primaries

Cultural

State elections of delegates to the nominating convention that chooses a major party's presidential candidate. In some states, delegates are elected by popular vote; in other states, party caucus es or miniconventions choose delegates.

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Primaries occur at different times during the presidential election year, a situation that drags out the process by which parties nominate candidates but allows wide public exposure to candidates and issues.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He was the second Democratic presidential contender to host “Saturday Night Live” that year: George McGovern, who dropped out shortly after the primaries, fronted the April 14 episode.

From Salon

By winning more than 3 million votes and coming third during the primaries, he showed that a black candidate could rally nationwide support and possibly take the White House.

From BBC

The governor’s office said that consolidating the special and state primaries was meant to reduce the risk of voter confusion since there are multiple elections with different boundaries.

From Los Angeles Times

Mr. Youngkin’s comment about Mr. Vance more or less obliges him not to vituperate the vice president in the usual way of presidential primaries.

From The Wall Street Journal

New York uses this method in primaries for citywide offices.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023