ABSTRACT
Caucuses of like-minded partisans in Congress nominated presidential and vice-presidential candidates. Similar party caucuses in state legislatures chose candidates for governor and other statewide offices. In 1831, a minor party called the Anti-Masons held a national convention to nominate its presidential candidate, hoping to get enough press attention to gain major party status. The Progressives argued that voters should be able to directly select their party’s candidates for each office; party leaders should not have that power. Some southern states had already used primaries in local elections after the Civil War, to legitimize the nominees and settle internal disputes in their one-party Democratic systems. Every state now uses primaries to nominate at least some statewide officials, and most states use this method exclusively. Primaries come in many different forms, based on who is allowed to vote in them.
