Are Southern Primaries Different?

Abstract

Abstract Most histories of the direct primary tend to treat Southern states differently from Northern ones, on account of the one-party nature of Southern elections and the use of the primary to exclude Black voters. Yet many of the causes of election reform in the North, such as the Progressive movement and the effort to accommodate nonparty groups, were still felt in the South. This chapter explores the relevance of theories about the development of the direct primary to primary law changes in the American South, with a particular focus on how Southern primary laws shaped the behavior of Southern House and Senate members. In addition, the chapter addresses the question of whether primary election laws that are uniquely Southern, such as the runoff election, can be understood as being about anything other than race. The discussion here suggests that we should not necessarily treat Southern primaries as being sui generis on account of their racial dynamics.