be especially important in light of the political context, as

Smith ran to replace another Democratic candidate accused of sexually harassing women, thus replacing a male offender with a female. As for the typeface, Smith includes both her first and last name in a bold sans serif font that signals strength while not being overwhelming by avoiding all caps. This balances with a thin sans serif typeface in all caps for the "U.S. Senator" tagline.

Bill Johnson

Figure 22: Bill Johnson

62

Bill Johnson, a member of the Republican party, won his reelection campaign to represent Ohio 6th Congressional District, having first been elected in 2010 (“About

Bill”). Johnson’s logo includes several signals of his political party affiliation and his background along with a campaign slogan. Johnson’s logo features a modified RWB palette with a darker, subdued shade of blue. Nevertheless, pairing the RWB palette with stars, a well-known patriotic element, and all serif font results in a logo that strongly signals the Republican party.

The serif font signifies formality, tradition, and structure. Considering Johnson's military and professional class background as a CIO, the serif font complements his experience and identity. Besides being a generic patriotic element, stars have a semantic association with the military. In this case, stars serve as a decorative element, providing a visual balance between Johnson's short first name and longer last name, a patriotic element signaling his conservative stances, and a reference to his years of service in the military, with nine stars corresponding to his nine rank promotions in the Air Force

(“About Bill”).

Johnson’s slogan “Leading the Way” focuses on Johnson as a leader, assuming voters trust him to lead, instead of appealing to the people he intends to represent by focusing on them or a shared belief. In light of the slogan which positions Johnson as a leader, the serif font and formal design of the logo act to position Johnson as a formal authority that is capable of “leading the way”.

63

Justin Kanew

Figure 23: Justin Kanew

Justin Kanew, a Democrat, ran and lost the election to represent Tennessee’s 7th

District. Kanew attempted to turn a district blue that had not voted Democrat since 1983

(West 2018). In order to win the election, Kanew would have had to turn a portion of solid Republican votes in favor of a Democratic candidate. To convince Republican voters, Kanew’s strategy to win the district involved building bridges between political parties, emphasizing civility and decency, participating in bipartisan efforts, and downplaying his Democratic affiliation (West 2018). This strategy is reflected in

Kanew’s logo design.

Kanew’s name, written in bold all-caps sans serif, is split into red and blue. This signifies Kanew’s brand image as a bridge-building Democrat wanting to represent both the red and the blue voters of his district. The red and blue portions of Kanew’s name are

64 connected by the central three-star emblem of the Tennessee flag, which is commonly used as the logo of Tennessee. Placing the Tennessee logo between the red and blue signifies that Tennessee is made of up of both Republicans and Democrats who are bound together by their Tennessee identities.

By splitting Kanew’s name into “Ka” and “new” and making “new” the blue portion, the logo communicates that if elected, Kanew would offer a new, blue voice for the 7th Congressional District of Tennessee. This emphasis on new is appropriate considering the length of time the district has voted red, and Kanew’s logo subtly implies the possibility of a “blue wave” in typically red Tennessee.

Mike Espy

Figure 24: Mike Espy

Mike Espy, former US Congressman and former US Secretary of Agriculture, ran and lost the race to represent Mississippi in the United States Senate (“Mike Espy for

Senate”). Espy’s logo features a mixture of traditional and modern design features, including both a serif and a sans serif font, a traditional patriotic symbol in the form of an eagle, and a non-RWB color palette. Espy’s inclusion of blue but not red in his logo

65 signals his Democratic party affiliation, while the use of gray as a secondary color offers a neutral minimalistic shade that allows blue to remain the focus.

Serif fonts carry connotations of formality, tradition, and experience, and Espy’s use of a serif font as the main font in his logo complements his years of experience holding office at the federal level, reaching back to 1986 (“Mike Espy for Senate”). The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States, so using an eagle silhouette in the center of the logo evokes the symbolic meanings of patriotism and the federal government. Espy made history by becoming the first African American to be Secretary of Agriculture, nominated by President Bill Clinton, so his connection to the federal government is potent, and the eagle functions as a reference to his previous experience that qualifies Espy to be a US Senator (“Mike Espy for Senate”).

Roger W. Allison

Figure 25: Roger W. Allison

Roger W. Allison ran to represent North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District as a

Republican and lost (“Roger Allison for Congress”). Allison’s logo uses thin, all-caps sans serif fonts resulting in a modern and clean design. Both visually and semiotically simple, Allison’s logo provides limited information about the candidate. Allison uses an 66

RWB color palette with gray acting as the white to use the logo on a white background.

