Questions tagged [primaries]
Public elections to decide which candidate represents a party at the main election
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How do parties really choose candidates in the US?
When I was growing up, I was under the impression that America’s candidates for President or Congress are chosen by primary elections. After watching the news more carefully, I later got the ...
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Which districts in the Virginia state legislature held contested primaries for both parties in 2023?
In Virginia, there are primaries on June 20th for the state legislature. I am curious about which races are contested for both parties' primaries that are happening on Tuesday, a couple days after I ...
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Pennsylvania mail in return rates 2023 primary? [closed]
In Pennsylvania, there is a municipal primary happening with Election Day on May 16. I have not been able to find data on Pennsylvania's mail request data but I have a feeling it exists because such ...
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Primary voter turnout and partisan breakdown for voters under 30 in 2022?
In American politics, the most engaged voters are generally the ones that vote in primaries, the elections that choose who goes on the ballot in the general election.
Polling shows Democrats won about ...
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Illinois Presidential primaries
When voting in a primary in Illinois, there is a selection choose one of
"Donald Trump, John McCain", Mit Romney" or "Barrack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders" (these ...
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Why are Progressive Democrats having more success in primaries than America First Republicans?
An interesting trend seems to be apparent in primaries in 2022 for various offices. It seems like Progressive Democratic primary challengers generally outperform America First Republican primary ...
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Who pays and organizes the primaries of third parties?
In the US, primaries for the presidential election of the two major parties are usually funded and regulated by the state government.
Is this also true for the smaller parties?
In that case how is it ...
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Why is winning the NYC Democratic mayoral primary currently widely seen as tantamount to election?
During the Bush era and even before that, NYC has elected mayors that were at least back then resembled the governors of states like Vermont today (they had liberal social views, but had more ...
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How did Alaska "change its primary system recently" and was it "to dilute the possibility of a conservative or Trump-inspired challenger"?
Politico's GOP pushes Murkowski to stay in line against Biden’s Covid bill includes the following:
Murkowski is unique, however, and so is her home of Alaska. The state is suffering economically, the ...
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Does Mexico hold primary elections?
If so, are they held by all national parties? For executive and legislators? And are party non-officials eligible to vote? If so, only members or open?
Note: Question is inspired by the nominating ...
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How are Presidential candidates, who run for the party ticket in Primaries and Caucuses, shortlisted?
I am not from USA and pertaining to some question I am trying to address, I was curious about how the Presidential candidates are selected or shortlisted for Primaries and Caucuses. Because it's not ...
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Who determine the rules of the US primaries? [duplicate]
At first I thought each individual state's party decided how to do the primaries for themselves, as private organizations.
But then I read that elections in some states are organized by the government,...
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Historical record of Senate primary vote total predicting statewide presidential result
I was thinking about a potential swing state (Georgia) and the fact that the Democrats got 8 percentage points more votes than the Republicans. I was thinking about the historical accuracy of this as ...
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Could a congressional candidate who lost a primary run as an independent, win the general, and then switch parties?
I was thinking about progressive candidates and how Democratic primaries are a powerful tool that has successfully been used to install progressive candidates by replacing an "establishment" ...
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Do primary vote totals tend to indicate the winner in the general election for US Senate?
In June, the Democratic Party won the primary vote in Georgia by ~9 percentage points, 1.19 million to 0.99 million. Do Senate primary vote totals where both sides are having competitive primaries ...
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Has Markey discussed past votes to preserve tax-exempt status for racist colleges?
NBC affiliate WWLP said this, in discussing remarks made by Democratic Congressman Joe Kennedy as part of his primary challenge of Democratic Senator Ed Markey:
At a Tuesday press conference, Kennedy ...
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Is the tendency for mail-in voters to support incumbents in primary elections due to a 'red shift'?
Over the last few weeks, I have noticed something interesting in the primaries, especially in New York. I noticed a "red shift" where mail-in ballots favored the incumbent. What I mean by ...
