While US general elections often feature only two candidates--one from both major parties--US primary elections are often choice rich environments. Yet, previous research has not explored how all of this choice at the ballot box affects voters or the media. My dissertation explores the effects these crowded primary fields have on voters and also the media. Chapter 2 looks at how the adoption of the nonpartisan blanket primary, also known as the jungle primary, causes an increase in ballot rolloff. When the jungle primary is in place, there are more candidates in Louisiana House elections and there is greater ballot rolloff. There's also more rolloff in the House districts with more candidates running. In Chapter 3, I use a survey experiment to test the effect of large partisan primaries on voting behavior and voter satisfaction. I find that voters are more likely to feel overwhelmed by the task of voting and more likely to select the candidates first on the ballot when there are more candidates on the ballot. In Chapter 4, I investigate how these crowded primary elections affect local newspaper election coverage using a content analysis of 2020 Senate primary coverage. I find election news focuses more on the incumbent and the horse race when there are more candidates in a primary election. Together, the three sets of analyses show that voters and the media struggle to navigate elections with many same-party candidates running against each other.
