A primary election is an election that narrows the field of candidates before the general election. Presidential and statewide primary elections are partisan. Local elections are often non-partisan. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election.

Primaries are common in the United States, where their origins are traced to the progressive movement to take the power of candidate nomination from party leaders to the people.^[1]

Other methods of selecting candidates include caucuses, conventions, and nomination meetings. Historically, Canadian political parties chose their candidates through nominating conventions held by constituency riding associations. Canadian party leaders are elected at leadership conventions, although some parties have abandoned this practice in favor of one member, one vote systems.

Types[link]

Most countries in which primary elections are organized by parties, not the administration, generally distinguish only two types of primaries:

• Closed primary (synonyms: internal primaries, party primaries). In the case of closed primaries, internal primaries, or party primaries, only party members can vote.
• Open primary. All voters can take part in an open primary, but the party may require them to express their support to the party's values and pay a small contribution to the costs of the primary.

In the United States, other types can be differentiated:

• Closed primary. People may vote in a party's primary only if they are registered members of that party prior to election day. Independents cannot participate. Note that because some political parties name themselves independent, the term "non-partisan" often replaces "independent" when referring to those who are not affiliated with a political party. Thirteen states — Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota — have closed primaries.^[2]
• Semi-closed. As in closed primaries, registered party members can vote only in their own party's primary. Semi-closed systems, however, allow unaffiliated voters to participate as well. Depending on the state, independents either make their choice of party primary privately, inside the voting booth, or publicly, by registering with any party on Election Day. Fifteen states — Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming — have semi-closed primaries that allow voters to register or change party preference on election day.^[3][2]
• Open primary. A registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his own party affiliation. When voters do not register with a party before the primary, it is called a pick-a-party primary because the voter can select which party's primary he or she wishes to vote in on election day. Because of the open nature of this system, a practice known as raiding may occur. Raiding consists of voters of one party crossing over and voting in the primary of another party, effectively allowing a party to help choose its opposition's candidate. The theory is that opposing party members vote for the weakest candidate of the opposite party in order to give their own party the advantage in the general election. An example of this can be seen in the 1998 Vermont senatorial primary with the nomination of Fred Tuttle as the Republican candidate in the general election.
• Semi-open. A registered voter need not publicly declare which political party's primary that they will vote in before entering the voting booth. When voters identify themselves to the election officials, they must request a party's specific ballot. Only one ballot is cast by each voter. In many states with semi-open primaries, election officials or poll workers from their respective parties record each voter's choice of party and provide access to this information. The primary difference between a semi-open and open primary system is the use of a party-specific ballot. In a semi-open primary, a public declaration in front of the election judges is made and a party-specific ballot given to the voter to cast. Certain states that use the open-primary format may print a single ballot and the voter must choose on the ballot itself which political party's candidates they will select for a contested office.
• Run-off. A primary in which the ballot is not restricted to one party and the top two candidates advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation. (A run-off differs from a primary in that a second round is only needed if no candidate attains a majority in the first round.)

There are also mixed systems in use. In West Virginia, where state law allows parties to determine whether primaries are open to independents, Republican primaries are open to independents, while Democratic primaries were closed. However, as of April 1, 2007, West Virginia's Democratic Party opened its voting to allow "individuals who are not affiliated with any existing recognized party to participate in the election process".

Primaries in the United States[link]

Primary elections in the United States are used to narrow the field of candidates for the general election. In modern politics, primary elections have been an important vehicle for taking decision-making from political insiders to the voters. State voters start the electoral process for governors and legislators through the primary process, as well as for many local officials from city councilors to county commissioners.^[4] The candidate who moves from the primary to be successful in the general election takes public office.

Non-partisan[link]

Primaries can be used in nonpartisan elections to reduce the set of candidates that go on to the general election (qualifying primary). (In the U.S., many city, county and school board elections are non-partisan.) Generally, if a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the primary, he or she is automatically elected, without having to run again in the general election. If no candidate receives a majority, twice as many candidates pass the primary as can win in the general election, so a single seat election primary would allow the top two primary candidates to participate in the general election following.

Blanket[link]

When a qualifying primary is applied to a partisan election, it becomes what is generally known as a blanket or Louisiana primary: typically, if no candidate wins a majority in the primary, the two candidates receiving the highest pluralities, regardless of party affiliation, go on to a general election that is in effect a run-off. This often has the effect of eliminating minor parties from the general election, and frequently the general election becomes a single-party election. Unlike a plurality voting system, a run-off system meets the Condorcet loser criterion in that the candidate that ultimately wins would not have been beaten in a two-way race with every one of the other candidates.

Because many Washington residents were disappointed over the loss of their blanket primary, which the Washington State Grange helped institute in 1935, the Grange filed Initiative 872 in 2004 to establish a blanket primary for partisan races, thereby allowing voters to once again cross party lines in the primary election. The two candidates with the most votes then advance to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation. Supporters claimed it would bring back voter choice; opponents said it would exclude third parties and independents from general election ballots, could result in Democrat or Republican-only races in certain districts, and would in fact reduce voter choice. The initiative was put to a public vote in November 2004 and passed. On July 15, 2005, the initiative was found unconstitutional by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The U.S. Supreme Court heard the Grange's appeal of the case in October 2007. In March 2008, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality the Grange-sponsored Top 2 primary, citing a lack of compelling evidence to overturn the voter-approved initiative.^[5]

In elections using voting systems where strategic nomination is a concern, primaries can be very important in preventing "clone" candidates that split their constituency's vote because of their similarities. Primaries allow political parties to select and unite behind one candidate. However, tactical voting is sometimes a concern in non-partisan primaries as members of the opposite party can strategically vote for the weaker candidate in order to face an easier general election.

Partisan[link]

Presidential Primaries[link]

In the United States, Iowa and New Hampshire have drawn attention every four years because they hold the first caucus and primary election, respectively, and often give a candidate the momentum to win the nomination.

A criticism of the current presidential primary election schedule is that it gives undue weight to the few states with early primaries, as those states often build momentum for leading candidates and rule out trailing candidates long before the rest of the country has even had a chance to weigh in, leaving the last states with virtually no actual input on the process. The counterargument to this criticism, however, is that, by subjecting candidates to the scrutiny of a few early states, the parties can weed out candidates who are unfit for office.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) proposed a new schedule and a new rule set for the 2008 Presidential primary elections. Among the changes: the primary election cycle would start nearly a year earlier than in previous cycles, states from the West and the South would be included in the earlier part of the schedule, and candidates who run in primary elections not held in accordance with the DNC's proposed schedule (as the DNC does not have any direct control over each state's official election schedules) would be penalized by being stripped of delegates won in offending states. The New York Times called the move, "the biggest shift in the way Democrats have nominated their presidential candidates in 30 years."^[6]

Of note regarding the DNC's proposed 2008 Presidential primary election schedule is that it contrasted with the Republican National Committee's (RNC) rules regarding Presidential primary elections. "No presidential primary, caucus, convention, or other meeting may be held for the purpose of voting for a presidential candidate and/or selecting delegates or alternate delegates to the national convention, prior to the first Tuesday of February in the year in which the national convention is held."^[7] In 2016, this date is February 2.

2012 Presidential Primary Season[link]

The United States is one of the few countries to select candidates through a primary election system; most countries rely on party leaders to vet candidates, as previously happened in the U.S.^[8] Candidates for U.S. President who seek their party's nomination participate in primary elections run by state governments, or caucuses run by the political parties. Unlike an election where the only participation is casting a ballot, a caucus is a gathering or "meeting of party members designed to select candidates and propose policies."^[9] Both primaries and caucuses are used in the Presidential nomination process, beginning in January and culminating in the late-summer political party conventions. Candidates may earn convention delegates from each state primary or caucus. In 2012, Republican candidates must earn 1144 delegates to receive the GOP nomination for president at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida beginning August 27. Democrats will meet in Charlotte, North Carolina beginning September 3. Because President Barack Obama is the incumbent and defacto Democratic Party leader, it is typical for him not to have serious opposition from within his party.

Iowa - January 3

Of all the candidates who campaigned for the Iowa Caucuses, Rick Santorum did it the old-fashioned way, by visiting all 99 counties and holding hundreds of town hall meetings. Santorum found himself at the top of the January 3 Iowa Caucus with 29,839 votes and 13 delegates. Mitt Romney followed a close second with a total of 29,805 votes and 12 delegates. The rest of the results are as follows: Ron Paul with 26,036 votes, Newt Gingrich with 16,163 votes, Rick Perry with 12,557 votes, Michele Bachmann with 6,046, Huntsman with 739, and 316 votes for others.

The Iowa Caucus in 2012 primary election brought several candidates to the state for campaigning to try and win the hearts of the voters. Iowa is the first caucus state that candidates can acquire delegates in their bid for nomination to represent the Republicans in the general election. The candidates spent an average of $733,333 each. Rick Perry led all the candidates with $5.5 million invested in campaigning and super PAC’s with Mitt Romney following second spending around $3.7 million.

New Hampshire - January 10

The first U.S. Presidential primary is in New Hampshire, coming on the heels of the traditional first caucus in Iowa. New Hampshire is an independent state that does not directly vote for just one particular party. The New England state is a swing state it can go either way in the general election, therefore New Hampshire is considered the state that sets the stage for the presidential election season.

Its primary election is held on the second Tuesday in March, and in order to participate in the primary the candidates have to file a declaration of candidacy with the Secretary of State in New Hampshire and pay a fee of a $1000. There are seven candidates running in 2012 New Hampshire Primary: Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Buddy Roemer, and Rick Perry. Mitt Romney won the primary with 97,532 votes (39.3%) for five delegates. The President of the United States, Barack Obama, was the only candidate running for the democratic nomination.^[10] In New Hampshire there are ten counties. This is a Republican semi-closed primary election where anyone can register to vote, including on election day. A total of 224,231 residents of New Hampshire came out and voted in the 2012 primary.

