Tuesday, February 3, 2009

1976 Presidential Primary Calendar




January
Monday, January 19:
Iowa caucuses (both parties)

Saturday, January 24:
Mississippi Democratic caucuses

Friday, January 27:
Hawaii Republican caucuses


February
February: Maine Democratic caucuses (all month long)

Wednesday, February 4:
Wyoming Republican caucuses (all month through March 5)

Saturday, February 7:
Oklahoma Democratic caucuses

Tuesday, February 10:
Alaska Democratic caucuses

Tuesday, February 24:
Minnesota caucuses (both parties)
New Hampshire primary

Saturday, February 28:
South Carolina Democratic caucuses


March
Tuesday, March 2:
Massachusetts primary
Vermont primary (beauty contest--no delegates at stake)
Washington caucuses (both parties)

Tuesday, March 9:
Hawaii Democratic caucuses 
Florida primary

Friday, March 12:
South Carolina Republican caucuses (through March 13)

Sunday, March 14:
Wyoming Democratic caucuses

Tuesday, March 16:
Illinois primary

Friday, March 19:
Kansas Republican caucuses

Tuesday, March 23:
Connecticut Republican caucuses
North Carolina primary

Saturday, March 27:
Mississippi Republican caucuses

Monday, March 29:
Maine Republican caucuses


April
Saturday, April 3:
Kansas Democratic caucuses 
Virginia Democratic caucuses

Monday, April 5:
Oklahoma Republican caucuses

Tuesday, April 6:
New York primary
Wisconsin primary

Monday, April 19:
Missouri Republican caucuses (through April 24)

Tuesday, April 20:
Missouri Democratic caucuses

Thursday, April 22:
New Mexico Democratic caucuses

Saturday, April 24:
Arizona Democratic caucuses/Republican convention 
Vermont caucuses (both parties)

Sunday, April 25:
New Mexico Republican caucuses (through May 1)

Tuesday, April 27:
North Dakota Democratic caucuses
Pennsylvania primary


May
Saturday, May 1:
Louisiana Democratic caucuses
North Dakota Republican caucuses (through June 14)
Texas primary

Monday, May 3:
Colorado caucuses (both parties)

Tuesday, May 4:
Alabama primary
Georgia primary
Indiana primary

Saturday, May 8:
Louisiana Republican caucuses (through May 15)

Tuesday, May 11:
Connecticut Democratic caucuses
Nebraska primary
West Virginia primary

Friday, May 14:
Virginia Republican caucuses (through May 15)

Monday, May 17:
Utah caucuses (both parties)

Tuesday, May 18:
Maryland primary
Michigan primary

Saturday, May 22:
Alaska Republican caucuses

Tuesday, May 25:
Arkansas primary
Idaho primary
Kentucky primary
Nevada primary
Oregon primary
Tennessee primary


June
Tuesday, June 1:
Montana primary (Democrats only, Republican beauty contest--no delegates at stake)
Rhode Island primary
South Dakota primary

Tuesday, June 8:
California primary
New Jersey primary
Ohio primary

Friday, June 11:
Delaware Democratic convention

Saturday, June 19:
Delaware Republican convention

Saturday, June 26:
Montana Republican convention

[Primaries in bold; Caucuses in italics]

[Source: Congressional Quarterly and news accounts from 1976. The latter was used to double-check the dates or discover missing ones.]


A few notes:
1) The number of shared dates between state contests was relatively few in 1976.
2) Relatedly, the closest thing to a Super Tuesday in 1976 was May 25. Six states held primaries on that date. Outside of that, there were several dates with three contests, but that was the most.
3) Barely half of the contests were primaries (28 if you count the Montana primary.). The remaining states held caucuses, and of those caucus states, only 5 held both their Democratic and Republican contests on the same date. That leaves 17 states with separate dates for their major party caucuses. That number climbs to 18 if you count the Montana primary/convention split between the Democrats and Republicans, respectively.


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