By Chris Cillizza | January 8, 2010; 11:00 AM ET
The ten best primary races in the country
In just 25 days, voters in Illinois will head to their polling places to pick nominees for contested Senate and gubernatorial races. Twenty eight days after that, Texas holds it primary with the fight between Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison already shaping up as a modern classic.
In other words: primary season is upon us!
The Fix, as regular readers know is a HUGE fan of intraparty skirmishes as, typically without significant differences on issues, the winning candidate is the one who runs the better strategic campaign.
The primary ante has been upped significantly this cycle on the Republican side where all across the country the battle for control of the future of the party between the establishment and the grassroots is playing out.
Eight of the ten primaries that made our Line are squabbles within the GOP and most, though not all, feature a candidate behind which the establishment has rallied against a candidate running as an outsider to the political process.
Who wins these races will go a long way to determining who is really in control of the Republican party heading into this year’s midterms and, as importantly, the 2012 presidential nomination fight.
The primaries on the Line are ranked by their competitiveness and long-term import to the party. The number one race is regarded as the single most consequential primary in the country this year.
As always, your thoughts are welcome in the comments section below