North Dakota

North Dakota is one of the smaller states delegate wise, with only 28 up for grabs, placing it as the 10th smallest. With North Dakota being a caucus, you must be a registered member of the party putting on the election. Also with it being a caucus, all of those 28 delegates are unpledged though. This allows them to cast their vote at the Republican National Convention for whomever they decide. With that being said, in the 2012 Republican North Dakota caucus Rick Santorum received the largest amount of delegates 11, as well as 4,510 votes which was 39.7%. Ron Paul was second receiving 3,186 votes or 28.1% which was good for 8 delegates. Mitt Romney was third receiving 2,691 votes or 23.7% of them. Romney was able to grab 7 delegates. Newt Gingrich finished a distant fourth with 962 votes or just 8.5%. Gingrich only grabbed 2 delegates from North Dakota.^[11] With North Dakota being a very rural state to begin with, the counties where votes were received show little bias to which candidate was chosen in that area.

South Carolina - January 21

On Saturday, January 21, 2012, the South Carolina Preference Primary was held to help determine the Republican Party nominee who would run against President Barack Obama in the November election. Many candidates took to the ballot for election, including Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum.

The results of election are as follows: Newt Gingrich was the winner, taking 40.4% of vote, Mitt Romney, second, with 27.85%; Rick Santorum 16.97%; Ron Paul 12.98%; Herman Cain, 1.05%; Rick Perry, 0.42%; Jon Huntsman, 0.19%; Michele Bachmann, .08%; and Gary Johnson .03%. The delegates however were not all taken by Gingrich who took 92% of the delegates (23 delegates) and Romney who took 8% of delegates, after winning Congressional District 1, took 2 delegates.

In South Carolina candidates have two options to get on the ballot. One is to file with a certified political party. Second, file a nominating petition or the candidate must file with the state organization of one of the nine certified political parties in the state. Another way to be nominated is by petition, the candidate needs 10,000 valid signatures of registered voters to be nominated. Then, there are fees, processing, and dates, which means that all the candidates that were seen on the ballot have done one of these things.

The polls in South Carolina were opened to any registered voter as South Carolina doesn’t require voters to register by party. The open primary recorded 605,623 ballots, about 21.6% of the 2,804,231 registered voters in the state voted. The candidates were vying for the 25 delegates the state has to offer for the Republican nomination. The winner of the statewide popular vote takes 11 delegates and the remaining 14 delegates are separated into 7 Congressional Districts.

Florida - January 31

Mitt Romney won the Florida Primary on January 31 with 776,159 votes (46.4%) and Newt Gingrich came in second with 534,121 votes (31.9%). Rick Santorum finished with 223,249 votes (13.3%) and Ron Paul 117,461 votes (7%). Other names appearing on the ballot were Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson and Rick Perry, all of whom finished with less than 1% of the votes each according to the official election results.^[12] All of the candidates finishing with less than 1% had all dropped out of the election prior to the vote. It is unclear how Florida’s delegates will be distributed after the primary. Florida was punished after moving its primary election ahead of the Republican National Committee (RNC) schedule and was docked half of its delegates, bringing the number down to 50. After the punishment, Florida decided to have a winner-take-all election. While this was approved by the RNC, all it takes is for one registered Republican to file a protest and the party’s contest committee would have to consider the issue when they meet in August 2012.

The issues of the primary were not much different from most other southern states. The top 2012 issues were the failing economy and the increase in immigration. There were four debates in Florida for the 2012election, two in 2011 and the other two in early 2012.

The requirements for primary election ballot access vary from state to state. While some states require the collection of set amount of signatures, or a petition, Florida only requires that a major party submit a list of candidates to the Florida Secretary of State by the set deadline, in this case, October 31, 2011. The names that appear on this list shall appear on the presidential preference primary ballot unless a candidate submits an affidavit to the Department of the Secretary of State prior to the deadline (November 15, 2011) stating that he or she has no intention of becoming a candidate for President at the upcoming nomination convention. Minor party candidates and candidates with no party affiliation must collect the signatures 112,174 registered electors and submit them by July 15, 2011 in addition to submitting the names and addresses of 29 registered electors by September 1, 2011.

Nevada - February 4

The Nevada caucuses are held every four years to determine who Nevada's delegates will support in choosing Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. What is a caucus? A caucus is a meeting of party leaders to select candidates, elect convention delegates, etc.. In a caucus, you must be part of the political party.

The 2012 Nevada Democratic caucuses were held on January 21, 2012. As U.S. President Barack Obama was the only candidate under consideration, the event was used primarily for organizational purposes and to drum up popular support. Approximately 13,000 Democrats participated compared with more than 116,000 who turned out in 2008. For his campaign, Obama somewhat changed his slogan from “Hope for Change” to “Obama 2012” or “Greater Together”. He also did a TV ad that showed how his campaign would be, what he was going to do to further our country the best way he can, and it also showed that he wants to keep helping our country get better for our future.

The 2012 Nevada Republican caucuses were held on February 4. They were closed caucuses. Closed caucuses are when only registered members of a particular political party may participate and select a nominee. Mitt Romney was declared the winner. There are 400,310 registered Republicans voting for 28 delegates. After the voting process, the winner of Nevada was Mitt Romney with a little over 50 percent of the votes (50.2%). Mitt Romney’s campaign consisted of a slogan which was “Believe In America”, and a TV ad that was somewhat the same as Barack Obama’s, but with different views of what he would do for the country to keep us moving upward.

Minnesota - February 7

The state of Minnesota holds a closed caucus during the primary season so the opposing political parties do not try to influence the election results. In either the Democratic or Republican caucus the members that attend must be in line with their party’s principles to participate. This is done to prevent a Democrat voting in the Republican Party caucus and for the opposite. Supporters of caucus argue they want to have a strong party turnout rather than have independents or the opposite party voting in their caucus.

On February 7, 2012 Minnesota held its statewide caucus for the Republican Party. 48,916 votes were cast for the following candidates: Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. Rick Santorum was declared the winner with 44.95% of the vote. State can vote to bind 13 at-large delegates, 24 delegates elected at congressional district conventions, and 3 Republican National Committee delegates are not legally bound to vote for the candidate.

Maine - February 11

Maine does not have a primary election; it instead selects candidates during a caucus. A caucus is a meeting of the members of a legislative body who are members of a particular political party, to select candidates or decide policy. Romney won Maine’s caucuses with 2,190 votes (39 percent), while Paul had 1,996 votes (36 percent). These results came from only 84 percent of all of the precincts that were held across the state of Maine.

Paul came close to winning Maine but in the end it was Romney who took the victory. Romney was decided to have won Maine’s caucuses even before Washington County had convened its caucuses. That led to Maine lawmakers considering holding primary elections in the state of Maine as oppose to the caucuses to pick presidential candidates.

In the state of Maine, when electing the candidates for the presidential election, they use a caucus rather than a primary election like most states. A caucus is a closed meeting of a group of persons belonging to the same political party or faction usually to select candidates or to decide on policy (Merriam-Webster). During the caucus voters meet in a public place such as city hall or some other central location and decide aloud by physically moving from one side of the room to the other depending on which candidate they are supporting. After the caucus preceding are through and all the voters have chosen their side, delegates award votes to the candidates according to the number of voters in support of each candidate.

In the 2012 Caucus, the four main candidates were Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich. Romney and Paul were the frontrunners though Romney got a slightly higher number of votes from the citizens. Romney, a representative from Massachusetts, barely beat our Paul, the representative from Texas. Romney expressed that he was upset by barely beating out a candidate from the southwest when he is a representative from a fellow New England state. In the 2008 Republican Caucus, Romney beat out John McCain by more than 30% (New York Times) and this year won by less than four percent.

Delegates were awarded to both Romney and Paul. Romney was given 12 while Paul was given 10 (New York Times). The other candidates were not awarded any delegates for the state or the national convention because they did not receive enough votes from the public during the caucus.

Michigan - February 28

The Michigan Republican Primary took place on February 28, 2012. On the ballot were candidates Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Fred Karger, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Buddy Roemer, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

Some of the issues addressed by the Michigan Republican Primary were gas prices, whether more money and time should be invested in more oil drilling, and formation of plans for greater energy independence. The final results for the Michigan Republican Primary were Romney with 409,899 votes and 15 delegates, Santorum with 377,521 and 15 delegates, Gingrich with 65,002 votes, and Paul with 115,778 votes.

The candidates Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Fred Karger, Rick Perry, and Buddy Roemer dropped out of the 2012 Presidential race but were still on the ballot for the Michigan primary. Michigan’s Republican Primary was a semi-open primary, meaning potential voters are not required to register with a political party prior to voting, but voters have to request one party ballot. One of the major candidates to visit the state of Michigan during its campaign was Mitt Romney. On February 27, Mitt Romney closed out his campaign with a concert by rock musician Kid Rock and used this opportunity to once again talk about his upbringing in Michigan. Controversy surrounded Rick Santorum’s campaign when he admitted to using telephone messages that urged Michigan Democratic voters to go to the Michigan Republican Primary and vote against his competitor Mitt Romney in order to sway the vote in Santorum’s favor. Mitt Romney is quoted as saying that “Senator Santorum did something today which I think is deceptive and a dirty trick”.

Washington - March 3

The State of Washington holds a caucus, a mechanism for state party voters to gather together to throw support behind a candidate The candidates were Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich.

Mitt Romney, the winner of the Washington Caucus, spent some time campaigning in the state and talking about a few issues. He spent Thursday, March 1 and Friday, March 2 in the state. Romney held a rally at Bellevue’s Highland Community Center. The rally attracted about 500 people and was split between two rooms in order to fit everyone in. Romney gave two speeches that day. Romney was talking about how he wants to fix the economy and bring the troops home “as soon as humanly possible.”

Ron Paul was the only candidate to run television ads in the state of Washington. He spent about $40,000 on the ads that were shown on the cable channels. Paul’s campaign throughout the state ended up bringing in huge crowds. On Friday, March 2, Paul had a rally in Seattle. His message was that he wanted to “slash the government, eliminate the Federal Reserve and end U.S. military actions abroad.” He also greeted voters in Puyallup on Saturday, March 3 before the caucus opened. Paul was looking to have his first victory of the campaign in Washington and he came in second.

Rick Santorum was in Washington on Thursday, March 2 for the day while Newt Gingrich was campaigning in Ohio getting ready for Super Tuesday on March 6.

Georgia - March 6

The race to win the Republican Party’s presidential nomination to challenge President Barack Obama included the “Super Tuesday” election day when 10 states, including Georgia, held primaries on March 6. The primary election in Georgia was focused on these top four Republican candidates: Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. Georgia is one of the top ten states that have the highest population in the United States estimating at 9,815,210 residents. In other words, whoever wins Georgia’s could get a confidence boost, break a losing streak and will be that much closer to winning the presidential nomination.

