Primary%20elections

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Primary elections
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Basics

• What is a primary?
• When did states start adopting primaries?
• Do all states use them today?

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Variations on primary rules

• Role for the formal party organization

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A role for state party leaders?

• Pre-primary party organizational endorsements by
  law
• CO, ND, CT, NY, RI, UT
• Pre-primary endorsements by party rule
• DE, VA, OH, MI, IL, IA, MA, PA, MN
• Primary only, no party org. endorsements
• The rest

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Variations on primary rules

• Role for the formal party organization
• Voter eligibility

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Voter eligibility?

• Completely closed
• DE, MD, NY, PA, SD, FL, KY, OK, AZ, NV, NM
• Closed with exceptions
• CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, RI, IA, KS, NE, OH, NC, WV,
  CA, CO, OR, WY
• Open, with public selection of primary
• IL, IN, AL, AR, GA, MI, MS, TN, TX, VA
• Completely open
• VT, MI, MN, ND, WI, SC, HI, ID, MT, UT, WA
• Blanket
• AL?

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Variations on primary rules

• Role for the formal party organization
• Voter eligibility
• Date of the primary

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How do primaries affect candidate and party
strategy?

• Affects who the candidate pays attention to
• The party elites or the primary voters
• Moderate or extreme primary voters
• Affects the candidates general election
  positioning
• Strong primary stands can hurt in general (MVT
  II)
• Late primary dates mean less resources for
  general