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TITLE: Party Polarization and the California Recall

AUTHORS: Eric McGhee and Mark Baldassare

PAGES: 14      DATE: May 2007

ABSTRACT: Many have argued that the reelection and later recall of Governor Gray Davis of California is a perfect example of how the primaries draw politics to the extremes by nominating candidates too liberal or conservative for the general electorate. Davis defeated a conservative Republican opponent in his reelection campaign, only to lose to a moderate Republican in the recall just one year later. We test this notion with survey data from both elections. We find that the choice of candidates was important, but evaluations of Davis were far more significant in determining the outcome of each race. We conclude with implications for the role of primaries in American politics generally.

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