Three out of the four main candidates paid a visit to Georgia. They were former U.S. House Speaker Gingrich, former Massachusetts Governor Romney, and former U.S. Senator Santorum. Gingrich campaigned in Georgia for a week hoping to break his losing streak. He spoke before the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, at the opening of a Cherokee County Republican office and at a rally in Macon. After Dalton, Gingrich made stops in Atlanta, Carrollton, Covington, Gainesville and Rome. Romney went to Snellville, Georgia and while there he served the public pancakes and sweet tea telling voters he was the best choice to lead America. Former Pennsylvania Senator, Santorum went to Dalton, Georgia for a town hall-style meeting, then he headed south to Atlanta.

A few issues that Gingrich promoted during the campaign for primary election were abortion, illegal immigration, entitlement program reform, employment, health care, Afghanistan, budget and the economy. Gingrich’s campaigning included a call to immediately cease public funding for abortion providers. Gingrich advocated changing social security for workers under 30 and give them a personal account that builds through their career which they are required to contribute towards. He also proposed broad changes in the tax code to make it easier for business to grow. He also wants to repeal the President's 2010 health care reform law. Gingrich stated, “Afghanistan is only part of a larger battle with radical Islam, pulling out troops will embolden enemies.”^[13] He said he would listen more to his generals on what his next strategy will be. On the budget and economy, Gingrich advocated modernizing the government would save $500 billion per year in waste. He wants to put people back to work in order to raise revenues without taxes and feels as though the Federal Reserve is a scandal. He wanted to insure banks rather than provide a bailout.^[14]

The results for Georgia Republican Primary recorded Newt Gingrich winning with 47 percent, Mitt Romney following with 26 percent, Rick Santorum with 20 percent, and Ron Paul finishing up with 6 percent.^[15]

Idaho - March 6

The state of Idaho does not hold a primary; instead Idaho is one of twenty states that holds a presidential caucus. A caucus differs from a primary in the fact that a primary is set up and run just like the general election but, during a caucus the vote is run by the political party. Voters in Idaho are divided up by county and vote by secret ballot in successive rounds with the lowest vote-getter being eliminated every round until only two candidates remain on the ballot.

The state of Idaho does not allow everyone to vote in the caucus, they have what is known as a “closed Caucus” meaning only registered voters of the party can vote. So in 2012 only registered Republicans could vote.

The March 6 Idaho caucus was won by Mitt Romney, who took over 61% of the votes and in the “winner take all state” was able to win all of the thirty-two delegates that were up for grabs. Romney, a Mormon, was the favorite going into the caucus as over a quarter of the state’s population belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints giving the state the second largest Mormon population in the country behind Utah.

Ohio - March 6

Some of the major issues in the 2012 Ohio primary were bringing the troops home, health care, the economy, abortion, jobs, and the and the federal budget’s growing deficit. The Ohio primary was the subject of mainstream media, as well as comedy/news programs The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, which made fun of the candidates and the seemingly inconclusive nature of the national primary season.^[16][17][18] Mitt Romney managed to win Ohio with 37.9% of the vote (456,513 votes) and gain 35 delegates. Rick Santorum came in a close second with 37.1% of the vote (446,225 votes), earning him 21 delegates. Newt Gingrich was third with 14.6% (175,554 votes) and Ron Paul was last with 9.2% (111,238 votes). Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman were also on the ballot, but had only .6% (7,445 votes) and .5% (6,428 votes) of all votes, respectively.

The Ohio Republican primary took place March 6, 2012, a day also dubbed “Super Tuesday” because much of the voting happens on that day, making the presidential nominee clear after that point. Other states holding primaries that day were Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, and Wyoming, with all states excluding Wyoming having 100% of districts reporting. Including all 66 delegates, Ohio is one of the “winner take all” states, district and statewide. While it is technically a closed primary, if someone votes in the primary, their affiliation is officially changed or declared when they vote in the primary, meaning that someone only needs to ask for a ballot for the primary and they become registered for that particular party or changed from their original party.^[19] It is one of the few states that allows 17-year-olds to vote in the primary given that he or she must be 18 by the time of the general election. Because not all states allow this, it can skew the results of primaries and caucuses nationwide. However, participating states urge other states to follow suit so as not to disqualify soon to be voters. It is also a step in the direction to help prepare young people to vote, as a study showed that a large number of 18-29 year-olds who had never voted were unclear of the process.^[20]

Mitt Romney took the state by a .8% lead over Rick Santorum. Santorum seemed to attack Romney, stating that the health care reform under his term as the governor of Massachusetts inspired the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed by President Obama in 2010 and that the plan required Catholic hospitals to hand out the morning after pill. Romney made his major focus on bringing the troops home and fixing the economy; Gingrich tried to take a casual approach in Georgia by speaking at a restaurant-bar north of Cincinnati, and stated that Obama’s version of Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan was for everyone to pay $9.99 a gallon.^[16]

Romney was most popular in urban areas such as Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, Akron, and Columbus. He was also more popular with women than men, had more support from moderate and liberal voters. Santorum’s support was scattered over the state in suburban and rural areas. Men showed most support for him, and he had nearly half of the far right vote.

Oklahoma - March 6

In the state of Oklahoma, primary elections have one purpose: To allow members of a recognized political party to select that party’s nominees to go on the General Election Ballot. Primary on runoff primary elections often are referred to as “Party primaries,” and with good reason. Persons who are not registered members of a party may not participate in the selection of that party’s nominees.

By law, Oklahoma has a closed primary system. That means that in primary ad runoff primary elections, only registered voters of a political party may vote to select their party’s nominees. In other words, at primary and runoff primary elections, registered Democrats may vote only for Democratic candidates, and registered Republicans may vote for Republican candidates only. Persons who are registered Independent (No Party) may not vote for any partial candidates in primary elections. All Independent candidates appear on the ballot only at general elections.

After two Southern losses, Mitt Romney increased his campaign efforts in the economically challenged Midwest; a friendly region for him in hopes to regain his front runner’s momentum when Illinois holds its Republican presidential primary Tuesday.

A voter always can vote for any candidate whose name appears on any ballot that he or she is eligible to receive. But is important to understand that only persons who have chosen to be affiliated with a political party, can participate in selecting the party’s nominees at a primary or runoff primary election. A voter who does not wish to be affiliated with a political party is not entitled to influence the selection of its nominees.

Tennessee - March 6

The Tennessee Primary election was held on March 6, 2012. Presidential candidates included Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum. In this primary, any United States citizen who was a resident of Tennessee, who is or will be at least 18 years old on or before the next general election, who has not been convicted of a felony or has had her/his full citizen rights restored or received pardon may vote.

Primary Results Rick Santorum, former Senator from Pennsylvania, won the Tennessee Primary with 37.2 percent of the vote, followed by Mitt Romney with 28.1 percent, Newt Gingrich with 23.9 percent, and Ron Paul with 9.0 percent. Santorum earned 29 delegates, 17 went to Romney, 9 to Gingrich, and Ron Paul received no delegates.^[21]

GOP Convention Delegates
The Tennessee Republican delegation consists of fifty-eight delegates, three per county. Only 55 of these delegates are bound, meaning that they must vote for the candidate who has won their vote in the primary at the Republican National Convention. The delegate voting process, however, can vary according to the rules set in place by the Republican National Committee at the convention. Tennessee is not a winner-take-all state, and delegates are split into three categories: congressional delegates, statewide delegates, and unbound delegates.

Congressional Delegates (27 Total): If a candidate receives two-thirds of the vote in each congressional district, he or she gets all three of that district’s delegates. If only one candidate manages to receive twenty percent of the vote they will also receive all of the delegates in that district. If two or more candidates reach twenty percent, the top vote receiver gets two delegates and the next highest gets one delegate. If no candidate reaches twenty percent of the vote in a district then each of the top three candidates receives one delegate.

Statewide Delegates (28 Total): If a candidate receives more than two-thirds of the vote statewide, he or she receives all twenty-eight statewide delegates. If only one candidate receives 20 percent or more of the statewide vote, he receives all 28 statewide delegates. If two or more candidates receive more than twenty percent of the vote, the delegates are distributed proportionally to those candidates who receive more than twenty percent of the statewide vote.

Unbound Delegates (3 Total): Tennessee’s National Committeeman, National Committeewoman, and the Chairman of the Tennessee’s Republican Party all attend the National Convention and are unbound delegates.

Issues
The issues important in the Tennessee primary, along with the other Republican primaries, were largely social and religious issues. According to an Edison Research and The Associated Press exit poll, seven of ten Tennessee voters considered themselves born-again Christians, underlining the importance of religious issues among the electorate. Economic issues as well as candidate electability were also important to Tennessee voters during the primary election.^[22]

Vermont - March 6

Vermont held its primary on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. Vermont's primary is an open primary, meaning anyone can vote no matter their political party. Depending on the state the candidates of that year will either get all the delegates of that state or the delegates will be divided up between the candidates depending on the vote.

In Vermont there were 4 major candidates on the GOP ballot: Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Romney ended up winning the state with 23,965 votes, earning him 9 delegates. Paul came in second with 15,369 votes, earning him 4 delegates. He was followed by Rick Santorum who had 14,273 votes, also earning him 4 delegates. Coming in last was Gingrich with 4,944 votes and no delegates.

Vermont's primary had 17 RNC delegates at stake. In order for a candidate to receive all of the delegates in Vermont he or she must get 50% of the vote. If the candidate doesn’t then the delegates are split up between the different candidates.

Virginia - March 6

Candidates in the Virginia primary in 2012 were Ron Paul and Mitt Romney since other candidates did not collect the required 10,000 signatures to get om the ballot. Romney won the election with 158,050 votes (60 percent) compared to Paul's 107,471 votes (40 percent). Romney earned 43 delegates; Paul earned three.

