primary

Examples of primary in the following topics:

• Primaries and Caucuses

  • The Iowa caucuses are the first nominating election to occur in the presidential primary season and, therefore, they often have a significant impact on later primaries.
  • Not every election is preceded by a primary season, but most major races, such as presidential and congressional races, use primaries to narrow the field of candidates.
  • In a closed primary, only voters who are registered with the party holding the primary are allowed to vote.
  • In an open primary system, voters can vote in either primary regardless of affiliation.
  • Summarize the primary system and how a primary differs from a caucus

• Nominating Candidates

  • To nominate candidates, political parties hold primary elections.
  • Primary elections are used to narrow the field of candidates for the general election.
  • In a primary, several members of the same political party campaign to become their party's nominee in the general election.
  • During primary campaigns, state delegates are assigned to a primary candidate based on the outcome of a statewide vote.
  • Whichever primary candidate emerges from the primary election with the most delegates becomes the party's presumptive nominee.

• Types of Elections

  • A primary election is an election that narrows the field of candidates before the general election.
  • Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election.
  • In the case of closed primaries, only party members can vote.
  • By contrast, in an open primary all voters may cast votes on a ballot of any party.
  • The party may require them to express their support to the party's values and pay a small contribution to the costs of the primary.

• Regulating Campaign Finance

  • Although most campaign spending is privately financed, public financing is available for qualifying candidates for President of the United States during both the primaries and the general election.
  • To receive subsidies in the primary, candidates must qualify by privately raising $5000 each in at least 20 states.
  • From the inception of this program in 1976 through 1992, almost all candidates who could qualify accepted matching funds in the primary.
  • In 2004 Bush and Democrats John Kerry and Howard Dean chose not to take matching funds in the primary.
  • In 2008, Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and Republicans John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul decided not to take primary matching funds.

• The General Election Campaign

  • The presidential general election occurs after the primary season and is the process through which a national vote chooses the president.
  • In the United States, a presidential election is held every four years and includes both a primary season and a general election.
  • During the primary season, the two major political parties narrow the field of candidates through state votes to nominate the party's candidate for the general election.
  • In the primary season, candidates compete against other members of their party to win a majority of votes from voters within their own party.
  • The presidential general election lasts from the end of the primary season, usually in June, until the vote on the first Tuesday of November.

• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

  • In the 2012 presidential election, super PACs have played a major role, spending more than the candidates' election campaigns in the Republican primaries.
  • The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 prohibited corporations and unions from using their general treasury to fund "electioneering communications" within 30 days before a primary or 60 days before a general election.
  • During the 2004 presidential campaign, a conservative nonprofit organization named Citizens United filed a complaint before the Federal Election Commission (FEC) charging that advertisements for Michael Moore's film, Fahrenheit 9/11, a documentary critical of the Bush administration's response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, constituted political advertising and thus could not be aired within the 30 days before a primary election or 60 days before a general election.
  • In January 2008, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the television advertisements for Hillary: The Movie violated the BCRA restrictions of "electioneering communications" within 30 days of a primary.
  • In the 2012 presidential election, super PACs have played a major role, spending more than the candidates' election campaigns in the Republican primaries.

• The Nomination Campaign

  • In the nomination campaign, Presidential candidates are selected based on the primaries to run in the main election.
  • The modern presidential campaign begins before the primary elections.

• Organizing Campaigns and Elections

  • At the start of the preliminary election season, the DNC and RNC are responsible for establishing the rules for the caucuses and primary elections.
  • These caucuses and primaries are usually not run by the DNC and RNC but instead by the state.

• Selecting Candidates

  • The Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee create the rules governing the caucuses and primaries in which the field of presidential nominees is narrowed.
  • In recent years, presidential nominees have been known well in advance of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions due to changes in election laws, earlier primary elections and caucuses, and the manner in which political campaigns are run.

• World War I and the League of Nations

  • Its primary goals, as stated in its Covenant, included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament, and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration.
  • The onset of World War II showed that the League had failed its primary purpose, which was to prevent any future world war.