Jungle primary
Definition
A jungle primary puts every candidate, regardless of party, on one ballot on election day. A candidate who wins a majority outright takes the office. If nobody does, the top two finishers, regardless of party, meet in a runoff. There is no separate party primary first.
Why it matters
Because there's no party gate to pass through first, a jungle primary can let one party's split vote hand a runoff spot, or the outright win, to a minority-party candidate. It also means "primary" and "general" don't function as separate contests the way most states run them.
Seen in the wild
Louisiana used a jungle primary for state and local races starting in 1975 under Governor Edwin Edwards.1 Act 1 of 2024's First Extraordinary Session and Act 640 of the 2024 Regular Session ended it for Congress, the state Supreme Court, the Public Service Commission, and BESE, moving those races to closed party primaries starting in 2026.2