Call it diversity. Call it identity politics. They used to call it a balanced ticket. At least in the northeast. Candidates representing community an old idea. Not confined Democrats.
The “Ticket” would have an Irish-American, an Italian-American, a Protestant (maybe an old line Protestant, maybe a Prevolution Yankee in Massachusetts or Dutch in New York). Occasionally, there would be a Jewish candidate in New York. Hardly ever in Massachusetts.
Has the world changed? It is a little harder to identify just what heritage someone has. The backgrounds of possible candidates are more varied. Let’s look at the tickets in Massachusetts and New York in 2018.
What’s more, women are candidates now. Not so much in the 1950s.
| 2018 Massachusetts | Democratic candidate | Republican candidate |
| US Senate | Protestant woman from out of state | German-American |
| Governor | Spanish-American | Yankee (pre-revolution) |
| Attorney General | Irish-American woman | Irish-American |
| Auditor | Irish-American woman | Irish-American woman |
| Treasurer | Jewish woman | Woman who describes herself as of Japanese, Irish, and German ancestry |
| totals | 2 Irish; 1 Hispanic, 1 Protestant, 1 Jew; 4 women and one man | 2 Irish, 1 German, 1 Yankee, 1 person of color (Asian); 4 men and a woman |
| 2018 New York | ||
| US senate | Woman who describes herself as of English, Scottish, German, and Irish ancestry | Woman who appears to be Irish and Italian |
| Governor | Italian-American | Italian-American |
| Attorney-General | African-American | African-American |
| Comtroller | Italian-American | German (maybe Jewish) |
| totals | 2 Italian-Americans, one Yankee (Protestant), 1 person of color (black) | 1 Italian-American (maybe 2), 1 German (maybe Jewish), 1 person of color (African-American) |
Were these balanced tickets? Maybe not. Primaries have changed the complexion of how politicians try to balance a ticker.