Hawaii - March 13

Hawaii traditionally has held Presidential primaries, but on March 13, 2012, The Aloha State had its first-ever caucus. The caucus allowed Republicans to cast their ballots and vote for their choice of Republican Presidential candidates. The caucus, whose only requirement was a completed GOP Party membership form, was used as a party-building exercise.^[23]

For the 2012 Hawaii Caucus, the Republican Presidential candidates were Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, and Newt Gingrich. None of the candidates made a campaign stop in Hawaii, but the children of the candidates — Ronnie Paul, Elizabeth Santorum and Matt Romney — traveled to Hawaii prior to the caucus to rally support for their fathers. Gingrich kept his attention on Alabama and Mississippi primaries, which may reflect the number of allocated delegates. The four candidates were competing for 17 out of Hawaii's 20 delegates, resulting in the following:

Issues and Voters
Many Republican voters seem to focus on economic issues, while they discredit social matters that are popular on the national level, such as abortion and birth control. Moreover, Hawaii’s fiscal policy is a major area of concern for many voting citizens. One voter states, "As for the Presidential race, I have made my mind up. I'm planning on voting for the only fiscal conservative, the only one who is talking about monetary reform, which is my biggest issue – and that's Ron Paul." David Chang, Hawaii Republic Party Chairman, believes that in regards to the increasing national debt, bettering the economy and creating jobs are important to Hawaiian voters. Also, some voters look to the Republican candidates because they do not agree with ObamaCare, and instead support Republican candidates that focus on forefront economic issues. Kymberly Marcos Pine, House Republican Floor Leader, likewise believes that the Republican Party will win Hawaii in the Presidential election because they focus heavily on financial matters.

Who Could Vote
In order to vote, every voter must present a valid photo ID. Voters are then required to fill out a voting card, declaring that they are part of the Hawaii Republican Party. If voters did not show up on the Hawaii Voter List, they were still able to register and vote the day of the caucus if they had valid ID showing their Hawaiian address. Moreover, the law permits residents of Hawaii who are not incarcerated felons, or mentally incompetent to vote in the caucus.

Alabama - March 13

Rick Santorum won the 2012 Alabama primary with 206,166 votes (35 percent), Newt Gingrich received 174,855 (29 percent), Mitt Romney 172,994 (29 percent) and Ron Paul 29,669 (5 percent). In Alabama, 50 delegates were at stake, with Santorum earning 17, Gingrich 12 and Romney 10, with an additional 11 uncommitted.

2011[link]

In California, under Proposition 14 (Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act), a voter-approved referendum, in all races except for that for U.S. President and county central committee offices, all candidates running in a primary election regardless of party will appear on a single primary election ballot and voters may vote for any candidate, with the top two vote-getters overall move on to the general election regardless of party. The effect of this is that it will be possible for two Republicans or two Democrats to compete against each other in a general election if those candidates receive the most primary-election support.^[24][25]

As a result of a federal court decision in Idaho Republican Party v. Ysursa, the 2011 Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 351 implementing a closed primary system.^[26]

2010[link]

Oregon became the first American state in which a binding primary election was conducted entirely via the internet. The election was held by the Independent Party of Oregon in July, 2010.^[27]

2008[link]

For information about a particular state's primary system as of January 2008, see list below. The best source of up-to-date information is often the official website of the state in question, but this can be hard to find. For example, California lists detailed information about its current "modified closed" (i.e. semi-closed) system on the California state website.^[28] Similarly, information on the Arizona semi-closed primary system can be found on the Arizona state website.^[29][30] For Presidential candidate delegate assignment, however, Arizona conducts a Presidential Preference Election (PPE), distinguishing the contest from the state's primary election laws. Arizona's PPE is closed to those not registered with a state-recognized party.^[31]

• Alabama – Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (10 Days – Jan 26).
• Alaska – Caucuses (Feb 5). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 6).
• Arizona – Closed PPE (Feb 5). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 6).
• Arkansas – Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 6).
• California – Semi-Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (15 Days – Jan 22).
• Colorado – Caucuses (Feb 5). Deadline (29 Days – Jan 7). (For Democrats, the deadline to register is Feb 5)
• Connecticut – Closed Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (12 Noon, Feb 4).
• Delaware – Closed Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (24 Days – Jan 12).
• District of Columbia – Primary (Feb 12). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 13).
• Florida – Closed Primary (Jan 29). Deadline (29 Days – Jan 1).
• Georgia – Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (Jan 7).
• Hawaii – Open Caucuses (Mar 2). Deadline (30 Days – Feb 1).
• Idaho – Open Primary (May 27). Deadline (May 2 for pre registration. Registration allowed on Election Day).
• Illinois – Semi-Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (27 Days – Jan 9).
• Indiana – Open Primary (May 6). Deadline (28 Days – Apr 9).
• Iowa – Caucus (Jan 3). Deadline (10 days – Dec 24, 2007).
• Kansas – Caucuses (Feb 9). Deadline (15 Days – Jan 25).
• Kentucky – Closed Primary (May 20). Deadline for new registrations (28 Days – Apr 22). Deadline for party switch (Dec 31, 2007).
• Louisiana – Caucus (Feb 9). Deadline (Jan 11).
• Maine – Caucuses (February 1 through February 3). Deadline (None – Day of Election though check the rules regarding this caucus).
• Maryland – Closed Primary (Feb 12). Deadline (21 Days – Jan 22).
• Massachusetts – Semi-Closed Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (1 Day – Jan 16).
• Michigan – Open Primary (Jan 15). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 6).
• Minnesota – Open Caucuses (Feb 5 *). Deadline (20 Days – Jan 16).
• Mississippi – Closed Primary (Mar 11). Deadline (30 Days – Feb 10).
• Missouri – Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (4th Wednesday Prior – Jan 9).
• Montana – Open Primary (Jun 3). Deadline (30 Days – May 4).
• Nebraska – Primary (May 13 *). Deadline (Second Friday before an election, May 2).
• Nevada – Caucuses (Jan 19). Deadline (30 Days – Dec 20, 2007).
• New Hampshire – Semi-Open Primary (Jan 8). Deadline (10 Days – Dec 28, 2007).^[32]
• New Jersey – Primary (Feb 5). Deadline for new registrations (21 Days – Jan 15, 2008). Deadline for party switch (50 days – Dec 17, 2007). Unaffiliated voters can declare on the day of primary.
• New Mexico – Republican Primary (Jun 3). Deadline (28 Days – May 6). Democrat closed caucus Feb 5, 2008 (deadline January 4).
• New York – Closed Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (25 Days – Jan 11).
• North Carolina – Semi-Open Primary (May 6 *). Deadline (30 Days – Apr 6). Early voting starts April 17.
• North Dakota – Open Caucuses (Feb 5). Deadline (No registration. Must have residency for 30 days – Jan 6).
• Ohio – Semi-Open Primary (Mar 4). Deadline (30 Days – Feb 3).
• Oklahoma – Closed Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (24 Days – Jan 12).
• Oregon – Closed Primary (May 20). Deadline (21 Days – Apr 29).
• Pennsylvania – Closed Primary (Apr 22). Deadline (30 Days – Mar 23).
• Rhode Island – Primary (Mar 4). Deadline (30 Days – Feb 3).
• South Carolina – Open Primary (Jan 19 for Republicans, Jan 26 for Democrats). Deadline (30 days – Dec 20, 2007 for Republicans and Dec 25, 2007 for Democrats).
• South Dakota – Closed Primary (Jun 3). Deadline (15 Days – May 19).
• Tennessee – Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 6).
• Texas – Semi-Open Primary (Mar 4) & Closed Caucus (begins Mar 4, schedule based on party rules). Voting in primary is prerequisite for caucusing at precinct convention, which convenes after primary polls close. Deadline (Feb 4, 2008).
• Utah – Closed Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 6).
• Vermont – Open Primary (Mar 4). Deadline (Feb 27, 2008).
• Virginia – Open Primary (Feb 12). Deadline (29 Days – Jan 14).
• Washington – Open Caucus (Feb 9) & Primary (Feb 19). This is a two step process. Deadline (30 Days via mail or online, 15 Days in Person Friday, Jan 25).
• West Virginia Semi-open Primary (18 Delegates at the State Convention on Feb 5 (ask the state party for details), 12 Delegates for the May 13 Primary).
• Wisconsin – Open Primary (Feb 19). Deadline (The day before or the day of at your polling precinct).
• Wyoming – Caucus (Mar 8).

* – Note that these Primaries / Caucuses may be changed to a date earlier than stated.

Primary classifications[link]

While it is clear that the closed/semi-closed/semi-open/open classification commonly used by scholars studying primary systems does not fully explain the highly nuanced differences seen from state to state, still, it is very useful and has real-world implications for the electorate, election officials, and the candidates themselves.

As far as the electorate is concerned, the extent of participation allowed to weak partisans and independents depends almost solely on which of the aforementioned categories best describes their state's primary system. Clearly, open and semi-open systems favor this type of voter, since they can choose which primary they vote in on a yearly basis under these models. In closed primary systems, true independents are, for all practical purposes, shut out of the process.

This classification further affects the relationship between primary elections and election commissioners and officials. The more open the system, the greater the chance of raiding, or voters voting in the other party's primary in hopes of getting a weaker opponent chosen to run against a strong candidate in the general election. Raiding has proven stressful to the relationships between political parties, who feel cheated by the system, and election officials, who try to make the system run as smoothly as possible.

Perhaps the most dramatic effect this classification system has on the primary process is its influence on the candidates themselves. Whether a system is open or closed dictates the way candidates run their campaigns. In a closed system, from the time a candidate qualifies to the day of the primary, he must cater to strong partisans, who tend to lean to the extreme ends of the ideological spectrum. In the general election, on the other hand, the candidate must move more towards the center in hopes of capturing a plurality.

Daniel Hannan, a British politician and Member of the European Parliament, claimed, "Open primaries are the best idea in contemporary politics. They shift power from party hierarchs to voters, from Whips to backbenchers and from ministers to Parliament. They serve to make legislatures more diverse and legislators more independent."^[33]

Primaries in Europe[link]

In Europe, primaries are not organized by the public administration but by parties themselves. Legislation is mostly silent on primaries. The main reason to this is that the voting method used to form governments, be it proportional representation or two-round systems, lessens the need for an open primary. Party fragmentation reduces wasted votes and does not hamper the chances to win, like in single-winner elections. Coalitions can be formed before (Sweden) or afterwards (Netherlands).

Governments are not involved in the process, however, parties may need their cooperation, notably in the case of an open primary, e.g. to obtain the electoral roll, or to cover the territory with a sufficient number of polling stations.