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Has Nancy Pelosi ever endorsed a primary challenger before?
On August 20th, 2020, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi endorsed Democratic Congressman Joe Kennedy in his ultimately unsuccessful primary challenge of Democratic Senator Ed Markey. This strikes me as ...
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Why don't parties run primary elections instead of the government? [duplicate]
Why does the government run primary elections instead of the parties?
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Could the US Congress federally mandate a national presidential primary day?
I am fascinated by the thought of presidential primaries. They feel skewed towards certain places and certain ethnicities. Let's say that in March of the 1st year of a President's term, Congress ...
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What is the difference between voting for presidential nominee vs. voting for delegates in Maryland?
On my ballot in Maryland for the presidential primary, there are separate questions to vote for the presidential nominee directly, and to vote for specific delegates to the convention. The delegates ...
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Has a candidate ever been nominated after losing their party's primary and then gone on to win the general election?
Tim Pool has theorized that Tara Reade's allegations against Joe Biden could be good news for the DNC; it provides an excuse for them to ditch Biden and run someone else in the general election. Has ...
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Why do states postpone their primary elections to after June 9th, 2020 even if it violates DNC rules?
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) mandates that states have to hold their primary elections before June 9th, 2020, according to Rule 12 of the Delegate Selection Rules.
The Delegate Selection ...
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Why don't presidential candidates announce their running mates before achieving their party's nomination?
As far as I can tell, a candidate has only announced their running mate before achieving the nomination twice since the modern system of primaries came into use in the 1970s. These occasions were in ...
CDJB♦
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Has a sitting US president ever been denied their party's nomination for a second term?
Has there ever been an instance when a US president didn't get a second term because they failed to get his party's nomination? From the looks of it, there's nothing that could prevent a sitting US ...
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Why are candidates expected to win their home state?
In coverage of primaries and elections I often hear it stated that candidates are expected to win their home states, or that it is embarrassing not to. I've seen this assertion here, such as in Has a ...
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Are there any rules or laws requiring the a party to hold primaries if they have an incumbent running for reelection?
It is generally assumed that Donald Trump will be the republican nominee for U.S. President in the November 2020 election. However, from my understanding, he still has to actually win the primary; he ...
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Why do only 14 states participate in Super Tuesday?
Super Tuesday will be on March 3, 2020. Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Democrats Abroad, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and ...
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What benefit is there to pulling out of the presidential race before Super Tuesday?
In the last couple of days, in the wake of the South Carolina primary, first Pete Buttigieg & now Amy Klobuchar have "suspended" their campaigns. This has come notably just before Super Tuesday, ...
CDJB♦
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Can a candidate transfer their delegates to another? [duplicate]
In 2020 US democratic primary election, can a candidate transfer their delegates to another,
either when they drop out
or when they reach the convention?
Several tweets suggest that might happen in ...
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Why do primaries contestants (usually) announce that they are "suspending" their campaign when they exit it?
It seems to be just another political euphemism, in line with politicians not being terribly willing to admit when they are wrong, but is there anything more than that to their use of "suspend" when ...
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When are the results for Texas's early primaries published? [closed]
I live in Texas. I just voted in the primary. When are these results published? Do they get published daily? Do they get published before the primary at all? Do we wait until the primary results to ...
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What happens if no candidate reaches the viability threshold in a primary?
As I understand it, most state primaries have a viability threshold of a certain percentage of the popular vote - 15% in most states - below which the candidate receives no delegates. This would seem ...
CDJB♦
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How many superdelegates have endorsed voting for the plurality delegate winner to be the nominee?
On Wednesday’s Democratic Presidential Debate in Nevada, candidates were asked if they think that whoever gets a plurality of the pledged delegates should ultimately become the Democratic nominee, ...
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What happens in a brokered convention? Why is the prospect of one seen as a threat to Sanders' presidential hopes?