The RWB usage is a traditional signifier of patriotism, pointing in favor of Allison being a Republican. The alignment of the text is unique, not being exactly left, center, or right- aligned. Allison's logo does not feature any explicit symbolism, but the placement of the text results in a silhouette of the shape of North Carolina.

Figure 26: Roger W. Allison Outline

This symbol is subtle enough that most viewers would not immediately register it. This symbol signifies that Allison is running to represent the state of North Carolina, but does not inform the viewer of Allison’s identity, policies, or experience.

67

Trent Kelly

Figure 27: Trent Kelly

Trent Kelly successfully ran for reelection to represent Mississippi's First Congressional

District. A veteran and a Republican, Kelly’s logo reflects his identity and signifies a conservative candidate through its design (“Biography: Congressman Trent Kelly”).

First, Kelly’s logo features a traditional RWB color scheme, which as previously mentioned very often denotes patriotism or a conservative candidate. Also, Kelly's logo does not include any images or symbols, but the layout, stripes, and typeface make it reminiscent of a 90's style brand logo. This format of logo is evident in the 90's Pepsi logo which bears a striking resemblance to Kelly's logo.

68

Figure 28: 90’s Pepsi logo

From the bold, italicized fonts, to the stripe, to the color palette, voters can link

Kelly’s logo to this well-known logo. Pepsi chose their RWB color palette as a sign of support for American troops in World War 2 (Kel 2017), and Kelly's platform includes pro-American issues like military budget support (“Issues Home”). Alternatively, this familiar design can cause voters to think of vintage designs more broadly, and vintage is a characteristic more closely associated with conservative than progressive politicians.

Carol Miller

Figure 29: Carol Miller

69

Carol Miller won her first federal election to become the US Representative for

West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District. The only new Republican woman to be elected in 2018, Miller ran as a Washington outsider and employed unconventional branding decisions in her logo (Foran 2019).

First, Miller employed script, sans serif, and serif fonts within the same logo. The script font is only used for Miller's first name, emphasizing her female identity with a script font, which can often have a feminine connotation. "Miller" and "Cut the bull out of politics" are both set in an all-caps sans serif typeface, which results in a signal of strength and simplicity. "For Congress" is set in a serif font, resulting in a traditional and formal touch to otherwise progressive design. The logo attempts to not be overwhelming with its three typefaces by setting all of them in only two colors: red and black. Straying from the traditional RWB sets Miller apart from other conservative candidates, but featuring her name in red solidly signals her Republican party affiliation.

Also, Miller features a bison head on her logo. This is a reflection of the fact that

Miller owns her own bison farm (Foran 2019). In the logo, the bison head differentiates

Miller from other candidates and piques voters’ interest as to why the bison was chosen as a symbol. Because of this, the bison could serve as a hermeneutic code, inviting the viewer to learn more about the candidate and why she chose to display a bison in her logo. Though not quite the same animal, the bison complements the mention of “bull” in the campaign slogan, signaling the candidate’s strength.

“Cut the bull out of politics” positions Miller as a Washington outsider whose aim is to correct a perceived wrong caused by career politicians. The colloquial language and the exclamation point signal that Miller is a down-to-earth, passionate candidate, though

70 not a genteel one. Overall, Miller’s logo conveys that she is a strong, Republican female candidate who desires to change the status quo.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Figure 30: Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Debbie Wasserman Schultz won her reelection campaign to continue representing

Florida’s 23rd Congressional District. First elected to office in 2005 and former chair of the Democratic National Committee, Wasserman Schultz has a long history in politics

(“Biography”).

Like Miller, Wasserman Schultz’s logo features a red and black color palette and multiple fonts, including script, serif, and sans serif all in one design. Unlike Miller,

Wasserman Schultz’s logo does not accurately signal her political identity or policies.

Wasserman Schultz’s primary color is red instead of blue, the color of the Democratic party which she belongs to. Wasserman Schultz’s typefaces also appear haphazardly chosen and do not signify a clear message. However, the “re-elect” tagline signifies her previous political experience and carries an incumbent advantage.

71

Chrissy Houlahan

Figure 31: Chrissy Houlahan

Chrissy Houlahan successfully ran to represent Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional

District, becoming a new Democratic woman in Congress (“Chrissy Houlahan For U.S.

