ABSTRACT
Mississippi holds two primaries, a contest in early August to narrow the field for a second runoff primary near the end of the month between the top two vote-getters in the first primary. The first primary in Mississippi has averaged a field of six candidates since 1947. A more precise exercise is to factor analyze the data with the election totals for the contestants in each second primary defined as independent variables. If the second primary in Mississippi approximates the two-party condition that exists in Montana, a common unifying factor should appear in the data for Mississippi as well; a factor with which one of the candidates is positively associated in most elections and the other candidate is negatively associated. Beginning in 1959 every winner of the Democratic primary in Mississippi has received more than average support from the rural counties in Mississippi. Montana’s Democratic primary is so highly factionalized that it looks similar to the first primary in Mississippi.
