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#REDIRECT [[Safe seat]] |
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"'''Tantamount to election'''" is a phrase in the [[United States]] to describe a situation in which one [[political party]] so dominates the [[demographics]] of a voting district, that the person winning the party nomination for a race (whether by [[primary election|primary]] or another method) will virtually be assured of winning the general election.<ref>[[Political science|Political scientist]] [[Larry Sabato]], ''e.g.'', uses the phrase "tantamount to election" in describing how "not a single Virginia Democrat nominated for statewide office in the primary was defeated in the general election for more than threescore years after the primary’s inception in 1905" (Sabato, quoted by Kenneth R. Plum, [http://www.kenplum.com/pdfs/apr30cnx.pdf The changing of power in the Commonwealth,] ''Reston Connection'', 2003 April 30 [accessed 2009 December 28]).</ref> The phrase "[[safe seat]]" is commonly used to describe such a district. |
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The phrase originated in the American [[Solid South]] when and where the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] was so weak or nonexistent that the [[general elections]] were mere formalities, the election having effectively been decided within the [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)#Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age: 1854–1896|Democratic Party]].<ref>Jackson Baker, [http://www.memphisflyer.com/TheDailyBuzz/archives/2003/11/06/jamieson-only-gop-hopeful-out-of-race-for-89 Jamieson, only GOP hopeful, out of race for 89,] ''Memphis Flyer Newsweekly'' (Contemporary Media, Inc.), 2003 November 6 (accessed 2009 December 28). See also [[White primaries]].</ref> |
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The phrase "tantamount to election" may, nonetheless, be employed to describe an electoral situation in an overwhelmingly Republican area where candidates of the Democratic Party (or vice versa) are up against very steep odds.<ref> An early instance was [[James A. Garfield]]'s election to the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] from a district so Republican that the Republican nomination was considered "tantamount to election" (quoted from the [http://www.ohiojudicialcenter.gov/j_a_garfield.asp Garfield biosketch] on the Ohio Supreme Court site)</ref> It can refer to any electoral constituency in which dominance by one party renders candidates of other parties irrelevant. Notable Democratic examples (current and former) include such areas as [[Cook County Democratic Organization|Chicago]], the "[[Solid South]]", [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]] (from [[Huey Long]] onwards), Detroit, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Los Angeles, [[Washington D.C.]], [[Hawaii]], and much of [[New Jersey]]. Republican examples (current and former) include [[Nassau County, New York]], [[Orange County, California]], [[New Hampshire]], [[Utah]], [[Idaho]], [[Wyoming]], and [[Alaska]].<ref>The phrase "tantamount to election" appears in scores of Wikipedia articles. A few examples: [[Solid South]], [[ticket (election)|ticket]], Democrat [[Robert S. Calvert]], Republican [[Pete Hoekstra]]. See also Larry Sabato, ''The Democratic Party Primary in Virginia: Tantamount to Election No Longer'' (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1977); ISBN 0-8139-0726-8; ISBN 978-0-8139-0726-0</ref> |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tantamount To Election}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tantamount To Election}} |
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[[Category:American English idioms]] |
[[Category:American English idioms]] |
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[[Category:History of the Southern United States]] |
[[Category:History of the Southern United States]] |
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[[Category:Primary elections in the United States]] |
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Latest revision as of 20:50, 28 July 2021
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