Nominating CandidatesChapter 16, Section 3 pg. 464

Name:Date:Class Notes Ch. 16, Sect. 3

“Nominating Candidates”

Define 3 Key Terms pg. 464

1.

2.

3.

How Candidates are Selected

Historically, candidates are selected in one of the following four ways:

1. Caucus

2. Nominating Convention

3. Primary Elections

4. Petition

What are Caucuses?

Caucuses are meetings of party members to choose candidates for office (like a“town hall” meeting)

19 states use caucuses, including Iowa (the first)

Sometimes criticized for being “undemocratic”

Increased openness and involvement at the local level has increased their popularity

Jan. 3rd 2008 Iowa Caucuses

Top 3 Democrats:

Barack Obama: 38%

John Edwards: 30%

Hillary Clinton: 29%

Top 3 Republicans:

Mike Huckabee: 34%

Mitt Romney: 25%

Jonh McCain: 13%

What are Nominating Conventions?

As caucuses came underattack, parties in some states created local nominating conventions to pick candidates

Nominating conventionsare official party meetings open to the public to choose candidates for office

What are Primary Elections?

Since the 1900s, primary elections have generally replaced the nominating conventions because primaries were viewed as more democratic

Primary elections are similar to regular elections, but instead of picking the “winner” they only pick the party’s “competitor” for the national race

Today, primary elections are the most common way to choose party candidates

Jan. 8th 2008 New Hampshire Primary

So why is New Hampshire the first primary?

Its state Constitution says it must be

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(Yes, folks, this is today if you didn’t notice!!!)

Types of Primary Elections

There are three types of primary elections:

1. Closed Primary: Primary in which only members of a party can vote

2. Open Primary: Primary in which all voters can vote, regardless of party affiliation

3. Modified Primary: Some modification on those above

***California has an “modified closed” primary on Feb. 5th that allows unaffiliated ("decline to state") voters to vote if parties agree. In CA, the Democratic Party currently allows unaffiliated voters to vote, while the Republican Party does not.

What is Super (Duper) Tuesday?

Super (Duper) Tuesday is the Tuesday early in the election year when most states hold their primary elections.

This year, Super Tuesday is February 5, 2008!

Super Tuesday primaries: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California,Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho(D), Illinois, Kansas (D),Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico (D), New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah

What is nomination by Petition?

Under the petitionmethod, a candidatemust gather enough signatures to get theirname on the ballot

This is required in somestates for all candidates, but is typically done by third party candidates (Jon Stewart!)

Then what? National Conventions

After the candidates have completed their primary circuit, parties hold national conventions to finalize their candidate.

Democrats: Denver August 25-28

Republicans: Minneapolis-St. Paul Sept. 1-4

Questions to Answer:

Answer any 3!!

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