primarying

[prahy-mer-ee-ing, -muh-ree-]

noun

U.S. Politics.

1. the mounting of a challenge to the incumbent in a primary election.

   There were many instances of primarying during the last election cycle.

Word History and Origins

Origin of primarying¹

First recorded in 2010–15; primary ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

It’s tempting to point to the moments in recent times when we should have seen this coming — the growing powers granted to the president in the name of the Global War on Terror, the unchecked ability of the president to repeatedly make acting appointments and fire those in his cabinet who oppose his will, the coopting of members of Congress through threats of primarying them out of office or grants of vast amounts of money should they demonstrate sufficient loyalty to the president.

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Indeed, the group emerged as an antagonist of entrenched centrist Democratic leadership by primarying members like former Rep. Joe Crowley, the then-chair of the House Democratic Caucus, in the Bronx district now represented by Ocasio-Cortez.

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Those threats emanate from Donald Trump’s sardonic musings about “primarying” Republicans who cooperate with Democrats.

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“That’s a red flag when your head of government is primarying her own party. It is an indication that the ideologies are becoming more extreme,” said Kelly Shaw, the former nonpartisan mayor of the town of Indianola who now teaches political science at Iowa State University.

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Mrs. Maloney and Mr. Nadler found themselves primarying one another this election cycle, after 30 years of serving together as political allies in Congress, because a court-appointed special master re-drew parts of their original districts into one Manhattan district.

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