Journalists everywhere are covering the election between incumbent President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney. As the precincts begin to report results, here are a few election-related AP Style terms to remember:
battleground states
Contested states where campaigns are spending money and polls show a split electorate. This is not a formal title, so it is lowercase.
Congress, congressional
Capitalize when referring the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives together. The adjective is lowercase unless part of a formal name.
congressman, congresswoman
Not formal titles, spelled lowercase.
conservative
Lowercase for a political philosophy, capitalize in a formal name. For example, the Conservative Party.
Democrat, Democratic Party
Both are capitalized. Don’t use Democrat Party.
Election Day, election night
The first is capitalized, the second is lowercase.
election returns
Use figures, with commas every three digits, starting at the right and counting left. For example, 40, 827, 292. Do not use in adjectival form. For example, the 40, 827, 292-vote.
Not an official title. Lowercase.
first lady
Not an official title. Lowercase.
front-runner
Candidate who leads a political race; the term is hyphenated.
governor
Lowercase when it’s not used as an official title. Capitalize and abbreviate before a name.
liberal, liberalism
Lowercase for a political philosophy. Capitalize in a formal name. For example, the Liberal Party.
majority leader, minority leader
Capitalize as formal legislative title before a name: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, otherwise lowercase.
majority, plurality
A majority is more than half the votes cast; a plurality is the largest number of votes, but less than a majority.
middle class (n.), middle-class (adj.)
“Obamacare”
Informal term for the Affordable Care Act. Avoid it unless quoting someone.
political affiliation
The party of a candidate or officeholder is essential in any election or issue story. It can be included in parenthesis after the candidate’s name or captialized before his/her name. For example, Oklahoma Rep. Frank Lucas or Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.).
policymaker, policymaking
presidency, presidential
The terms are lowercase except when they’re part of a formal title.
press secretary
Seldom a formal title and thus lowercase.
re-elect, re-election
Republican, Republican Party
Both terms are capitalized. GOP (Grand Old Party) may be used on second reference.
swing states
States where voters have vacillated between Republican and Democrat candidates in the last three or four presidential elections.
vote tabulations
Always use figures for the totals.