Whereas closed primaries are rather common within many European countries, few political parties in Europe already opted for open primaries. Parties generally organise primaries to nominate the party leader (leadership election). The underlying reason for that is that most European countries are parliamentary democracies. National governments are derived from the majority in the Parliament, which means that the head of the government is generally the leader of the winning party. France is one exception to this rule.

Unlike at Member State level, primaries are completely unknown at the level of the European Union. So far, European political parties, which are federations of national political parties and are mainly based in Brussels, never consult individual party members (let alone voters) while designating their top candidates; however, some European parties are considering to change that for the next European elections in 2014.

Closed primaries happen in many European countries, while open primaries have so far only occurred in the socialist and social-democratic parties in Greece and Italy, whereas the France's Socialist Party organised the first open primary in France in October 2011.

Italy[link]

In Italy, the first open primaries took place on the 16th October 2005. It led to the designation of Romano Prodi as leader of the Olive Tree coalition, which gathered several center and left-wing parties, for the legislative elections of the 9th and 10th April 2006. Romano Prodi won the election, but his small advance in the Senate (two seats) helped the Upper house pass a vote of no-confidence two years later.

France[link]

In France, parties are frequently created, akin to the Fifth Republic's nonpartisan ideal (a President beyond partisanship). This long prevented the making of primaries, but it has grown in popularity on the left-wing as a tool to overcome divisions.

In presidential races, parties are usually the tool of their leader. None of the six Presidents elected through direct election faced a competitive internal election. The first round of voting is used instead as an open primary, sometimes to the dismay of a whole camp.

• In 2007, Sarkozy, President of the UMP, organized an approval "primary" without any opponent. He won by 98% and made his candidacy speech thereafter.
• On the left however, the Socialist Party, which helped Mitterrand gain the Presidency for 14 years, has been plagued by internal divisions since the latter departed from politics. Rather than forming a new party, which is the habit on the right-wing, the party started to elect its nominee internally.
  • A first try in 1995: Lionel Jospin won the nomination three months before the election. He lost in the run-off to Chirac. Later in 2002, although the candidacy of then-PM Jospin was undisputed, each of the 5 left-wing parties of the government he led sent a candidate... paving the way for a loss of all five.
  • The idea made progress coming near the 2007 race, once the referendum on a European constitution was over. The latter showed strong ideological divisions within the left-wing spectrum, and the Socialist party itself. This prevented the possibility of a primary spanning the whole left-wing, that would give its support to a presidential candidate, similar to the Italian example. Given that no majority supported either a leader or a split, a closed primary was organized, which Ségolène Royal won. She qualified to the national run-off that she lost to Sarkozy. She had previously convinced the party to launch a massive registration campaign, enabling membership for only 20 euros.
  • In 2011, the Socialist Party decided to organise the first ever open primary in France to pick up the Socialist party and the Radical Party of the Left nominee for the 2012 presidential election. Inspired by the 2008 U.S. primaries, it was seen as a way to reinvigorate the party. It was also criticized for going against the nature of the regime. It shall be noted that the open primary was not state-organized. The party took charge of all the electoral procedures, planning to set up 10,000 voting polls. Those on the electoral rolls, party members of Socialist party and the Radical Party of the Left, and members of the parties' youth organisation (MJS and JRG), including minors of 15 to 18 years old, were entitled to vote in exchange of a euro to cover the costs. More than 3 million people participated in this first open primary, which was considered a success, and former party leader François Hollande was designated the Socialist and Radical candidate for the 2012 presidential election.
• Other parties organize membership primaries to choose their nominee, such as Europe Ecologie – Les Verts (EE-LV) (2006, 2011), and the French Communist Party in 2011.
• At the local level, primaries are extremely rare: In order to tame potential feud in his party, and prepare the ground for a long campaign, Sarkozy pushed for a closed primary in 2006 to designate the UMP candidate for the 2008 election of the Mayor of Paris. Françoise de Panafieu was elected in a four-way race. However, she did not clinch the mayorship two years later.

Socialist parties[link]

In autumn 2011, here was how the twenty-nine socialist, social-democratic, and labour parties member of the Party of European Socialists (PES) had designated their party leader:

• Only three parties organised an open primary: France (PS), Greece (ΠΑΣΟΚ), Italy (PD)
• Closed primary happened in nine parties: Belgium (sp.a, PS), Cyprus (ΕΔΕΚ), Denmark (SD), France (PS) until 2011, Ireland (LP), Netherlands (PvdA), Portugal (PS), United Kingdom (Labour)
  The case of UK's Labour party leadership election is specific, as three electoral colleges, each accounting for one third of the votes, participate in this primary election: Labour members of Parliament and of the European Parliament, party members and members of affiliated organisations such as trade unions.
• The designation of the party leader was made by the party's congress in the eighteen remaining parties: Austria (SPÖ), Bulgaria (БСП), Czech Republic (ČSSD), Estonia (SDE), Finland (SDP), Germany (SPD), Hungary (MSZP), Latvia (LSDSP), Lithuania (SDPL), Luxembourg (LSAP), Malta (LP), Poland (SLD, UP), Rumania (PSD), Slovakia (SMER-SD), Slovenia (SD), Spain (PSOE), Sweden (SAP), United-Kingdom / Northern Ireland (SDLP)

European Union[link]

With a view to the European elections, many European political parties consider organising a presidential primary.

Indeed, the Lisbon treaty, which entered into force in December 2009, lays down that the outcome of elections to the European Parliament must be taken into account in selecting the President of the Commission; the Commission is in some respects the executive branch of the EU and so its president can be regarded as the EU prime minister. Parties are therefore encouraged to designate their candidates for Commission president ahead of the next election in 2014, in order to allow voters to vote with a full knowledge of the facts. Many movements are now asking for primaries to designate these candidates.

• Already in April 2004, a former British conservative MEP, Tom Spencer, advocated for American-style primaries in the European People's Party: "A series of primary elections would be held at two-week intervals in February and March 2009. The primaries would start in the five smallest countries and continue every two weeks until the big five voted in late March. To avoid swamping by the parties from the big countries, one could divide the number of votes cast for each candidate in each country by that country's voting weight in the Council of Ministers. Candidates for the post of president would have to declare by 1 January 2009."^[34]

• Following the defeat of the Party of European Socialists during the European elections of June 2009, the PES Congress that took place in Prague in December 2009 made the decision that PES would designate its own candidate before the 2014 European elections. A Campaign for a PES primary^[35] was then launched by PES supporters in June 2010, and it managed to cinvince the PES Council meeting in Warsaw in December 2010 to set up Working Group "Candidate 2014" in charge of proposing a procedure and timetable for a "democratic" and "transparent" designation process "bringing on board all our parties and all levels within the parties".^[36]

The European think-tank Notre Europe also evokes the idea that European political parties should designate their candidate for Vice-president / High representative of the Union for foreigh affairs.^[37] This would lead European parties to have "presidential tickets" on the American model.

Finally, the European Parliament envisaged to introduce a requirement for internal democracy in the regulation on the statute of European political parties. European parties would therefore have to involve individual members in the major decisions such as designating the presidential candidate.^[38]

Primaries worldwide[link]

• United States presidential primary.
  • Democratic Party presidential primaries (recent: 2008).
  • Republican Party presidential primaries (recent: 2012, 2008).
• Primary elections in Italy.
• Chile.
• Uruguay, since 1999.
• United New Democratic Party (South Korea, 2007).
• Armenia. In an innovation on 2007 November 24 and 25, one political party conducted a non-binding Armenia-wide primary election. The party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, invited the public to vote to advise the party which of two candidates they should formally nominate for President of Armenia in the subsequent official election. What characterized it as a primary instead of a standard opinion poll was that the public knew of the primary in advance, all eligible voters were invited, and the voting was by secret ballot. "Some 68,183 people . . . voted in make-shift tents and mobile ballot boxes . . ."^[39]
• United Kingdom. On August 4, 2009, Dr Sarah Wollaston was chosen by Open Primary as the Conservative Party candidate for Totnes, for the 2010 general election, the first time such a mechanism has been used to pick a prospective candidate for an election in the UK. This was after the current incumbent Anthony Steen decided to step down in the wake of the MPs expenses scandal. The Conservatives have plans to roll this out further and there are hopes other parties may nominate future candidates in this way.^[40][41]
• Colombia In 2006, the Liberal Party and the socialist Democratic Pole hold primary elections, electing Horacio Serpa as liberal candidate and Carlos Gaviria as candidate of the Democratic Pole. For 2010 presidential electiones, four parties held primary elections: The Liberal Party elected former minister Rafael Pardo as candidate, the Democratic Pole elected senator Gustavo Petro, the Conservative Party chose ambassador Noemi Sanin and the Green Party chose former mayor of Bogota Antanas Mockus.
• Republic of China (Taiwan): The Democratic Progressive Party selects all its candidates via opinion polls. The candidate with the highest poll rating will be nominated. The KMT selects candidates using a combination of opinion polls (worth 70%) and primary elections (worth 30%).

