Despite evidence that voters do not prefer men over women for political office, women remain underrepresented. We argue that campaign strategies affect voter assessments of male and female candidates differently. In valence-based, clientelistic elections - common across the globe - campaigning signals candidate credibility, but women are disadvantaged. Using an original survey experiment in Malawi (N = 2,200), we expose respondents to audio-visual prompts varying campaign strategy and candidate gender. We show that while female candidates are perceived as more credible and initially receive more support, campaign strategies impact men and women differently. The strategies that have consistently positive effects on candidate credibility, providing community services and attending local events, are more effective for male candidates. The strategies that can potentially backfire either only have negative repercussions for women candidates (rallies) or have stronger negative effects on women’s credibility than on men’s (electoral handouts). These findings expose subtle but crucial voter biases in electoral campaigns, nuancing our understanding of the global under-representation of
women in politics.