Congress”). Houlahan uses a modified RWB color palette with a lighter shade of blue close to the one used in Obama’s logo. Houlahan’s logo also uses red stripes as a major visual element, though not as part of a symbol like Obama. Also, the font used in

Houlahan’s logo is nearly identical to Gotham, Obama’s brand font. The following figure displays Houlahan’s last name set in Gotham and the shade of blue used in Obama’s branding, highlighting the similarities between the brand identity designs.

Figure 32: Gotham Houlahan

Due to these similarities, voters are likely to be subliminally reminded of Obama’s brand identity when seeing Houlahan’s. Obama’s brand identity centered on a new, fresh,

72 hopeful start. While Houlahan’s logo does not possess such semiotic depth on its own, some voters may associate it with similar values due to the design. This association may also imply that Houlahan’s proposed policies are similar to those of Obama.

Glenn Thompson

Figure 33: Glenn Thompson

Glenn Thompson won the representative seat for Pennsylvania’s 15th

Congressional District as a Republican (“Congressman Glenn Thompson”). Thompson’s logo uses yellow as the primary color, which does not link to a political party or ideology.

Yellow is often associated with fast food, and the pairing of yellow and black is often associated with cautionary tape. In the context of political history, however, the black serif font on a solid yellow background creates a similarity to the Gadsden Flag, which is widely known for its snake and “don’t tread on me” message. The Gadsden Flag today symbolizes libertarianism.

The first letters of Thompson’s first and last names are oversized to create a capitalization effect despite the entire name being set in all caps. Also, Thompson’s 73 nickname of choice for the campaign was “GT Thompson”, and the oversized “G” and

“T” signify this. Using an initial-based name like “GT” positions Thompson as a relatable candidate that has not lost touch with everyday people, because initials are often used as nicknames for children or close friends, not professional leaders.

The usage of the capitol dome as part of the logo signifies Thompson's D.C. aspirations, but it does not communicate new information about the candidate or his intended policies.

Joseph D. Morelle

Figure 34: Joseph D. Morelle

Joseph D. Morelle successfully ran to represent New York's 25th Congressional

District (“About Joe”). A Democrat, Morelle’s logo presents an updated version of a classic concept. The RWB color scheme and flag are hallmarks of American political design, but Morelle’s use of the deconstructed partial flag and all sans-serif fonts signifies that Morelle is an “updated” candidate, whether that be through his young age, newness to politics, or his modern policy. Morelle’s name is set in blue, which acts as a signal that he belongs to the Democratic party, even though this rule does not always hold up in every political logo. Overall, the logo does not possess enough semiotic depth to glean

74 much about the candidate besides the fact that he sticks to a conventional political logo concept but is potentially young, a Democrat, or a freshman politician.

Mikie Sherrill

Figure 35: Mikie Sherrill

Mikie Sherrill assumed office for the first time as a US Representative after winning the election to represent New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District (“Mikie

Sherrill”). Sherrill’s logo features a navy blue and gold color palette. By choosing the colors of the US Navy branch, Sherrill’s logo represents her time as a Navy helicopter pilot rather than the typical RWB (“Biography - Representative Mikie Sherrill”).

Sherrill’s use of bold all-caps for her last name signifies strength while still being relevant and approachable by using sans serif, while the use of a serif typewriter font for

“U.S. Congress” adds a degree of formality associated with Congress and the military.

The combination of the color scheme, a central star with two emanating lines, and white all-caps type makes Sherrill's logo strongly reminiscent of John McCain's 2008 presidential bid with Sarah Palin.

75

Figure 36: McCain-Palin

Both logos are designed to signify military experience in the US Navy, which in turn signals patriotism, discipline, and character. However, the two candidates belong to opposing political parties and genders, factors that are often reflected in logos and brand identity. Since McCain's campaign sign is more widely known, this may lead to some voters mistakenly assuming Sherrill is also a Republican based solely on her logo design.