See also[link]

• Sore-loser law, which states that the loser in a primary election cannot thereafter run as an independent in the general election

People

• Thomas W. Williams (Los Angeles), opposed the direct primary, 1915

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Bibby, John, and Holbrook, Thomas. 2004. Politics in the American States: A Comparative Analysis, 8th Edition. Ed. Virginia Gray and Russell L. Hanson. Washington D.C.: CQ Press, pp. 62–100.
• Brereton Charles. First in the Nation: New Hampshire and the Premier Presidential Primary. Portsmouth, NH: Peter E. Randall Publishers, 1987.
• Hershey, Majorie. Political Parties in America, 12th Edition. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. pp. 157–73.
• Kendall, Kathleen E. Communication in the Presidential Primaries: Candidates and the Media, 1912–2000 (2000)
• Primaries: Open and Closed
• Palmer, Niall A. The New Hampshire Primary and the American Electoral Process (1997)
• Scala, Dante J. Stormy Weather: The New Hampshire Primary and Presidential Politics (2003)
• Ware, Alan. The American Direct Primary: Party Institutionalization and Transformation in the North (2002), the invention of primaries around 1900

External links[link]

• The Green Papers – Voter Eligibility
• How Political Primaries Work at HowStuffWorks

Ron Paul
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 14th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Greg Laughlin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 22nd district
In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1985
Preceded by	Robert Gammage
Succeeded by	Tom DeLay
In office April 3, 1976 – January 3, 1977
Preceded by	Robert Casey
Succeeded by	Robert Gammage
Personal details
Born	Ronald Ernest Paul (1935-08-20) August 20, 1935 (age 76) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Republican Party (1976–1988, 1988–present)
Other political affiliations	Libertarian Party (1988 election)
Spouse(s)	Carol Wells
Children	Ronnie Lori Rand Robert Joy
Alma mater	Gettysburg College (B.S.) Duke University (M.D.)
Religion	Southern Baptist
Signature
Website	Congressional website Campaign website
Military service
Service/branch	United States Air Force Texas Air National Guard
Years of service	1963–1965 1965–1968
Rank	Captain[1]
This article is part of a series about Ron Paul 2012 presidential campaign 2008 presidential campaign 1988 presidential campaign Political positions · Electoral history List of legislation sponsored by Ron Paul Ron Paul newsletters Ron Paul bibliography

Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Texas's 14th congressional district, which includes Galveston, since 1997, and a three-time candidate for President of the United States, as a Libertarian in 1988 and as a Republican in 2008 and currently 2012. He is an outspoken critic of American foreign and monetary policies, including the Military–industrial complex and the Federal Reserve, and is known for his libertarian-leaning views, often differing from his own party on certain issues.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Paul is a graduate of Gettysburg College and Duke University School of Medicine, where he earned his medical degree. He served as a medical officer in the United States Air Force from 1963 until 1968. He worked as an obstetrician-gynecologist from the 1960s to the 1980s, delivering more than 4,000 babies. He became the first Representative in history to serve concurrently with a child in the Senate when his son Rand Paul was elected to the United States Senate for Kentucky in 2010.^[2]

Ron Paul has been an active writer and publisher since the late 1970s, when he created the first of several newsletters bearing his name. He has published many books, beginning with The Case for Gold (1982) and including Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom (2011), End The Fed (2009), The Revolution: A Manifesto (2008), Pillars of Prosperity (2008), and A Foreign Policy of Freedom: Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship (2007). Paul has been characterized as the "intellectual godfather" of the Tea Party movement.^[3][4]

On July 12, 2011, Paul announced that he would forego seeking another term in Congress in order to focus on his presidential bid.^[5] On May 14, 2012, Paul announced that he would not be competing in any other Presidential primaries, though he is still competing for delegates in states where the primary election have already been held.^[6]

Early life, education, and medical career[link]

Ronald Ernest Paul was born on August 20, 1935, in Pittsburgh,^[7] the son of Howard Caspar Paul, who ran a small dairy company, and Margaret (née Dumont) Paul. His paternal great-grandparents emigrated from Germany, and his mother was of German and Irish ancestry.^[8][9]

As a junior at suburban Dormont High School, he was the 220-yard dash state champion.^[10] He graduated from Gettysburg College with a B.S. degree in Biology in 1957.^[10]

Paul earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Duke University's School of Medicine in 1961, and completed his medical internship at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh.^[11] Paul served as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force from 1963 to 1965 and then in the United States Air National Guard from 1965 to 1968.^[12]

Paul and his wife then relocated to Texas, where he began a private practice in obstetrics and gynecology.^[13] He refused to accept Medicaid or Medicare payments, but routinely lowered fees for patients who could not afford to pay.^[14][15]

Early congressional career (1976–1985)[link]

While still a medical resident in the 1960s, Paul was influenced by Friedrich Hayek's The Road to Serfdom, which caused him to read many publications by Ludwig von Mises and Ayn Rand. He came to know economists Hans Sennholz and Murray Rothbard well, and credits to them his interest in the study of economics.^[16]

When President Richard Nixon "closed the gold window" by ending American participation in the Bretton Woods System, thus ending U.S. dollar's loose association with gold^[16] on August 15, 1971, Paul decided to enter politics^[17] and became a Republican candidate for the United States Congress.^[18]

Elections[link]

In 1974, incumbent Robert R. Casey defeated him for the 22nd district. President Gerald Ford later appointed Casey to direct the Federal Maritime Commission, and Paul won an April 1976 special election to the vacant office.^[19] Paul lost the next regular election to Democrat Robert Gammage by fewer than 300 votes (0.2%), but defeated Gammage in a 1978 rematch, and was reelected in 1980 and 1982.^[20] Gammage underestimated Paul's popularity among local mothers: "I had real difficulty down in Brazoria County, where he practiced, because he'd delivered half the babies in the county. There were only two obstetricians in the county, and the other one was his partner."^[21]

Tenure[link]

Paul has served in Congress three different periods: first from 1976 to 1977, after he won a special election, then from 1979 to 1985, and finally since 1997.

In his early years, Paul served on the House Banking Committee, where he blamed the Federal Reserve for inflation and spoke against the banking mismanagement that resulted in the savings and loan crisis.^[22][8] Paul argued for a return to the gold standard maintained by the US from 1873-1933, and with Senator Jesse Helms convinced the Congress to study the issue.^[16] He spoke against the reinstatement of registration for the military draft in 1980, in opposition to President Jimmy Carter and the majority of his fellow Republican members of Congress.^[23]

During his first term, Paul founded the Foundation for Rational Economics and Education (FREE), a non-profit "think tank" dedicated to promoting principles of limited government and free-market economics.^[24]

Paul proposed term-limit legislation multiple times, while himself serving four terms in the House of Representatives.^[23] In 1984, he decided to retire from the House in order to run for the U.S. Senate, complaining in his House farewell address that "Special interests have replaced the concern that the Founders had for general welfare.... It's difficult for one who loves true liberty and utterly detests the power of the state to come to Washington for a period of time and not leave a true cynic."^[25][26] (On Paul's departure from the House, his congressional seat was assumed by former state representative Tom DeLay, who would eventually become Speaker of the House.)^[27]

Committee assignments[link]

• House Banking Committee

1984 U.S. Senate election[link]

In 1984, Paul campaigned for the U.S. Senate, but lost the Republican primary to Phil Gramm, who had switched parties the previous year from Democrat to Republican.^[28] Another candidate of the senatorial primary was Henry Grover, a conservative former state legislator who had lost the 1972 gubernatorial general election to the Democrat Dolph Briscoe, Jr.

Inter-congressional years[link]

1985–1997[link]

Following the loss of the 1984 senate race, Paul returned to his obstetrics practice and took part in a number of other business ventures.^[8][29] Along with his former congressional chief of staff, Lew Rockwell, Paul founded a for-profit enterprise, Ron Paul & Associates, Inc. (RP&A) in 1984, with Paul serving as president, Rockwell as vice president, Paul's wife Carol as secretary, and daughter Lori Pyeatt as treasurer.^[30] The company published a variety of political and investment-oriented newsletters including Ron Paul Freedom Report and Ron Paul Survival Report, and by 1993 was generating revenues in excess of $900,000.^[31][32]

Paul also co-owned a mail-order coin dealership, Ron Paul Coins, for twelve years with Burt Blumert, who continued to operate the dealership after Paul resumed office in 1996.^[33][34] Paul spoke multiple times at the American Numismatic Association's 1988 convention.^[33] He worked with his Foundation for Rational Economics and Education on such projects as establishing the National Endowment for Liberty, producing the At Issue public policy series that was broadcast on the Discovery Channel and CNBC,^[24] and continuing publication of newsletters.

1988 presidential campaign[link]

Paul resigned from the Republican Party in 1987 and launched a bid for the presidency running on the Libertarian Party ticket. At the 1987 Libertarian National Convention, the party was split between a Conservative and Liberal wing. Paul represented the conservative wing, which was successful in fundraising, while the liberal wing claimed to have received ten times more (and more favorable) press coverage.^{[citation needed]} Paul argued, "Pro-life libertarians have a vital task to perform: to persuade the many abortion-supporting libertarians of the contradiction between abortion and individual liberty; and to sever the mistaken connection in many minds between individual freedom and the 'right' to extinguish individual life."^[35][36]

In the 1988 presidential election, Paul was on the ballot in 46 States,^[37] scoring third in the popular vote with 432,179 votes (0.5%).^[38] Paul was kept off the ballot in Missouri, and received votes there only when written in, due to what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch termed a "technicality".^[39]

According to Paul, his presidential campaign was about more than obtaining office; he sought to promote his libertarian ideas, often to school and university groups regardless of vote eligibility. He said, "We're just as interested in the future generation as this election. These kids will vote eventually, and maybe, just maybe, they'll go home and talk to their parents."^[37]

Paul considered campaigning for President during 1992,^[40] but instead chose to endorse Pat Buchanan that year, and served as an adviser to Buchanan's Republican presidential primary campaign against incumbent President George H. W. Bush.^[41]

Later congressional career (1997–present)[link]

An earlier congressional portrait of Paul

Elections[link]

1996 campaign

During 1996, Paul was re-elected to Congress after a difficult campaign. The Republican National Committee endorsed incumbent Greg Laughlin in the primary; Paul won with assistance from baseball pitcher, constituent, and friend Nolan Ryan, tax activist and publisher Steve Forbes^[8] and conservative commentator Pat Buchanan (both of whom had had presidential campaigns that year). Paul narrowly defeated Democratic attorney Charles "Lefty" Morris in the fall election, despite Morris' criticism over controversial statements in several newsletters that Ron Paul published.

