Importing Political Polarization? The Electoral Consequences of Rising Trade Exposure 

We document an ideological realignment in trade-exposed local labor markets between 2000 and 2016. Exploiting the exogenous component of rising China trade, we find that higher import exposure yielded increasing market share for the FOX News channel, stronger ideological polarization in campaign contributions, and greater likelihood of electing a Republican to Congress. Trade-exposed counties with majority white populations became more likely to elect a GOP conservative, while majority-minority counties became more likely to elect a liberal Democrat. Gains came at the expense of moderate Democrats. These results support a political economy literature connecting adverse economic shocks to sharp ideological realignments.