Running in
the Primaries

The candidate who won a state’s primary election would be rewarded with the state’s “party delegates.” The winner of the primary of a particular state would then be allowed to fill the state delegate seats with his or her most trusted supporters. For this reason, most candidates tried to win as many primaries in these larger states as possible to give them the most delegates.

Many primaries were scheduled so close together that the candidates had to split and go to different states to give their supporters enough time to talk to them. Pepper and Ronnie were criss-crossing the country, traveling by train, bus, and airplane week after week. A large group of supporters followed them, making sure their candidate had everything they needed to win the primaries.