1998–present

In 1998 and 2000, Paul defeated Loy Sneary, a Democratic Bay City, Texas, rice farmer and former Matagorda County judge.^[17] In the 2008 Republican primary,^[42] he defeated Friendswood city councilman Chris Peden,^[43] with over 70 percent of the vote^[44] and ran unopposed in the general election.^[45] In the 2010 Republican primary, Paul defeated three opponents with 80 percent of the vote.^[46]

On July 12, 2011, Paul announced that he would not seek re-election to the House in order to pursue the 2012 presidential election.^[47][48]

Tenure[link]

Legislation

Of the 620 bills that Paul had sponsored through December 2011, over a period of more than 22 years in Congress, only one had been signed into law – a lifetime success rate of less than 0.3%.^[49] The sole measure authored by Paul that was ultimately enacted allowed for a federal customhouse to be sold to a local historic preservation society (H.R. 2121 in 2009).^[49]

By amending other legislation, he has helped prohibit funding for national identification numbers, funding for federal teacher certification,^[17] International Criminal Court jurisdiction over the U.S. military, American participation with any U.N. global tax, and surveillance of peaceful First Amendment activities by citizens.^[50]

Affiliations

Paul was honorary chairman of, and is a member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, a political action committee that describes its goal as electing "liberty-minded, limited-government individuals".^[51] He is an initiating member of the Congressional Rural Caucus, which deals with agricultural and rural issues, and the 140-member Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus.^[52]

Committee assignments[link]

Rep. Paul serves on the following committee and subcommittees.^[53]

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade
• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

With the election of the 112th Congress, and a resulting GOP majority in the House, Paul became the chairman of the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology starting in January 2011.^[54]

2008 presidential campaign[link]

Ron Paul being interviewed the day of the New Hampshire primary in Manchester

2008 Republican primary campaign[link]

Paul formally declared his candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination on March 12, 2007, on C-SPAN.^[55] Few major politicians endorsed him, and his campaign was largely ignored by traditional media.^[56] However, he attracted an intensely loyal grassroots following, in large part energized by "iconoclastic white men"^[57] interacting through internet social media.^[58][59][60] In May 2007, shortly after the first televised primary debates, the blogs search engine site Technorati.com listed Paul's name as the term most frequently searched for;^[58] and Paul's campaign claimed that Paul had more YouTube channel subscribers than Barack Obama or any other candidate for president.^[61] For a candidate who had had relatively low national name recognition prior to entering the race, Paul did surprisingly well in fundraising, taking in more money than any other Republican candidate in the fourth quarter of 2007, as the primary season headed into the Iowa caucuses.^[62][63]

Despite benefiting from large numbers of campaign contributions from individual donors,^[64] and the efforts of tech-savvy supporters determined to keep his name a frequent topic of discussion on the internet,^[58] over the course of the campaign Paul was unable to translate the enthusiasm of his core supporters into large enough numbers of actual primary votes to unseat his rivals.

Paul came in 5th place in both the January 4 Iowa caucuses (10% of votes cast)^[65] and the January 8 New Hampshire primary (8%).^[66] With the exception of the Nevada caucuses January 19, where he came in 2nd (14%) behind Romney (51%), he did little better through the rest of January: Michigan 4th (6%), South Carolina 5th (4%), Florida 5th (3%). On SuperTuesday, February 5, he placed 4th in almost every state, generally taking in a mere 3–6% of the votes (although he did better in the mountain states of North Dakota (21%, 3rd place) and Montana (25%, 2nd place).^[67][68]

By March, front-runner John McCain had secured enough pledged delegates to guarantee that he would win the nomination, and Romney and Huckabee had both formally withdrawn from the race. Paul, who had won no state primaries, knew that it was now mathematically impossible for him to win the nomination, as he had captured only 20^[69] – 40 pledged delegates compared to more than 1,191 for McCain, yet he refused to concede the race and said that it was unlikely that he would ultimately endorse McCain.^[70][71][72] Over the next few weeks, Paul's supporters clashed with establishment Republicans at several county and state party conventions over state party rules, the party platforms, and selection of delegates for the national convention.^[73][74][75] In one of the more dramatic moments, Nevada's state party leaders, outmaneuvered by Paul supporters at the state nominating convention, resorted to the highly unusual measure of prematurely and abruptly shutting down the convention before selecting national delegates, with a plan to reconvene at a later date.^[76][77]

On June 12, 2008, Paul finally withdrew his bid for the Republican nomination. He later said that one of the reasons he did not run in the general election as a third-party candidate, after losing the primary election, was that, as a concession to gain ballot access in certain states, he had signed legally-binding agreements to not run a third-party campaign if he lost the primary.^[78] Some of the $4 million remaining campaign contributions was invested into the new political action and advocacy group called Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty.^[79]

Refusal to endorse the Republican candidate[link]

At a September 10, 2008, press conference, Paul announced his general support of four third-party candidates: Cynthia McKinney (Green Party); Bob Barr (Libertarian Party); Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party); and Ralph Nader (independent). He said that each of them had pledged to adhere to a policy of balancing budgets, bringing the troops home, defending privacy and personal liberties, and investigating the Federal Reserve. Paul also said that under no circumstances would he be endorsing either of the two dominant parties' candidates (McCain – Republican Party, or Obama – Democratic Party) because there were no real differences between them, and because neither of them, if elected, would seek to make the fundamental changes in governance that were necessary. He urged instead that, rather than contribute to the “charade” that the two-party election system had become, the voters support the third-party candidates as a protest vote, to force change in the election process.^[80][81] Later that same day, Paul gave a televised interview with Nader saying much the same again.^[82]

Two weeks later, "shocked and disappointed" that Bob Barr (the Libertarian candidate) had pulled out of attending the press conference at the last minute and had admonished Paul for remaining neutral and failing to say which specific candidate Paul would vote for in the general election, Paul released a statement saying that he had decided to endorse Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate, for president.^[83]

In the November 2008 general election, Paul received 41,905 votes despite not actively campaigning.^[84][85]

2012 presidential campaign[link]

Ron Paul during his 2012 presidential election campaign in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Paul is a candidate for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States in the 2012 election.

He won several early straw polls for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination ^[86] and in late April, 2011, he formed an official exploratory committee.^[87][88] He participated in the first Republican presidential debate on May 5, 2011.^[89] and on May 13, 2011, Paul formally announced his candidacy in an interview on ABC's Good Morning America.^[90] He placed second in the 2011 Ames Straw Poll, missing first by 0.9%.^[91]

In December 2011, with Ron Paul's increased support, the controversy over allegedly racist and homophobic statements in several Ron Paul newsletters in the 1980s and early 1990s once again gained media attention.^[92] During this time Paul supporters asserted that he was continually ignored by the media despite his significant support, citing examples of where television news shows would fail to mention Paul in discussions of the Republican presidential hopefuls even when he was polling second.^{[93][94][95][96]}

Paul came in third in the Iowa Republican Caucus held on January 3, 2012. Out of a turnout of 121,503 votes, Paul took 26,036 (21%) of the certified votes. Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney finished in a virtual tie for first place with 25% each.^[97] In the New Hampshire Primary held on January 10, 2012, Paul received 23% of the votes and came in second after Romney's 39%.^[98]

Ron Paul's results then declined, despite the withdrawal of candidates Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry. He had fourth place finishes in the next two primaries, on January 21st in South Carolina (with 13% of the vote^[99]) and on January 31st in Florida (where he received 7% of the vote.^{[100][101][102]})

On February 4, Paul finished third in Nevada with 18.8% of the vote.^[103] Three non-binding primaries were held on February 7th; Paul took 3rd place in Colorado^[104] and Missouri^[105] with 13% and 12% of the vote respectively. He fared better in Minnesota^[106] with 27%, finishing second to Rick Santorum.

On May 14, Paul's campaign announced that due to lack of funds he would no longer actively campaign for votes in the 11 remaining primary states, including Texas and California, that had not yet voted.^[6][107] He would, however, continue to seek to win delegates for the national party convention in the states that had already voted.

Political party identification[link]

Throughout his entire tenure in Congress, Paul has represented his district as a member of the Republican Party. However, he has frequently taken positions in direct opposition to the other members and the leadership of the party, and he has sometimes publicly questioned whether he really belonged in the party.

He had been a lifelong supporter of the Republican Party by the time he entered politics in the mid 1970s.^[108] He was one of the first elected officials in the nation to support Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign,^[109] and he actively campaigned for Reagan in 1976 and 1980.^[110] After Reagan's election in 1980, Paul quickly became disillusioned with the Reagan administration's policies. He later recalled being the only Republican to vote against Reagan budget proposals in 1981,^[111][112] aghast that "in 1977, Jimmy Carter proposed a budget with a $38 billion deficit, and every Republican in the House voted against it. In 1981, Reagan proposed a budget with a $45 billion deficit – which turned out to be $113 billion – and Republicans were cheering his great victory. They were living in a storybook land."^[109] He expressed his disgust with the political culture of both major parties in a speech delivered in 1984 upon resigning from the House of Representatives to prepare for a (failed) run for the Senate, and he eventually apologized to his Libertarian friends for having supported Reagan.^[111]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Ron Paul's 1987 Resignation Letter to the RNC

By 1987, Paul was ready to sever all ties to the Republican Party, as he explained in a blistering resignation letter: "Since [1981] Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party have given us skyrocketing deficits, and astoundingly a doubled national debt. How is it that the party of balanced budgets, with control of the White House and Senate, accumulated red ink greater than all previous administrations put together? ... There is no credibility left for the Republican Party as a force to reduce the size of government. That is the message of the Reagan years."^[110][108] A month later he announced he would seek the 1988 Libertarian Party nomination for president.

During the 1988 campaign, Paul called Reagan "a dramatic failure"^[110] and complained that "Reagan's record is disgraceful. He starts wars, breaks the law, supplies terrorists with guns made at taxpayers' expense and lies about it to the American people."^[113] Paul predicted that "the Republicans are on their way out as a major party,"^[111] and he said that, although registered as a Republican, he had always been a Libertarian at heart.^[112][111]

Paul returned to his private medical practice and managing several business ventures after losing the 1988 election; but by 1996, he was ready to return to politics, this time running on the Republican Party ticket again. He said that he had never read the entire Libertarian platform when he ran for president as a Libertarian in 1988, and that "I worked for the Libertarians on my terms, not theirs."^[114] He added that in terms of a political label he preferred to call himself "a constitutionalist. In Congress I took an oath to uphold the Constitution, not the (Republican) platform."^[114]

When he lost the Republican Party presidential primary election in 2008, Paul criticized the two major political parties, saying that there was no real difference between the parties and that neither of them truly intended to challenge the status quo. He refused to endorse the Republican Party's nominee for president, John McCain, and lent his support to third-party candidates instead.^[115][116]

In 2012 presidential campaign, during which he acknowledged it was unlikely that he would win the Republican Party nomination,^[117] Paul again asserted that he was participating in the Republican Party on his own terms, trying to persuade the rest of the party to move toward his positions rather than joining in with theirs.^[118] He expressed doubt that he would support any of his rivals should they win the nomination, warning that, “If the policies of the Republican Party are the same as the Democrat Party and they don't want to change anything on foreign policy, they don't want to cut anything, they don't want to audit the Fed and find out about monetary policy, they don't want to have actual change in government, that is a problem for me."^[119] On that same theme he said in another interview, "I would be reluctant to jump on board and tell all of the supporters that have given me trust and money that all of a sudden, I'd say, [all] we've done is for naught. So, let's support anybody at all ... even if they disagree with everything that we do."^[120]

Political positions[link]

Paul at the 2007 National Right to Life Committee Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, June 15, 2007.

