This paper brings individual level evidence to the hypothesis that female candidates empower women to vote. With a regression discontinuity design, I analyse the effect of close victories of female direct candidates in gender-mixed races at the federal elections in Germany in 2013 on individuals' decisions to turnout at the federal elections in Germany in 2017. The results indicate no effect of women winning a close electoral race on female turnout in the future. These findings hold even when considering intermediate and possibly compensating channels affecting turnout, such as effects of a female candidate winning on the economy of the electoral district or the electoral districts' candidate composition in the upcoming elections.