• Races with multiple candidates from a party will go to county conventions or, if the race is for a state or federal office that crosses county boundaries, the party's state convention. The county conventions are scheduled on weekends from mid-April to early May, and the state conventions for Democrats and Republicans are May 10. At the conventions, delegates will select the preferred candidate, and if no candidate receives 60 percent or more support, then the top two will move into a primary. Candidates who are unopposed within the party do not have to run in convention to receive the party nomination. The parties also set their platforms and deal with internal party business during the conventions, although they do not elect officers. Instead, the party officials are chosen during odd years, when candidates are not being selected.

• Primary elections will be June 24. The winner of the primary goes to the general election as the party's nominee. The Republican primary is closed to everyone who is not a registered member of the party, while the Democrats and third parties are open. Candidates who are unopposed or received 60 percent of the delegate vote in the convention will not appear on the primary election ballot.

• The general election is scheduled for Nov. 4. Candidates who received the party nomination, whether it was because nobody filed against them in the party, they won the delegate vote in the convention, or they won the primary, will be on the ballot with their party affiliation. A candidate running unopposed still has to appear on the ballot.