South Carolina Republican Party revised its declaration of candidacy form to require candidates in its Presidential primary to promise they will support the party’s nominee in November, no matter who it turns out to be.
In 2012, when there was no such pledge in South Carolina’s Republican Party, Gary Johnson ran in the South Carolina Republican primary but he abandoned that campaign and was on the November 2012 South Carolina ballot as the Libertarian nominee.
South Carolina, traditionally the third state to hold a nominating contest and its deadline to file the paperwork is Sept. 30.
Will Trump refuses to rule out a third party bid and skip the South Carolina primary?
The state’s Republican Party chairman, Matt Moore, says the state party has been in contact with the Trump campaign, and has not yet received any pushback. “We’ve been communicating since June with the Trump campaign and have not heard anything negative,” Moore said. “At last check they were getting ready to possibly send the check in and file.”
Moore declined to say whether the pledge would be legally enforceable, but noted the party “would seek legal and other remedies to hold a candidate accountable for violating the pledge, including taking it to the court of public opinion.” “We changed this form in early June to match existing South Carolina filing forms,” Moore said. “Candidates for state and local office sign a very similar pledge.”
The 2011 South Carolina filing form for the Republican presidential primary did not include the third party pledge, according to Moore. Moore said four Republican candidates -- Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, John Kasich and Marco Rubio -- have already filed using this form, and Scott Walker and Ted Cruz plan to file this week.
South Carolina isn’t the only state where Trump may face a roadblock.
David D’Onofrio from the Virginia Republican Party said they are considering a mandatory pledge that candidates don’t mount third party bid, but a decision won’t be made until mid-September.
Brent Leatherwood, who leads the Tennessee Republican Party, said “all options are on the table” since the rules aren’t finalized yet.
And North Carolina officials are in talks with lawyers about how they could implement a third-party ban.
The head of the West Virginia GOP, Matt Dailer, said his state party has no intention of making a third-party pledge a requirement to appear on its primary ballot, but noted that its members are free to propose the idea.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
1 comment:
Technically, it's not a pledge not to run against the Republican nominee; it's more demanding. Trump and other Republican presidential candidates promise to endorse the nominee, whoever it turns out to be. That's intrusive.
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