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Articles on Primaries

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GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis on television screens at a Washington, D.C. bar during the first 2024 Republican presidential primary debate on Aug. 23, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

How media coverage of presidential primaries fails voters and has helped Trump

In a general election, most people will vote for their party’s candidate. But in a primary, voters rely on media coverage to help them choose among candidates. And that gives the media influence.
GOP primary voters in 2022 often chose the Trumpiest candidate, even if they had substantial electoral vulnerabilities, as does Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, shown here with Donald Trump. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Who’s the most electable candidate? The one you like

Voters trust their gut when they decide who an electable candidate is or isn’t. That may be a bad idea.
Nine of the 48 candidates for Alaska’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives participate in a debate on May 12, 2022, at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage. Loren Holmes / ADN

Primaries are getting more crowded with candidates, and that’s good news for extremists and bad news for voters

The number of candidates running in party primaries has ballooned since 2010. That may result in extreme, inexperienced or controversial nominees who do not represent a majority of voters.
A poll worker places vote-by-mail ballots into a ballot box set up at the Miami-Dade Election Department headquarters on Oct. 14, 2020 in Doral, Fla. Joe Raedle/Getty Images News via Getty

Judges used to stay out of election disputes, but this year lawsuits could well decide the presidency

Lawsuits are being argued in courthouses across the country over the conduct of the election. That could lead to the public losing confidence in the election’s legitimacy.
An Ohio election official on the night of the primary vote rescheduled from March 17 to April 28. AP/Gene J. Puskar

Delaying primaries helps protect incumbents as well as voters

To many, the idea that states might cancel or postpone their primary elections as a response to the COVID-19 epidemic sounds undemocratic. What’s the political effect of these postponements?
Joe and Jill Biden address the press the evening of the Idaho, Missouri, Michigan, Washington, Mississippi and North Dakota primaries. AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Biden’s win shows the power of Democratic moderates

It is becoming clear that this election season, the Democratic Party will likely adopt a center-left agenda.
Like the other Democratic candidates for president, Elizabeth Warren has spent months canvassing Iowa to meet voters while spending little time in other states. CJ Gunther/EPA

The US presidential primaries are arcane, complex and unrepresentative. So why do Americans still vote this way?

Americans didn’t always have primaries and caucuses to choose presidential candidates. The system was meant to be more democratic, but it places too much attention on largely white, small states.
Twenty-two of the 24 Democratic 2020 presidential candidates. Reuters

Why are there so many candidates for president?

The number of candidates in presidential primaries has skyrocketed since the 2016 election. Divisions inside political parties and easy ways for candidates to raise money are among the reasons why.
Donald Trump on the campaign trail. His rise may have less real meaning than many analysts suggest. Reuters/Mike Segar

The risk of reading too much into the rise of Donald Trump

There has been much analysis on the rise of Donald Trump as the result of widespread social and economic unrest, but a look at the primaries shows it to be more of a quirk of the system.
It’s common for presidential candidates to announce their campaigns 18 months or more in advance of election day. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Everything you wanted to know about US elections but were afraid to ask

Global audiences have heard of US election terms like the primaries, the conventions and the Electoral College. But the history and exact meaning of these terms remains a mystery to many.
Should down-ballot Republicans love this face? REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Did Donald Trump kill the Tea Party?

This primary cycle, few incumbents in the House and Senate are fighting off extremist challengers. Is that because the top of the ticket is taking up all the air?

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