When and Where were the First Presidential Primaries held ?
U.S. presidential primaries are the result of the evolution of our political system from the idealistic to the absurd. In early post-colonial America there weren’t even any political parties. In the early 19th century after parties had develped, it was Congress who would pick a candidate as a party representative. Then by the 1830s that had changed to a national covention system….which, true to early 19th century politics, was completely corrupted and dominated by political bosses and special interests. That system sadly lasted quite a while. It wasn’t until the late 19th/early 20th century that reformers stepped in to change things and take the nomination process (supposedly) out of the hands of the fat cats. They wanted to put that decision in the hands of the people – hence the first primary election was conceived. Oregon, officially, was the first to hold a primary in 1910. By 1912, twelve more states had joined Oregon (making it the first MAJOR U.S. primary year in US history) B
