How Voters Select Candidates: The Top-two Primary Shapes General Elections

• In Event: Politics of the Primary: How Electoral Institutions Affect Voters and Candidates

Abstract

How do voters behave in the top-two primary? We examine voting behavior in both the primary and general election stage in 2018. Based on an original 2018 survey, we find that same-party general elections lead to shifting voter coalitions from primary to general. In 2018, Republican voters facing a choice of two candidates of the same party did not distinguish the candidates ideologically, but instead relied on other criteria for making their vote choices.

Authors

• R. Michael Alvarez, California Institute of Technology

• Betsy Sinclair, Washington University in St Louis