Primary vs General Tactics

Primaries and generals require fundamentally different playbooks. A player who wins the primary by hitting all the party-base notes will often lose the general if they don't pivot. This page is about how and when to pivot — and what you should absolutely not change.

For phase rules see Primaries and General Elections. For tactical depth see Campaign Strategy.

The Fundamental Difference

What You Cannot Change Between Primary and General

Some things are locked the moment you enter a primary. Understand this before declaring:

• Your policy positions (econ and social on the −5 to +5 grid). They can only drift via bill voting while in office.
• Your home state. Relocating during a candidacy auto-withdraws.
• Your party. Switching mid-cycle auto-withdraws from the current race.
• Whether NPPs in your primary get the 50% penalty. That's fixed by the rules.

What You Can Pivot

Ad targeting

During primary you target your party's base demographics (groups whose lean matches your party platform). During general you target swing demographics — groups near the centre on both axes that could go either way.

If you declare in a centre-left party and won the primary by hammering Union & Trades and Public Sector, keep them — they still vote in the general. But add Secular Professionals, Soccer Moms, and (if applicable) Retirees who are ideologically accessible with the right ads.

Canvassing targeting

Primary canvassing can be tighter (your base groups). General canvassing should broaden:

• Primary: canvass 1–2 aligned groups where turnout drives your primary-base vote count.
• General: canvass 3–5 groups across the field, including some that appeal to you but turn out low.

Campaign upgrade investment

Primary is the cheap phase for campaign-page upgrades. Every $1 spent here is $1; in general it's $0.67 of value per dollar (1.5× cost).

Rule: Aim to have your key upgrades (Fundraising 3+, Media 2, Ground Game 2, Opposition Research 1–2) purchased before the primary ends.

Opposition Research target

Primary: no Opposition Research (you're all in the same party). General: pick the leading opponent. Retarget as the race progresses if someone else becomes the threat.

Campaign intensity

Primary: moderate. You're winning on alignment and Favorability, PI matters less than you'd think past ~40. General: ramp. PI matters heavily in the state race reach × appeal × approval × party-org formula. Push PI to 70–80 for the closing sprint.

Attack doctrine

Primary: don't attack. Same-party attacks raise your Infamy, drain your Favorability (primary-score bucket), and even if the rival gets hit they might still beat you.

General: selective attacks — if an opponent's Favorability is 65–75 and you can drop them 5–10 points with 5–10 attack actions, that's often race-winning value. Against 80+ Favorability opponents the diminishing-returns protect them. Against <50 opponents, they're already losing, don't waste Infamy.

Presidential Primary Differences

The formula itself differs from state primaries:

• Party Organization matters a lot (25 pts). Your home state's party-org investment pays off in presidential primaries specifically.
• National Political Influence (NPI) matters a lot (25 pts). NPI is slow to accumulate — passive +state PI / 100 per turn. Build across many cycles.
• Favorability only 10 pts. Personal popularity is de-prioritised vs state races.
• Alignment still 40 pts. Still the biggest lever.

The implication: presidential primaries reward long-term investment in state party org and NPI, not one-cycle Favorability and PI bursts.

Presidential General

• National race with Electoral College resolution.
• Independent penalty 0.3× vote share (70% reduction).
• Presidential Travel (5 actions) boosts Favorability +1%/turn while in-state — deploy to swing states in the final month.
• FPTP spoiler does not apply in the presidential model — third parties don't drain votes from their ideologically-nearest major.
• Party-weighted positions (3× party + candidate) / 4 mean your party matters more than your personal position.
• Party org uses a steep curve (0.05×–1.0×). Low-org states are brutal.
• State lean is much more important — the state lean × party position dynamic weights red-aligned candidates in red states and blue-aligned in blue.

Pivoting Checklist (Primary Win → General)

The moment your primary resolves:

• Update ad targeting: broaden from base to swing groups.
• Start (or upgrade) Opposition Research on the frontrunner opponent.
• Commission Full Demographic Poll — general voters ≠ primary voters.
• Check campaign upgrade levels — are they sufficient? Last cheap opportunity to upgrade was the primary phase; you're now in 1.5×-cost territory.
• Review fog-adjusted opponent upgrades to estimate their spending.
• Plan closing-sprint burst budget — reserve actions and funds for the final 4 turns.
• Request NPP endorsements from any NPP whose policy positions align and who is not in an opposing party.

Office-Specific Notes

Common Pivoting Mistakes

• Shifting ad messaging too early in the general. Your party base is still voting; don't abandon them day 1.
• Attacking primary rivals after the fact. They're out of the race; Infamy gain is wasted.
• Ignoring Opposition Research entirely. A well-placed Level 2 Opposition Research in the general is worth 2-4 Favorability drain on the frontrunner over 4 weeks — often race-deciding.
• Upgrading campaign tiers during general at 1.5× cost. Upgrade during primary.
• Over-travelling in presidential. Travel is +1% Favorability/turn, but every travel also costs 5 actions. Don't travel constantly — pick strategic states and stay.
• Not planning the closing sprint. Reserve ~30% of your general-phase fund budget for the final 4 turns.

Related

• Election Mechanics — Core framework.
• Primaries — Primary-phase rules.
• General Elections — General-phase rules.
• Campaign Strategy — Deep tactics with upgrade tables.
• Campaign Manager — /campaign/[id] page.
• Demographics & Targeting — Base vs swing groups.
• NPP Opponents — Handling NPP competition.