Steny H. Hoyer

Figure 37: Steny H. Hoyer

76

House majority leader Steny H. Hoyer has served as the Democratic representative for Maryland’s 5th Congressional District since 1981 (“Biography of Steny

Hoyer”). Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://hoyer.house.gov/about. Having been in

Congress for almost 40 years, Hoyer's logo appears to belong in a previous era, featuring a beige background instead of the neutral white alternative often seen today. Hoyer also uses a serif script font for every bit of copy. This font paired with the Maryland flag, which is derived from two English family crests, result in the logo possessing a medieval appearance. The serif script font signifies elegance and formality, while the overall design of the logo signifies that the candidate is most likely older because it stands out when compared to campaign logos designed recently. The flag of Maryland also acts as a cultural code because it does not bear a universal meaning and may confuse viewers outside of Maryland who are not familiar with the state flag.

Ayanna Presley

Figure 38: Ayanna Pressley

77

Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat, was first elected to the House of Representatives in

2018 to represent Massachusetts’s 7th Congressional District. Pressley espouses bold, activist leadership as the cornerstone of her political brand, and it is reflected in her logo

(“Ayanna Pressley for Congress”). Though not featuring explicit signs or symbols, the sans serif font and the semantic code of the colors convey Pressley’s brand identity. First of all, Pressley’s logo is set entirely in all-caps sans serif with “Ayanna” being the only bolded word. Pressley’s first name signals her identity as a woman of color, and focusing on that identity builds her brand as an outsider, activist politician. Putting the visual emphasis on “Ayanna” instead of “Pressley” also helps get the candidate on a recognizable first name basis with the electorate much like Hillary Clinton, a quality few politicians possess.

Also, Pressley's logo colors signal her progressive policies by choosing to completely avoid a recognizable RWB color palette. Instead, Pressley features a blue so dark it appears nearly black and a light shade of purple for contrast. By breaking away from the norm for political designs, Pressley joins the ranks of contemporary politicians who are communicating a brand image of breaking away from the status quo through progressive policy as well. Also, light purple hues represent feminine energy, and Pressley's female identity is a cornerstone of her brand identity (“Bourn 2011”).

78

CHAPTER FIVE

Results and Discussion

This project was guided by two main hypotheses: candidates belonging to a category such as a political party will use similar design elements to signify them belonging to the category, and individual candidates will use recognizable signifiers to communicate information about their brand identities and platforms. The analyses conducted were intended to identify what relationships existed between candidate categories and design features, as well as what design elements candidates chose, and how the elements related to the candidate’s brand message, if at all.

The first hypothesis proved to be correct as the content analysis revealed that there are, in fact, significant relationships between candidate categories and design elements. For example, males were more likely to feature a traditional red, white, and blue color scheme in their logo design, while females were more likely to feature blue in their logos apart from a red, white, and blue palette. The relationship between party and color scheme was not as strong, but Republicans did appear to lean towards using a traditional red, white, and blue palette more than Democratic candidates. In these trends, color palettes can serve as social brand differentiators according to Scammell’s framework. Red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag, are largely associated with patriotism and American history. Using these colors can mark a candidate as an

American patriot, while not using this color scheme can indicate that a candidate is positioning themselves apart from traditionalism, and their candidacy may bring a new perspective to politics. This aligns with the findings that women, who are relatively

79 recent players in American politics, tended to steer away from a traditional red, white, and blue color scheme, along with Democrats, who are more progressive than

Republicans.

Another relationship that was uncovered was that incumbent politicians were more likely to have logos that included serif fonts, while newcomer politicians were more likely to feature sans serif fonts. This relationship could be a result of design trending more towards sans serif in recent years. As a result, when a voter sees a campaign sign with serif fonts, it could appear outdated, but it may also signify the years of experience that the candidate has had since the logo was designed. Serif fonts can therefore act as boundary conditions, signifying the attribute of political longevity and experience.

The content analysis also discovered that while most candidate logos did not include a slogan, Republicans were more likely to feature one. While the presence of a slogan is not clearly either a brand differentiator or boundary condition, the contents of the individual slogans may lean more towards emotional or rational appeals. Also, the relationship between geographic region and including the state’s name points to an emotional appeal based on a sense of cultural state pride, making this attribute a brand differentiator. This cultural emotional appeal is most evident in Texas, a state known for its tangible state pride and one of the states in the Southwest region, which is the most likely to include to state name in logos.

Through repeatedly seeing these logo design features correlate to gender, political party, incumbency, and geographic region, voters can begin to form an association between these characteristics, developing a semiotic code.

80

The second hypothesis was supported by the semiotic analysis which found that candidates also use signs with established signified meanings that correlated to personal information about the candidate's identity. A candidate's logo colors, symbols, fonts, and overall design can inform the voter of the candidate's brand. For example, several ex- military candidates chose to feature stars or their military branch colors in their logo.

