firehouse primary
n.— «Chichester announced earlier this spring that he will retire at the end of this term. That sparked an intra-party battle over the nomination method, with one faction favoring an open primary and the other pushing for a Republicans-only method. The result is what’s known as a firehouse primary, which is run by the party, with limited polling places, and open only to Republicans. Voters on Saturday will have to sign an oath vowing to support the Republican nominee in the general election in November.» —“4 GOP Senate hopefuls in forum” by Chelyen Davis Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Virginia) May 14, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
On Twitter, @HerbertStyles ponders what it would be like if all the punctuation marks went to a party. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Punctuation Party” You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use...
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