We examine whether firm-level political risk increases stock price crash risk and whether this effect varies with firms’ political orientation. Using a large sample of U.S. publicly traded firms over 18 years, we find that political risk significantly increases crash risk, with strong heterogeneity across firms. The effect is larger for firms led by Republican-leaning managers, firms with conservative financial policies, and firms in Republican-favored industries. We also show that the effect is stronger among low-liquidity firms, consistent with information asymmetry and bad-news hoarding.Overall, the results link political polarization to financial instability and highlight the role ofideology and information quality in shaping extreme downside risk.