United States presidential primaries

United States presidential primaries
Name	United States presidential primaries
Type	Primary election series
Country	United States
First	1912 Republican primaries

Contents

United States presidential primaries are a series of state-level elections and caucuses that select delegates to national party conventions where presidential nominees are officially chosen; they intersect with Democratic Party and Republican Party nomination processes and involve candidates such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. The contests evolved through interactions among Progressive Era, Tammany Hall, New Deal, McGovern–Fraser Commission reforms and contemporary changes driven by Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary traditions and have affected presidential campaigns including those of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson.

History

The modern primary system traces roots to the Progressive Era reforms, state initiatives like the Oregon System and party reactions to figures such as William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and the 1912 realignment that produced the Republican schism; later crises involving the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Robert F. Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy prompted the McGovern–Fraser Commission and widespread adoption of primaries. Reforms in the 1970s redistributed influence from party bosses in Tammany Hall and state legislatures to voters in states like New Hampshire, Iowa, California, Florida and Texas and shaped nomination battles seen in contests such as 1980 and 2008. The timetable has been reshaped by front-loading, the Iowa caucuses, the Super Tuesday phenomenon, and rules adjudicated by the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee.

Primaries serve to allocate delegates for parties—principally the Democrats and Republicans—and to provide nominating legitimacy for candidates like Adlai Stevenson II, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush. Types include state-run primary elections, party-run caucuses, and hybrid formats used in states such as Iowa, Nevada, South Carolina and Alaska; rules vary under party governance embodied by the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee. Other primary variations include open primaries used in states like California and Washington, closed primaries embraced by New York and Florida, and jungle primaries implemented in Louisiana.

The primary calendar begins with early states—Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina—followed by regional blocks and national contests like Super Tuesday, culminating in delegate counts finalized before the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention. The sequence interacts with statutory election law in states such as California and Texas and with party rules from the RNC and DNC, producing strategic moves by candidates including Mitt Romney, Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders and Marco Rubio. Delegates are pledged or unpledged (including superdelegate roles in the Democratic National Committee), and contested primaries can lead to floor fights similar to those in the 1968 Democratic National Convention and the 1972 Republican National Convention.

Campaign strategies deploy field operations in states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina and national media efforts involving outlets like The New York Times, Fox News, CNN and The Washington Post; candidates tailor messages to constituencies exemplified by supporters of Ron Paul, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren. Delegate allocation methods include proportional representation used by the Democrats and winner-take-all options used variably by the Republicans; allocation formulas reference congressional districts in states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania and at-large delegates determined by party committees like the RNC and DNC. Campaign finance is regulated under statutes shaped by Federal Election Campaign Act precedents and decisions such as Citizens United v. FEC, with Super PACs and organizations like American Crossroads, Priorities USA and MoveOn.org playing prominent roles.

National parties—the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee—set calendar rules, delegate formulas and sanction penalties affecting state parties in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, California and Florida; enforcement has included penalties for scheduling violations and delegate reductions. Party rulemaking has been influenced by reform commissions, bargaining among state chairs like those from Iowa Democratic Party and New Hampshire Republican State Committee, and legal challenges in venues such as United States Supreme Court decisions that affect ballot access and primary structures. Party conventions, delegates, and superdelegates institutionalize outcomes seen in historic gatherings like the 1968 Democratic National Convention and modern conventions in cities such as Philadelphia and Cleveland.

Primaries have transformed candidate selection, enabling outsiders such as Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump to compete against establishment figures like Joe Lieberman, Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney; critics argue the system magnifies retail politics in Iowa and New Hampshire while marginalizing diverse electorates in California and New York. Criticisms include front-loading, low turnout in caucuses such as Iowa Caucuses, influence of money and media exemplified by coverage from The New York Times and Fox News, and tensions over representation highlighted by debates in the Democratic National Committee and legal disputes adjudicated by courts including the United States Supreme Court. Proposals for reform cite alternatives like national primary plans debated by figures such as George McGovern, Frank Church and contemporary commentators in Brookings Institution and Heritage Foundation circles.

Category:United States presidential elections