Primary elections often reveal how campaigns influence voter opinions beyond just vote choice. Using polling data and panel internet surveys, this study finds voters in state primaries learn about candidate ideologies for senate and governor races, directly affecting their decisions. However, similar learning effects were not observed for down-ballot positions like lieutenant governor or secretary of state, suggesting distinct dynamics shape voter behavior at different levels.
| Voter Learning in State Primary Elections was authored by Shigeo Hirano, Gabriel S. Lenz, Maksim Pinkovskiy and James M. Snyder, Jr.. It was published by Wiley in AJPS in 2015. |