Some referenced previous well-known political logos, unintentionally or not, creating an association with other politicians, implying similar policy and acting as a boundary condition. Others chose symbols that were highly personal to the candidates themselves, such as Miller's bison head referencing her bison farm and Crenshaw's face with an eyepatch referencing his combat wounds. As a result of these signs and symbols, voters can, in many cases, form an image of the candidate in their minds based solely on their campaign logo. The extent to which this logo-inspired mental image affects voting behavior is a topic for future research projects.

This study found that in the 2018 U.S. Congressional midterms, logos functioned in capacities beyond generating name recognition for a candidate. Logos can help to inform voters about a candidate's party, gender, incumbency status through design elements without including words. Also, the details of a logo often correlate to a candidate by highlighting key platform issues or a detail from the candidate's past or current identity that they focus on in their brand. This is possible because of the increasing number of candidates who choose logos that are unique and unusual in their colors and content.

This study, like any other, comes with its limitations. First, due to the extensive and individualized nature of the semiotic analysis conducted, the sample of candidates was limited to 30, far below the total of 917 candidates who had at least a 10 percent chance of

81 winning their respective Congressional seats in 2018. Also, the nature of semiotic analysis is such that it depends on the perceptions and background of the viewer. Not every viewer will notice the same semiotic codes of a logo, and not everyone will interpret them the same way. The sign is vulnerable to changes in the viewer (Simpkins 1997). Certain signs, such as those that possess cultural codes, may not carry their intended meaning to every viewer. Given the vast amount of diversity in American voters, it is difficult to represent every single signified message found by voters in political logos.

Further research can focus on specific logos and study if the candidate’s target audience notices and understands any imbued messages, and if the target audience views logos differently than voters outside of the target audience. Later studies may also chart the evolution of political logo content and track whether they continue to become more personalized, as well as the role brand design will continue to have on voter political knowledge, attitudes, and voting behavior.

82

APPENDIX A

Coding Instructions

About Content Analysis

Content analysis is a research technique for the objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication (Berelson 1952, p. 55). It is the scientific method applied to communication analysis and requires an objective coding of content according to predetermined criteria. To correctly conduct content analysis, the analysis must have the following qualities:

Objectivity: For the analysis to fulfill the quality of objectivity, the categories of analysis must be so exactly defined that there is little to no room for interpretation or variation among analysts. If a different analyst were to code the same content, they should arrive at the same results as the first analyst if the analysis satisfies objectivity.

Systematization: Categories and analysis should be systematically applied to each unit of analysis, whether or not the results fit the thesis or desired outcome of the study. Partially analyzed content does not fulfill systematization.

Quantification: Content should have counts, values, or scales assigned to create data that can be further analyzed using statistical methods. Quantification should allow for summary counts, interpretations, and inferences.

83

A.1 Dominant Logo Colors

Identify what colors make up the logo. Exclude any fine print. RWB (Red White and Blue) A combination of the three colors of the US Flag. Shades can differ (as shown on right). • Gray may be used as the white if white background. • If RWB colors are present but equally interspersed with other colors, do not select this option. • If RWB is the dominant color scheme, do not select red or blue individually.

Red (Not RWB)

Blue (Not RWB)

Yellow

Green

Orange

Purple

Black

Gray

84

A.2 Typeface

Select each typeface you identify present in the logo. More than one may apply.

Serif: A font with a small line or stroke at the edges of letters. An example of a serif font is Times New Roman SERIF Sans Serif: A font without serifs, small strokes, at the edges of its larger strokes. An example of a sans serif font is Arial. SANS

SERIF Script: A font that is fluid and mimics a handwriting style. An example of a script font is Brush Script. SCRIPT

A.3 Text

Select each textual element that you identify in the logo. More than one may apply.

