Difference between candidate key & primary key What is the differences between candidate key and primary key?
I think this post does a pretty good job of explaining the difference.  

To summarize:

Candidate Key – A Candidate Key can be any column or a combination of columns that can qualify as unique key in database. There can be multiple Candidate Keys in one table. Each Candidate Key can qualify as Primary Key.

Primary Key – A Primary Key is a column or a combination of columns that uniquely identify a record. Only one Candidate Key can be Primary Key.

A table can have multiple Candidate Keys that are unique as single column or combined multiple columns to the table. They are all candidates for Primary Key.