---
title: "Who runs for office? A profile of the 2%"
description: "Our data show that those who say they have sought office tend to be white, male and well-educated. In fact, while women account for half of the adult population, they are just a quarter of those who say they have run for office."
date: "2014-09-03"
authors:
  - name: "Seth Motel"
    job_title: "Former Research Analyst"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/seth-motel/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/09/03/who-runs-for-office-a-profile-of-the-2/"
---

# Who runs for office? A profile of the 2%

There are 90,107 government units in the U.S. — everything from county governments (3,031) to independent school district governments (12,880), according to [2012 Census Bureau data](https://www.census.gov/govs/cog2012/). Some governments have appointed officials, but hundreds of thousands of Americans serve in elected office, mostly at the local level.

For the first time, Pew Research asked a question about who seeks out these offices and found that about 2% of Americans say they have ever run for federal, local, or state elected office. With the data from this year’s polarization survey and [political typology](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/06/26/the-political-typology-beyond-red-vs-blue/), we can provide a snapshot of who has *ever* placed their name on a ballot, although we don’t know how recently they did so.

[![whites, males, educated most likely to run for public office](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/08/FT_14.08.29_officeDemos.png)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/08/FT_14.08.29_officeDemos.png)

Our data show that those who say they have sought office tend to be white, male and well-educated. In fact, while women account for half of the adult population, they are just a quarter of those who say they have run for office. [This is in keeping with other research](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/upshot/does-the-prospect-of-running-for-office-discourage-women.html) that has documented the imbalance. Women who serve in office continue to be underrepresented [at all levels of government](http://www.nwpc.org/statistics) — 20% of U.S. senators are women, as are 18% of House members; at the state level, only 10% of governors and 24% of state legislators are women.

There is a similar imbalance when it comes to race and ethnicity, with whites disproportionately more likely to have sought office and blacks and Hispanics less likely to have done so. While non-Hispanic whites make up 66% of American adults, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s [2012 American Community Survey](http://www.census.gov/acs/www/), 82% of those who say they have ever run for office are white.

By contrast, non-Hispanic blacks make up 12% of the adult population but only 5% of office-seekers. Similarly, 15% of U.S. adults are Hispanic while only 6% of the adults who have ever run for office are Hispanic.

Moreover, 16% of those who say they have run for office have post-graduate degrees; only 10% of the total adult population has attained that level of education.

In addition to having run for office, this group also participates more in other political activities. For example, while 15% of all U.S. adults say they have made a donation in the last two years to a political campaign or group that supports a candidate for office, 35% of office-seekers have donated money in that time.

One caveat is that our question asks about a lifetime history of running for office and does not provide a snapshot of who currently is running for office. Thus, 43% of adults who have *ever* run for office are ages 65 and older, while the age profile of candidates today might be different.

*Methodological note: *[*The survey question was asked of 3,341 adults*](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/06/APPENDIX-4-Typology-Topline-for-Release.pdf)*, Jan. 23-Feb. 9, 2014, with a margin of error of 2.0 percentage points. A total of 112 people, or 2% of the weighted sample, said they have ever run for office.*