Northern State Gubernatorial Primary Elections: Explaining Voting Turnout

In: American politics quarterly, Band 12, Heft 1, S. 101-116

Abstract

This is a study of the variables affecting turnout of voters in northern state gubernatorial primaries from 1952 to 1980. The dependent variable is turnout in each party's primary as a percentage of turnout for that party in the general election. Two of the most important independent variables are long-term patterns of primary competition and two-party competition, suggesting that voters develop habitual patterns of voting in primaries. Other predictors of turnout are short-term primary competition, the type of primary (open or closed), and (among Republicans) party endorsement of candidates.