Paul has been described as conservative and libertarian.^[8] According to University of Georgia political scientist Keith Poole, Paul had the most conservative voting record of any member of Congress from 1937 to 2002,^[121] and is the most conservative of the candidates seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president,^[122] on a scale primarily measuring positions on the role of government in managing the economy – not positions on social issues or foreign policy matters.^[123] Other analyses, in which key votes on domestic social issues and foreign policy factor more heavily, have judged Paul much more moderate. The National Journal, for instance, rated Paul only the 145th most conservative member of the House of Representatives based on votes cast in 2010.^[124][125]

The foundation of Paul's political philosophy is the conviction that "the proper role for government in America is to provide national defense, a court system for civil disputes, a criminal justice system for acts of force and fraud, and little else."^[126] He has been nicknamed "Dr. No,"^[17] reflecting both his medical degree and his insistence that he will "never vote for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution."^[22]

Paul is a proponent of Austrian School economics; he has authored six books on the subject, and displays pictures of Austrian School economists Friedrich Hayek, Murray Rothbard, and Ludwig von Mises (as well as of Grover Cleveland)^[127] on his office wall. He regularly votes against almost all proposals for new government spending, initiatives, or taxes;^[128] he cast two thirds of all the lone negative votes in the House during a 1995–1997 period.^[17]

He has pledged never to raise taxes^[129] and states he has never voted to approve a budget deficit. Paul believes that the country could abolish the individual income tax by scaling back federal spending to its fiscal year 2000 levels;^[130][131] financing government operations would be primarily by excise taxes and non-protectionist tariffs. He endorses eliminating most federal government agencies, terming them unnecessary bureaucracies.

On April 15, 2011, Paul was one of four Republican members of Congress to vote against Rep. Paul Ryan's budget proposal, known as "The Path to Prosperity."^[132]

Paul has a consistent record as an inflation hawk, having warned of hyperinflation as far back as 1981.^[133] While Paul believes the longterm decrease of the U.S. dollar's purchasing power by inflation is attributable to its lack of any commodity backing, he does not endorse a "return" to a gold standard – as the U.S. government has established during the past – but instead prefers to eliminate legal tender laws and to remove the sales tax on gold and silver, so that the market may freely decide what type of monetary standard(s) there shall be.^[134] Since 1999, he has introduced bills into each Congress seeking to eliminate the Federal Reserve System in a single year.^{[135][136][137]}

Paul's foreign policy of nonintervention^[138] made him the only 2008 Republican presidential candidate to have voted against the Iraq War Resolution in 2002. He advocates withdrawal from the United Nations, and from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, for reasons of maintaining strong national sovereignty.^[139]

He endorses free trade, rejecting membership in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization as "managed trade". He endorses increased border security and opposes welfare for illegal aliens, birthright citizenship and amnesty;^[140] he voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006. He voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists in response to the September 11 attacks, but suggested war alternatives such as authorizing the president to grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal targeting specific terrorists. An opponent of the Iraq War and potential war with Iran, he has also criticized neoconservatism and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, arguing that both inadvertently cause terrorist reprisals against Americans. Paul has stated that "Israel is our close friend" and that it is not the place of the United States to "dictate how Israel runs her affairs".^[141]

Paul endorses constitutional rights, such as the right to keep and bear arms, and habeas corpus for political detainees. He opposes the Patriot Act, federal use of torture, presidential autonomy, a national identification card, warrantless domestic surveillance, and the draft. Paul also believes that the notion of the separation of church and state is currently misused by the court system: "In case after case, the Supreme Court has used the infamous 'separation of church and state' metaphor to uphold court decisions that allow the federal government to intrude upon and deprive citizens of their religious liberty."^[142]

Citing the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, Paul advocates states' rights to decide how to regulate social matters not cited directly by the Constitution. He opposes federal regulation of the death penalty^[143] (although he opposes capital punishment),^[144] of education,^[145] and of marriage, and endorsed revising the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy to concern mainly disruptive sexual behavior (whether heterosexual or homosexual).^[146]

Paul says his years as an obstetrician led him to believe life begins at conception.^[147]

He terms himself "strongly pro-life",^[148] "an unshakable foe of abortion",^[149] and believes regulation or ban^[150] on medical decisions about maternal or fetal health is "best handled at the state level".^[143][151] His abortion-related legislation, like the Sanctity of Life Act, is intended to negate Roe v. Wade and to get "the federal government completely out of the business of regulating state matters."^[152]

Paul has stated that "The government shouldn't be in the medical business." He pushes to eliminate federal involvement with and management of health care, which he argues would allow prices to decrease due to the fundamental dynamics of a free market.^[153] Paul also opposes the federal War on Drugs,^[154] and believes the states should decide whether to regulate or deregulate drugs such as medical marijuana.^[155] He also opposes federal government influenza inoculation programs.^[156]

As a free-market environmentalist, he asserts private property rights in relation to environmental protection and pollution prevention.^{[citation needed]} He called global warming a hoax in a 2009 Fox Business interview, saying, "You know, the greatest hoax I think that has been around in many, many years if not hundreds of years has been this hoax on the environment and global warming."^[157] He acknowledges there is clear evidence of rising temperatures in some parts of the globe, but says that temperatures are cooling in other parts.^[158]

Paul was critical of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, arguing that it sanctioned federal interference in the labor market and did not improve race relations. He once remarked: "The Civil Rights Act of 1964 not only violated the Constitution and reduced individual liberty; it also failed to achieve its stated goals of promoting racial harmony and a color-blind society".^[159] Paul opposes affirmative action.^[160]

He is an outspoken proponent of increased ballot access for 3rd party candidates,^[161] but has sought to repeal the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the Motor Voter law.^[162]

Newsletters controversy[link]

Beginning in 1978, for more than two decades Paul and his associates published a number of political and investment-oriented newsletters bearing his name (Dr. Ron Paul's Freedom Report, The Ron Paul Survival Report, the Ron Paul Investment Letter, and the Ron Paul Political Report).^[163] By 1993, a business through which Paul was publishing the newsletters was earning in excess of $900,000 per year.^[163]

A number of the newsletters, particularly in the period between 1988 and 1994 when Paul was no longer in Congress, contained material that later proved highly controversial, dwelling on conspiracy theories, praising anti-government militia movements, and warning of coming race wars.^[163][164] During Paul's 1996 congressional election campaign, and his 2008 and 2012 presidential primary campaigns, critics charged that some of the passages reflected racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic bigotry.^{[165][166][167][168][169][170][171]}

The newsletters included statements such as:

• "... I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in [Washington, DC] are semi-criminal or entirely criminal."^[166]
• "Boy, it sure burns me to have a national holiday for that pro-communist philanderer, Martin Luther King. I voted against this outrage time and time again as a Congressmen. What an infamy that Ronald Reagan approved it! We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day!"^[163][172]
• "An ex-cop I know advises that if you have to use a gun on a youth [to defend yourself against armed robbery], you should leave the scene immediately, disposing of the wiped off gun as soon as possible.... I frankly don't know what to make of such advice, but even in my little town of Lake Jackson, Texas, I've urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense. For the animals are coming."^[163][173]
• “I miss the closet. Homosexuals, not to speak of the rest of society, were far better off when social pressure forced them to hide their activities. They could also not be as promiscuous. Is it any coincidence that the AIDS epidemic developed after they came 'out of the closet,' and started hyper-promiscuous sodomy? I don't believe so, medically or morally.”^[174][175]
• “[Magic] Johnson may be a sports star, but he is dying [of AIDS] because he violated moral laws.”^[164][176]
• “[T]he criminal ‘Justice’ Department wants to force dentists to treat these Darth Vader types [people with AIDS] under the vicious Americans With Disabilities Act;" and “[W]e all have the right to discriminate, which is what freedom of association is all about, especially against killers [AIDS patients].”^[164][177]

Other passages referred to former Secretary of Health & Human Services Donna Shalala as a “short lesbian” and Martin Luther King, Jr. as a pedophile and “lying socialist satyr" – while offering praise for former Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard David Duke and other controversial figures.^{[163][164][174]}

When criticism of the newsletters was leveled against Paul during his 1996 congressional election, he did not deny writing the newsletters, but instead defended them and said that the material had been taken out of context.^{[165][167][166]} In later years, Paul said that the controversial material had been ghostwritten by members of a team that included 6 or 8 others and that, as publisher, not editor, he had not even been aware of the content of the controversial articles until years after they had been published.^[167][178] He eventually disavowed those passages, and stated that in 1996 his campaign advisers had thought denying authorship would be too confusing and that he had to live with the material published under his name.^[167][178] Some political commentators made note of the changing nature of the explanations he had provided over the years about his involvement with the newsletters.^{[179][180][181]}

An estranged former long-term aide of Paul, Eric Dondero, alleged that Paul was lying about his role in the production of the controversial newsletters.^[182][183] During the 2012 Republican presidential primary campaign, in January 2012, the Washington Post reported^[184] that several of Paul's former associates said that Paul had been very involved in the production of the newsletters and had allowed the controversial material to be included as part of a deliberate strategy to boost profits. Paul's former secretary said, "it was his newsletter, and it was under his name, so he always got to see the final product.... He would proof it."^[184] Paul continued to deny the accusations and to disavow the material.^[185]

Personal life[link]

Paul at a rally in Erlanger, Kentucky, on October 2, 2010, along with his son, senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, and his grandson, William Paul.

Paul has been married to Carol Wells since 1957.^[186] They met in 1952 when Wells asked Paul to be her escort to her 16th birthday party.^[187] They have five children, who were baptized Episcopalian:^[8] Ronald, Lori, Randal, Robert, and Joy. Paul's son Randal is the junior United States senator from the state of Kentucky. Raised a Lutheran, Paul later became a Baptist.^[188]

Bibliography[link]

Other contributions[link]

References[link]