NC GOP wants its primary voters to have only one choice: Trump

The Republican and Green parties will have only a single candidate on their ballots, while Libertarian Party primary voters will have even more presidential candidates to choose from on North Carolina ballots than Democratic voters.

Parties are required to submit a list of candidates to the State Board of Elections this week, including all “candidates whose candidacy is generally advocated and recognized in the news media throughout the United States or in North Carolina.”

The N.C. Republican Party submitted only the name of President Donald Trump, choosing to leave out two other former elected officials seeking the GOP nomination: former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh.

Asked about the decision to exclude Weld and Walsh, NCGOP chairman Michael Whatley cited the legal requirement of “generally advocated and recognized” and said that “as President Trump is the only candidate who currently meets those requirements, his is the only name that we have submitted.

“We look forward to seeing President Trump re-elected to another four year term and continuing his work to unleash the American economy, rebuild our military, and advance an America First agenda.”

The elections board is required by law to meet in early January to finalize the ballot list, and it has the power to add additional names by majority vote of the board if it finds that more candidates meet the legal definition of “generally advocated and recognized.”

The Weld campaign has written to the board asking to be added to the ballot, arguing that his candidacy meets the legal test because he’s received “widespread news coverage,” raised more than $1.2 million, and has qualified for the primary ballot in six other states.

“While we are disappointed, we are certainly not surprised that another Trump-controlled state party is attempting to deny Republicans the choices they deserve in the primary,” Weld spokesman Joe Hunter said in an email.

“For a president who claims to be beloved, Donald Trump and his operatives are going to extraordinary lengths to eliminate competition and avoid actually facing voters. The State Board (of Elections) is not bound by the party’s submission, and we are confident the members of the board will recognize the obvious qualifications of a successful two-term Republican governor who is well-recognized across the nation.”

Democrats hold a majority of the seats on North Carolina’s elections board.

The N.C. Democratic Party submitted 15 names: Michael Bennet, Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, John K. Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Deval Patrick, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, Marianne Williamson and Andrew Yang. That list includes all the major candidates who hadn’t dropped out by this week.

The Libertarians have even more candidates to pick from with 16 names on their North Carolina ballot, including Vermin Supreme, a perennial candidate and performance artist known for wearing a rubber boot on his head and advocating for mandatory tooth brushing.

The party’s best known candidates include software company founder John McAfee and New Hampshire state Rep. Max Abramson, but one of its candidates will be appearing on North Carolina ballots as “Dan Taxation is Theft Berhman.”

The N.C. Green Party submitted a single name: Howie Hawkins, the national party’s co-founder and a former candidate for New York governor. The N.C. Constitution Party submitted two names: Charles Kraut and Don Blankenship, the former coal company executive who was convicted of mine safety violations.

This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 6:37 PM.