https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512121992671 International Political Science Review 2023, Vol. 44(3) 334–353 © The Author(s) 2021 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0192512121992671 journals.sagepub.com/home/ips Class voting or economic voting? Electoral support for chavismo (1998–2015) Robert Bonifácio and João Carlos Amoroso Botelho Federal University of Goiás, Brazil Abstract This article analyses electoral support for chavismo in Venezuela from 1998 to 2015, comprising five presidential elections (1998, 2000, 2006, 2012, and 2013) and the legislative election of 2015. Drawing on a comprehensive historical series, the findings contradict an influential body of literature on Venezuelan politics and show that economic voting prevailed during the analysed period. In relation to class voting, the analysis does not find a monotonic vote, in which the poor supported Hugo Chávez and his allies, whereas the rich rejected them, at each election. The direction of associations between these classes and voting for chavismo varied over the investigated period. The findings have important implications for Latin American politics, showing the relevance of economic factors for the left turn in regional politics and helping explain the recent losses of leftist parties in presidential elections. Keywords Electoral behaviour, Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, left turn, Latin America Introduction During approximately two decades of chavismo supremacy in Venezuela, much has been written to explain the electoral support given to Hugo Chávez and his political allies since his first elec- tion as president in 1998. A common explanation relies on class voting, according to which the poor are more likely to vote for chavismo, whereas the rich are more likely to vote against it. Drawing on a comprehensive historical data series, this article contradicts this claim and shows that voters’ assessment of the national economy plays a more important role as an explanatory factor of the vote for chavismo over the analysed period. At the regional level, this finding rein- forces the relevance of economic factors for the left turn in Latin America and helps explain the recent difficulties of leftist presidents trying to hold office in the region. The article uses opinion poll data to analyse five presidential elections (1998, 2000, 2006, 2012, and 2013) and one legis- lative election (2015) in Venezuela 1 . Corresponding author: João Carlos Amoroso Botelho, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais, Federal University of Goiás, Campus II, Goiânia, Goiás 74001-970, Brazil. Email: joaocarlosbotelho@hotmail.com 992671IPS 0 0 10.1177/0192512121992671International Political Science ReviewBonifácio and Botelho research-article 2021 Original Research Article