This paper studies the effect of candidates’ personal vote ranks on
promotions to political power in an open list proportional
representation system. Using a regression discontinuity design and data
from Finnish local elections, we find that ranking first within a party
enhances a politician’s chances of getting promoted to the position of a
municipal board chair, the most important task in Finnish local
politics. Other ranks matter less. We document that the effect of
ranking first is larger when there is less within-party competition, but
the role of external competition is ambiguous. Our evidence suggests
that the mechanism behind the rank effects is primarily unrelated to
electoral incentives but rather to party-specific norms or political
culture. Ranks seem to be, however, only a complement to other promotion
criteria such as politicians’ previous political experience or how
close to the party lines their policy positions stand.