On Saturday, the GOP in South Carolina and Nevada joined Kansas in cancelling its 2020 primary contests:
The Republican parties in South Carolina and Nevada announced Saturday that they would not be holding their presidential nominating contests in 2020, and all Republican delegates will be committed to President Trump.
They join the Kansas Republican Party, which confirmed on Friday that it will not hold its caucuses in 2020.
States have until October to submit their delegate selection rules to the Republican National Committee, and several more state Republican parties could vote to cancel their nominating contests before the deadline.
The move is not unprecedented for incumbent parties. In 2004, ten states cancelled their nominating contests to support President George W. Bush.
This move is interesting in that it suggests to me that supporters of the President have managed to seize control of the party machinery at the state level. If Paul Ryan/Mitt Romney types, or #NeverTrumpers were in charge, there is no way any primary contests would end up being cancelled.
As more state GOP parties cancel their primaries, it will make #NeverTrump’s job to undermine Trump and get the Democrat elected that much harder. It will be interesting to see which states cancel their primaries and which do not.
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