Hotelling's model has been used to describe differentiation in the political "market." Suppose that 100 voters are evenly distributed between the extreme left and the extreme right on the political spectrum, and that all voters vote, and they always vote for the candidate closest to them on this spectrum. The numbers on this spectrum represent the number of voters lying to the left of the number. So, at the midpoint, fifty voters lie to the left and fifty to the right. At the extreme right end, all 100 voters lie to the left.

If Candidate X is running for office against Candidate Z, then:
Select one:
a. all voters to the left of Z will vote for X, and all voters to the right of Z will vote for Z.
b. all voters who would have voted for Y will vote for X.
c. Candidate Z will win.
d. Candidate X might win.