Candidate First Name Only “John” Candidate Last Name Only “Smith” Candidate First and Last Name “John Smith” Call to Action “Vote John Smith” Campaign Slogan “Safety and Solidarity” Political Party Affliliation “Democrat” Mention of State “Smith for South Dakota” "For Congress/For Senate" (The “For” may be “Smith for Senate” “Smith for U.S. implied) Congress” Website “JohnSmith.com”

85

A.4 Other Elements

Select each visual element that you identify in the logo. None or more than one can apply. Star(s) A five-pointed shape found on the American Flag. Code “yes” if stars are present apart from US or state flag Stripes The US Flag is made up of red and white stripes. Mark “yes” for stripes if the logo includes stripes referencing the American flag without being part of an American flag. Nature/Landscape Objects found in the natural environment such as trees, mountains, rivers, etc. Human A human figure, face, likeness, etc. State Flag A complete or partial representation of a State Flag US Flag A complete or partial representation of the US Flag State Shape An outline, silhouette, or other representation of a US state Eagle A large bird of prey Other Animal Any other animal other than an eagle Other Decorative Element/Symbol/Image Any other prominent image or symbol that does not fall under any listed category Stripes

86

APPENDIX B Coding Results

B.1 Coding Results

87

APPENDIX C

Chi-Square Tests

C.1 Party*RWB

Chi-Square Tests Asymptotic Significance Exact Sig. Exact Sig. Value df (2-sided) (2-sided) (1-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 2.916a 1 .088 Continuity Correctionb 1.756 1 .185 Likelihood Ratio 2.934 1 .087 Fisher's Exact Test .132 .093 N of Valid Cases 30 a. 1 cells (25.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 4.77. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

C.2 PARTY * SLOGAN

Chi-Square Tests Asymptotic Significance Exact Sig. Exact Sig. Value df (2-sided) (2-sided) (1-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 4.852a 1 .028 Continuity Correctionb 2.871 1 .090 Likelihood Ratio 4.778 1 .029 Fisher's Exact Test .047 .047 N of Valid Cases 30 a. 2 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 1.83. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

88

C.3 GENDER * GRAY

Chi-Square Tests Asymptotic Significance Exact Sig. Exact Sig. Value df (2-sided) (2-sided) (1-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 3.077a 1 .079 Continuity Correctionb 1.454 1 .228 Likelihood Ratio 4.491 1 .034 Fisher's Exact Test .130 .112 N of Valid Cases 30 a. 2 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 1.60. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

C.4 GENDER * ORANGE

Chi-Square Tests Asymptotic Significance Exact Sig. Exact Sig. Value df (2-sided) (2-sided) (1-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 3.214a 1 .073 Continuity Correctionb 1.094 1 .296 Likelihood Ratio 3.882 1 .049 Fisher's Exact Test .152 .152 N of Valid Cases 30 a. 2 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .80. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

89

C.5 GENDER * GREEN

Chi-Square Tests Asymptotic Significance Exact Sig. Exact Sig. Value df (2-sided) (2-sided) (1-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 3.214a 1 .073 Continuity Correctionb 1.094 1 .296 Likelihood Ratio 3.882 1 .049 Fisher's Exact Test .152 .152 N of Valid Cases 30 a. 2 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .80. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

C.6 GENDER * BLUE

Chi-Square Tests Asymptotic Significance Exact Sig. Exact Sig. Value df (2-sided) (2-sided) (1-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 5.568a 1 .018 Continuity Correctionb 3.757 1 .053 Likelihood Ratio 5.601 1 .018 Fisher's Exact Test .034 .027 N of Valid Cases 30 a. 2 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 3.20. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

90

C.7 GENDER * RWB

Chi-Square Tests Asymptotic Significance Exact Sig. Exact Sig. Value df (2-sided) (2-sided) (1-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 5.792a 1 .016 Continuity Correctionb 4.123 1 .042 Likelihood Ratio 6.183 1 .013 Fisher's Exact Test .026 .019 N of Valid Cases 30 a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 5.20. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

C.8 REGION * MENTION STATE

Chi-Square Tests Asymptotic Significance (2- Value df sided) Pearson Chi-Square 14.659a 4 .005 Likelihood Ratio 16.343 4 .003 N of Valid Cases 30 a. 10 cells (100.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 1.60.

