ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on primary election results to explore the relationship between candidate ideology and primary election outcomes from 1980 to 2010. It shows that moderates are less likely to win the primary and receive a lower percentage of the primary vote than those at the extremes. Although primary voters may prefer extremists to moderates, moderate candidates may have more hope in some primary elections than in others. The composition of candidates has an important impact on which individuals are ultimately elected, but research on polarization has for the most part overlooked how the makeup of choices affects the electoral fortunes of congressional candidates. The chapter explains how the relationship between moderate ideology and primary election outcomes changes as the number of primary candidates increases. It analyzes the conditions under which moderate candidates are more likely to attract support from primary voters.
