ABSTRACT

This chapter argues that some primary elections are more systematically interesting and important for understanding party coalitions than others. It shows that the Democratic and Republican primary coalitions are quite distinct, and that their differences are made evident by examining campaign contributions to primary election candidates in each party. The chapter explores the data gathered from primary elections to show how the party coalitions themselves have changed over time, and how changes in those coalitions are consistent with the partisan polarization. In the party coalition paradigm, members of the coalition drive primary election dynamics through intergroup competition and coordination. Primary elections become one of only windows into describing and modeling party coalition management because they are one of the only moments when party coalition members engage with each other in the public eye. In open seat and challenger primaries, and in both hard money contributions and independent expenditures, democratic candidates get the most contributions from blue collar labor unions.