Delaware canceled its primary contests earlier this month when it became clear there was no serious competition in either the Republican or Democratic races for president.
Voters won’t be casting ballots for either President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump on Tuesday. But the state still has a handful of delegates to send to the respective party’s conventions this year to put a seal of approval on each candidate representing their parties in November.
Here are some key things to know about one contest that won’t happen on April 2.
How did Delaware cancel the primary?
The First State canceled its Republican primary contest after former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s departure from the race left dozens of states with only Trump as an option for their primary election. Without a viable alternative, Delaware called off the contest and assigned its 16 delegates to Trump. Canceling the Republican primary saved taxpayers nearly $1.5 million.
Political strategist Josh Putnam told the New York Times states will typically go on with the primary election as planned, despite the costs.
“It would be unusual for states to come out and say, ‘Yeah, we’re not going to have a primary after all,’ at this point,” Putnam said. “I would be shocked.”
In Delaware, Feb. 9 was the withdrawal date to remove candidates from the ballot, but lawmakers suspended the rules by passing legislation and getting it signed by the governor. Under normal conditions, there is only a one-week difference between the filing deadline and the withdrawal date.
For the Democratic primary election, incumbent President Joe Biden was the only candidate available. Typically, states will opt out of running a primary with an incumbent as a contender. In the case of New Hampshire, a primary was run, but Biden wasn’t on the ballot, as he didn’t file in the state’s early voting contest, making him the first incumbent in half a century to do so. He won the primary election as a write-in.
Where will the delegates go?
The state’s 16 primary delegates will automatically be assigned to Trump. The same will happen for all of the state’s primary elections to come. Despite this, it is unlikely for other states to follow Delaware’s lead in canceling their primary elections.
“This is not an authoritarian country in which we just cancel and nothing happens,” Daniel Schlozman, a political scientist, told the New York Times. “That is changing the system.”
However, skipping primary elections does happen. During the 2020 election, the GOP canceled six state primaries and caucuses. And in 2012, 10 Democratic state parties canceled their primary when President Barack Obama was running for his second term. Delaware is the only state to cancel a primary this election cycle thus far, making it an anomaly.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
States still left to run their primary races include Oregon, Wyoming, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut.
The last primary election will be held on June 4, with states Montana, New Mexico, New Jersey, and South Dakota holding contests just a few weeks before the Republican National Convention.