With six (technically eight including Tulsi Gabbard & Tom Steyer) candidates currently still in the field for the Democratic presidential candidate nomination, it seems increasingly likely that no ...
CDJB♦
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How does New Hampshire allocate its national Democratic delegates from vote share?
Google is currently featuring this data/answer, apparently based on an AP article which it doesn't link to...
So, basically how does NH allocate its (Democratic) delegates from vote share? Are there (...
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What would happen if every state had a law requiring it hold the nations first primary?
Quoting https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/11/politics/iowa-new-hampshire-primary-monopoly/index.html:
The vote-counting meltdown in Iowa's antiquated and haphazard caucus system -- a process used partly ...
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Machiavellian voting in the New Hampshire primary [closed]
Which Democratic presidential candidate would benefit by winning the New Hampshire primary but would also be a weak candidate in the November election against Trump? Please avoid opinion-based answers ...
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Has some candidate won the Democratic ticket without winning either Iowa or New Hampshire?
Looking at the latest polls from New Hampshire they seem to mirror Iowa... so I'm curious if a "deep" reversal on Super Tuesday etc. has happened, i.e. did someone not in top two in either Iowa or New ...
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Is there a consistent difference in participation in caucuses vs primaries in the US?
VOA notes that
In the past, the downside of the time-consuming caucus process has been lower voter turnout. In the 2016 Iowa caucuses only 15.7% of the voting population participated. In contrast,...
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Where were the Iowa "satellite caucuses" located?
I've read (somewhat) conflicting report on these, some reproduced in other questions here... For example, Fox News says
In total, there will be 96 locations across the globe on Monday. Thirteen ...
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When are Iowa's Democratic district- and state-level delegates (for the presidential contest) completely selected?
From the complicated rules it looks to me like the Iowa story isn't going to be completely over anytime soon because
There's "redistribution" of the non-viable votes (below the 15% threshold) at the ...
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What was the US election with the highest number of cancelled primaries and caucuses?
Primaries and caucuses in the US can get cancelled and some did get cancelled, e.g.:
The shutdowns aren’t without precedent. Some of the states forgoing Republican nomination contests have done so ...
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Why are Presidential primaries usually a landslide for the incumbent?
An incumbent President has only been denied his party's nomination five times, and only once did the incumbent initially become President via election.
Why are Presidential primary elections usually ...
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Are the partial results announced in Iowa consistent with prior polling in the state?
This may be a bit of a surprise, but according to some news sources (CNN, BBC), Buttigieg came in first and Biden fourth with Sanders and Warren 2nd and 3rd, after more than half the votes were ...
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To what extent is Iowa a bellwether for the Democratic presidential candidates?
The 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses are taking place today (February 3rd 2020), and are the first test of the candidates at the ballot box in the presidential primary season.
By examining results from ...
CDJB♦
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What analogy best explains the narrowing down of presidential candidates for a general election?
My understanding is that it's sort of like a football game with sixteen teams in each conference for a total of 32.
The Super Bowl is sort of of like the race for the presidency in which the two ...
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Do any 2020 Democratic primary candidates support repealing the PATRIOT Act and eliminating mass surveillance in the United States?
Thinking back to how big of a scandal it was when President Obama signed the USA Freedom Act in 2015, and more generally how much flak Obama received with his handling of the 2013 surveillance ...
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Why do betting odds give Michael Bloomberg 10% chance of winning the Democratic nomination?
Currently https://www.electionbettingodds.com/ give Michael Bloomberg a bit over 10% chance of winning the Democratic nomination.
Since he is polling single digits(not even close to double digits) ...
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Are there any statistics on union endorsements for presidential candidates?
LA Times mentioned a few, seemingly mostly for Sanders by the big-membership numbers
On Thursday, United Teachers Los Angeles, the second-largest teacher’s union in the U.S., with roughly 34,000 ...
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