91

C.9 INCUMBENT * SERIF

Chi-Square Tests Asymptotic Significance Exact Sig. Exact Sig. Value df (2-sided) (2-sided) (1-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 6.212a 1 .013 Continuity Correctionb 4.370 1 .037 Likelihood Ratio 6.392 1 .011 Fisher's Exact Test .020 .018 Linear-by-Linear Association 6.005 1 .014 N of Valid Cases 30 a. 1 cells (25.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 3.90. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

C.10 INCUMBENT * SANS SERIF

Chi-Square Tests Asymptotic Significance Exact Sig. Exact Sig. Value df (2-sided) (2-sided) (1-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 7.143a 1 .008 Continuity Correctionb 4.571 1 .033 Likelihood Ratio 6.628 1 .010 Fisher's Exact Test .019 .019 Linear-by-Linear Association 6.905 1 .009 N of Valid Cases 30 a. 2 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 1.50. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

92

WORKS CITED

“About Bill.” Bill Johnson Leads. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://billjohnsonleads.com/about-bill/

“About Grace F. Napolitano.” (2019, March 4). Napolitano.House.Gov. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://napolitano.house.gov/about

“About Jason.” Congressman Jason Smith. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://jasonsmith.house.gov/biography/

“About - Representative Dean Phillips.” Phillips.House.Gov. (2019, April 4). Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://phillips.house.gov/about

“About Senator Cruz.” Cruz.Senate.Gov. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=about_senator

“Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez X Tandem: when radical politics meet radical branding victory ensues.” Retrieved from https://www.typeroom.eu/article/alexandria- ocasio-cortez-x-tandem-when-radical-politics-meet-radical-branding-victory- ensues

“Ayanna Pressley for Congress.” Ayanna Pressley for Congress. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://ayannapressley.com/

Berelson, B. R. (1952). Content Analysis in Communication Research. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

Billard, T. (2016). Fonts of Potential: Areas for Typographic Research in Political Communication. International Journal Of Communication, 10, 4570–4592.

“Biography.” WassermanSchultz.House.Gov. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://wassermanschultz.house.gov/biography/

“Biography: Congressman Trent Kelly.” TrentKelly.House.Gov. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://trentkelly.house.gov/biography/

“Biography - Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard.” Roybal-Allard.House.Gov. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://roybal-allard.house.gov/biography/

“Biography of Steny Hoyer.” Hoyer.House.Gov. (2019, January 3). Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://hoyer.house.gov/about

93

“Biography - Representative Mikie Sherrill.” Sherrill.House.Gov. (2020, January 10). Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://sherrill.house.gov/about

Bourn, J. (2011, January 5). “Meaning of The Color Purple.” Bourn Creative. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color- purple/

CAPD 2018. Retrieved from https://www.politicsanddesign.com/

Catherine Needham & Gareth Smith (2015) Introduction: Political Branding, Journal of Political Marketing, 14:1-2, 1-6, https://doi.org/10.1080/15377857.2014.990828

“Chrissy Houlahan For U.S. Congress.” Chrissy Houlahan For U.S. Congress. Retrieved from https://www.chrissyhoulahanforcongress.com/

Christine B. Williams (2017) Introduction: Social Media, Political Marketing and the 2016 U.S. Election, Journal of Political Marketing, 16:3-4, 207-211, https://doi.org/10.1080/15377857.2017.1345828

“Congressman Glenn Thompson.” Thompson.House.Gov. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://thompson.house.gov/

“Congresswoman Grace Napolitano.” Napolitano.House.Gov. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://napolitano.house.gov/

“Crenshaw for Congress.” Crenshaw for Congress. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://crenshawforcongress.com/

Dion, D., & Arnould, E. (2016). Persona-fied brands: managing branded persons through persona. Journal of Marketing Management, 32(1-2), 121–148. doi: 10.1080/0267257x.2015.1096818

Doom, J. K. (2016). Decoding the candidates: A semiotic analysis and literacy guide to graphic design principles in political campaign branding (dissertation). Retrieved from https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/1040693

Dumitrescu, D. (2010). Know Me, Love Me, Fear Me: The Anatomy of Candidate Poster Designs in the 2007 French Legislative Elections. Political Communication., 27(1), 20–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584600903297117

Foran, C. (2019, May 13). “The only new Republican woman elected to the House wants to help more GOP women get to Congress.” CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/13/politics/carol-miller-republican-women-barrier- breakers/index.html

94

Fournier, S., & Eckhardt, G. (2018). Managing the Human in Human Brands. GfK Marketing Intelligence Review, 10(1), 30–33. doi: 10.2478/gfkmir-2018-0005

Garfield, S. (2010, November 1). The Face of Things to Come: from the Nazis to the US presidential campaign of 2008, choosing which font to use has been anything but simple--and always political. New Statesman, 139(5025), 48+. Retrieved from https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A242669693/BIC?u=txshracd2488&sid=BIC&xid =02bf1272

“Green ribbon for mental health awareness.” Mental Health Foundation. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/green-ribbon-campaign

