What happens to voter preferences in an area that sees a sudden influx of wealth? According to the research paper, “ Voter Preferences and Political Change: Evidence from the Political Economy of Shale Booms ,” voters whose fortunes swelled as a result of the shale boom switched to the Republican party from the Democratic party en masse — and they elected politicians who reflected their newfound beliefs, according to Wharton finance professor Erik Gilje, who co-authored the paper along with Viktar Fedaseyeu, a professor at Bocconi University in Italy and Philip E. Strahan, a professor at Boston College. The boom in shale oil, which uses a controversial new technology called ‘fracking,’ has minted sudden oil and gas millionaires. Gilje said this wealth effect led voters to support the party that backs energy development, which has implications for congressional races in these states. The paper studied voter data in seven states from 1996 to 2012.…