Primaries and Candidates: Examining the Influence of Primary Electorates on Candidate Ideology

Nielson, Lindsay; Visalvanich, Neil

doi:10.1017/psrm.2015.60

Primaries and Candidates: Examining the Influence of Primary Electorates on Candidate Ideology

Nielson, Lindsay; Visalvanich, Neil

Authors

Lindsay Nielson

Dr Neil Visalvanich neil.visalvanich@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Abstract

Primary elections in the United States have been under-studied in the political science literature. Using new data to estimate the ideal points of primary election candidates and constituents, we examine the link between the ideological leanings of primary electorates and the ideological orientation of US congressional candidates. We use district-level data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study and ideal point estimates for congressional primary election candidates to examine the role of primary electorate ideology in the selection of party nominees. We find that more extreme Republicans are more likely to win their party’s primary and that Republican and Democratic candidates are responsive to different electoral constituencies.

Citation

Nielson, L., & Visalvanich, N. (2017). Primaries and Candidates: Examining the Influence of Primary Electorates on Candidate Ideology. Political Science Research and Methods, 5(2), 397-408. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2015.60

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Sep 16, 2015
Online Publication Date	Nov 2, 2015
Publication Date	Apr 1, 2017
Deposit Date	Sep 24, 2015
Publicly Available Date	Oct 13, 2015
Journal	Political Science Research and Methods
Print ISSN	2049-8470
Electronic ISSN	2049-8489
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	5
Issue	2
Pages	397-408
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2015.60

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Copyright Statement
This article has been published in a revised form in Political Science Research and Methods https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2015.60. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © The European Political Science Association 2015.