Republican Presidential Primary Filing Dates

The 2016 Republican Primaries will require early filing dates. To appear on ballots in all 50 states and the District of Columbia would require collecting about 570,000 signatures.

The RNC overhauled some of its rules leading into the 2016 Presidential Primary following what party leaders and strategists saw as a primary campaign that lasted too long, lowering 2012 candidate Mitt Romney's chances of winning in the general election.

The committee voted in January 2014, by a vote of 153-9, to move the convention from the end of August, when it was held last year, to as much as two months earlier at the end of June. They finalized the 2016 convention to be held July 18-21, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena.

In order to accomplish such a change, new penalties were introduced to encourage states to hold their campaign events earlier in the year. Additionally, the system of awarding delegates in primaries was changed for primaries held before March 14, 2016. The new rules stated that no primary held before March 14 could award delegates based on the "winner-take-all" system, instead the delegates were to be distributed in proportion to each candidate's support in order to stop any candidate from essentially winning the nomination in early March 2016.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus explained the reasoning, stating, "We have been saying for months that we were no longer going to sit around and allow ourselves to slice and dice our nominee for six months."

State Presidential Primary Filing Deadline
Alabama - January 6, 2016
Arkansas - November 9, 2015
Arizona - February 3, 2016
California - March 25, 2016
Connecticut - March 7, 2016
Delaware - February 26, 2016
D.C. - March 15, 2016
Florida - December 15, 2015
Georgia - January 2, 2016
Idaho - December 9, 2905
Illinois - November 30, 2015
Indiana - February 5, 2016
Kentucky - January 26, 2016
Louisiana - November 20, 2015
Maryland - February 3, 2016
Massachusetts - January 2, 2016
Michigan - December 20, 2015
Mississippi - January 9, 2016
Missouri - December 30, 2015
Montana - March 7, 2016
Nevada - 1st Caucus, February 23, 2016
Nebraska - February 25, 2016
New Hampshire - November 27, 2015
New Jersey - April 4, 2016
New Mexico - March 17, 2016
New York - March 1, 2016
North Carolina - December 29, 2015
Ohio - January 2, 2016
Oklahoma - December 2, 2015
Oregon - March 8, 2016
Pennsylvania - February 16, 2016
Rhode Island - January 23, 2016
South Carolina - November 30, 2015
South Dakota - March 29, 2016
Tennessee - December 1, 2015
Texas - November 10, 2015
Vermont - January 4, 2016
Virginia - December 17, 2015
West Virginia - January 30, 2016
Wisconsin - February 2, 2016

In the United States, a Sore-Loser law is a law which states that the loser in a primary election can't then run as, one or some, as an: other party, independent, or write-in, in the General Election. In most states, these laws do not apply to Presidential candidates. Some do allow a candidate to do a write-in campaign.

The states with Presidential Sore-Loser laws are:

Ohio - According to Sore-Loser laws in the state of Ohio, any candidate who has filed to be on a Party's Primary ballot can’t run on a third-party ticket in the state. But independent or write-in is allowed.

Michigan - Passed its Sore-Loser law in 1955. The Sore-Loser law, sec. 168.695, says that when an individual has run in the primary of one party, he or she can’t be the General Election nominee of another party. Michigan finally put in statutory procedures for independent candidates in 1988, but the sore loser law was not altered, so it doesn’t apply to independent candidates.

Mississippi - According to Sore-Loser laws in the state of Mississippi, any candidate who has filed to be on a major Party's Primary ballot can run on a third-party ticket but can't run as an independent.

Texas - In order to be on the Ballot for the March 1st primary, you must file by Dec 14, 2015. (If you are an independent candidate for the Nov, 2016 General, you must also file by Dec 14, 2015. Richard Winger of Ballot Access News says not required for Presidential candidates) If you are a political party that doesn't choose your candidate by Primary ballot, you must file your party's intent to field a candidate by Dec 14, 2015. If you file for a place on the ballot for Mar 1, 2016, and you do not win the Primary in which you run, you cannot be on the Nov, 2016 ballot. The only candidates that can be on the Nov, 2016 ballot that haven't specifically announced their intent to do so by Dec 14, 2015 are candidates chosen by parties that don't use a Primary for nomination that have filed as a party to field a candidate by Dec 14, 2015 and then, only if the candidate didn't previously lose a primary during the same election cycle. Texas Sore-Loser Law means that Donald Trump will have to make up his mind by Dec 14, 2015 to run as an independent, well before the first primary race. If he files as a GOP candidate, he must win the primary or he cannot be on the Nov, 2016 ballot. This law is designed to prevent just what is being speculated: a candidate holding a political party hostage with the threat of a third party run.











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker