For the Presidential Primary/State Primary Calendar Few Compare with Delaware

Obama-Clinton Spillover Effect on 2008State Primaries

I have heard several people say that the interest in the Obama-Clinton Presidential primary in Feb 2008 with its increased voter turnout will have spillover effect on the Delaware state Democratic primary in September and increase turnout in that contest. I wanted to quantify that by looking at other states that have the statewide primary after the presidential primary . I looked at delegate selection processes throughout the U.S . and found a lack of uniformity which makes it tough to compare Delaware’s experience relative to other states,but I plan an update within the next week or two for the few contests that appear comparable.

Comparison states with their State primary date and 2008 Presidential Primary date:

California 6-3-2008(state) (1-29-2008presidential)
Connecticut 8-12-2008(state)(2-5-2008presidential)
Missouri 8-5-2008(state)(2-5-2008presidential)
New Jersey 6-3-2008(state)(2-5-2008presidential)
South Carolina 6-10-2008(state)(1-26-2008 presidential)
Tennessee 8-7-2008(state)(2-5-2008 presidential)
Utah 6-24-2008(state)(2-5-2008presidential)
Virginia 6-10-2008(state)(2-12-2008presidential)

The Apples to Oranges Ground Rules for the Obama-Clinton Spillover Effect in 2008 State Primaries

The only contests that will be considered will be contests that are as equivalent to the Delaware Democratic State Primary as possible:
(1) the State primary is held later than the Presidential Primary,but prior to 9-1-2008 so results can be reviewed prior to the Delaware primary
(2) States with a single primary with no runoff election following the primary
(3) only states will be considered (leaving out U.S. territories, Washington,DC, Democrats Abroad, etc)
(4) Only states with DNC approved primaries will be discussed.
(5) Not caucus states


List of contests omitted:

Caucuses
_______
Alaska
Colorado
Hawaii
Idaho
Iowa
Kansas
Maine
Minnesota
Nebraska
New Mexico
Nevada
North Dakota
Washington
Wyoming



Nonstate contests
________________
American Samoa
Democrats Abroad
District of Columbia
Guam
Puerto Rico
Virgin Island



States with state primaries held after September 1, 2008

Arizona 9-2-2008
Massachusetts 9-16-2008
New Hampshire 9-9-2008
New York 9-9-2008
Rhode Island 9-9-2008
Vermont 9-9-2008
Wisconsin 9-9-2008



States with primaries that include runoff elections after the initial primary vote

Alabama
Arkansas
Georgia
Louisiana
Mississippi
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Texas




States that held their primary the same day as their presidential primary

Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Maryland
Montana
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
West Virginia



Primaries not sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee due to rules violations

Florida
Michigan

Information on each state was from the elections web page of the state’s web site.
You can access each state’s web site by typing in www.state.--.us with the -- being the two letters representing the state (for example, Delaware is www.state.de.us).
Information about the presidential primary calendar I got from the New York Times at:



http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/primaries/democraticprimaries/index.html