Guzmán, F., & Sierra, V. (2009). A political candidate's brand image scale: Are political candidates brands? Journal of Brand Management, 17(3), 207-217. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/bm.2009.19

Helmut Schneider (2004) Branding in Politics—Manifestations, Relevance and Identity- Oriented Management, Journal of Political Marketing, 3:3, 41-67, https://doi.org/10.1300/J199v03n03_03

“Home - Mike Siegel for Congress.” Mike Siegel for Congress. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://siegelfortexas.org/

“Issues Home.” TrentKelly.House.Gov. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://trentkelly.house.gov/issues/

Jackman, J. (2018, November 13). “Kyrsten Sinema is the first ever bisexual US senator.” Pink News. Retrieved from https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/11/13/kyrsten-sinema-first-bisexual-us- senator/

“Jana Lynne Sanchez.” Sanchez4Texas. (2018, October 24). Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://sanchez4texas.com/

Kassarjian, H. H. (1977). Content Analysis in Consumer Research. Journal of Consumer Research, 4(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.1086/208674

Kaufman, D. (2018, July 12). “The Fall of Wisconsin and the Rise of Randy Bryce.” The New Yorker. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the- fall-of-wisconsin-and-the-rise-of-randy-bryce

“Kimberly Bizon - Michigan's 10th Congressional District Candidate.” Kimberly Bizon for Congress. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://www.kimberlybizonforcongress.com/

95

“Keller4America” Keller4America. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from http://www.keller4america.us/

Le, S. (2018, October 24). “25-Year-Old Californian Enters Race One Month Before Primary, Running for Congress.” The Epoch Times. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://www.theepochtimes.com/25-year-old-candidate-for-congress- entered-the-race-one-month-before-primary_2697431.html

Margaret Scammell (2015) Politics and Image: The Conceptual Value of Branding, Journal of Political Marketing, 14:1-2, 7-18, https://doi.org/ 10.1080/15377857.2014.990829 Meet Anita Malik: Democrat for Congress in Arizona 6th District. (n.d.). Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://anitaforarizona.com/meet-anita/

“Meet Joshua.” Joshua Scott for Congress. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from ttps://votejoshuascott.org/meet-joshua

“Mike Espy for Senate.” Mike Espy for Senate. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://espyforsenate.com/

“Mikie Sherrill.” Congress.Gov. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://www.congress.gov/member/mikie- sherrill/S001207?searchResultViewType=expanded&KWICView=false

Needham, C. (2006). Brands and political loyalty. Journal of Brand Management, 13(3), 178–187. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.bm.2540260

Reeves, P., de Chernatony, L., & Carrigan, M. (2006). Building a political brand: Ideology or voter-driven strategy. Journal of Brand Management, 13(6), 418-428. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.bm.2540283

“Roger Allison for Congress” Roger Allison for Congress. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://rogerallisonforcongress.com/home-1

Rosiek, Jerry (2005). "Rainbow Flag and Other Pride Symbols". In Sears, James Thomas (ed.). Youth, Education, and Sexualities: An International Encyclopedia. 2. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood. p. 701. ISBN 0-313-32755-6.

“Russ Fulcher for Congress”. Russ Fulcher for Congress. (2018, July 30). Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://russfulcher.com/

Simpkins, S. (1997). Critical Semiotics. University of Toronto. Retrieved from http://projects.chass.utoronto.ca/semiotics/cyber/sim3.html

96

Stracqualursi, V. (2018, January 3). “Minnesota's Tina Smith replaces Al Franken in Senate, marking record number of 22 female senators.” ABC News. Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/minnesotas-tina-smith-replaces-al-franken- senate-marking/story?id=52112940

Swisher, A. (2018, October 23). “A message from Aaron Swisher.” Fort Worth Star Telegram. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://www.star- telegram.com/news/politics-government/election/article220487600.html

“The Seal of the Department of Veterans Affairs.” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate/vaseal.pdf

West, E. R. (2018, October 19). “On the campaign trail: Meet the Democrat running for Marsha Blackburn's seat.” The Tennessean. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/williamson/2018/10/19/marsha- blackburn-congressional-seat-candidate-democrat-justin-kanew/1249406002/

“Why Dean Phillips is running for Congress in Minnesota's 3rd District”. Phillips for Congress. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://phillipsforcongress.org/dean- phillips-why/

97