More delegates are up for grabs Saturday, as former President Donald Trump looks closer to clinching the Republican nomination and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley looks for her first victory.
Trump, who is especially strong in caucuses, is expected to widen his delegate lead in Republican caucuses in Idaho and Missouri, as well as at a party convention in Michigan.
There are no Democratic contests on Saturday.
The next contest is the GOP caucus in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. Two days later is Super Tuesday, when sixteen states and American Samoa will hold primaries on what will be the largest voting day of the year, excluding the November election. Trump is on track to clinch the nomination days later.
Last year, Idaho lawmakers passed cost-cutting legislation intended to move all of the state’s primaries to the same date in May — but the bill inadvertently eliminated the presidential primary entirely. The Republican-led Legislature considered holding a special session to restore presidential primaries but failed to agree on a proposal in time, leaving presidential caucuses as the only option for both parties. The GOP presidential caucuses will take place on Saturday, while the Democratic caucuses won’t take place until May 23.
The last Republican caucuses in Idaho were in 2012, when about 40,000 of the state’s nearly 200,000 registered Republican voters showed up to select their preferred candidate.
This year, all Republican voters who want to participate will have to attend in person. They will vote after hearing short speeches from the candidates or their representatives.
If one candidate receives more than 50% of the statewide vote, that candidate will win all of Idaho’s delegates. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, each candidate with at least 15% of the total votes will receive a proportionate number of delegates.
The Idaho Republican Party will announce results once all votes have been counted statewide.
Trump finished a distant second in the 2016 Idaho primary, behind Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
The Missouri Republican Party will hold presidential caucuses Saturday, offering state voters the only chance to help decide who should represent the party in November’s presidential election.
This year will be the first test of the new system, which is run almost entirely by volunteers on the Republican side.
The caucuses were organized after GOP Gov. Mike Parson signed a 2022 law that, among other things, canceled the planned March 12 presidential primary.
Lawmakers have failed to reinstate the primaries, despite calls to do so from both Republican and Democratic party leaders. Democrats will hold a party-led primary on March 23.
Trump prevailed twice under Missouri’s old presidential primary system.
A Michigan GOP convention on Saturday in Grand Rapids will award 39 of the state’s 55 GOP presidential delegates, but a significant portion of the party’s base power will not attend due to the fallout from a months-long dispute over who should lead the party. leads. .
Still, the party is expected to rally behind Trump on Saturday.
Trump handily won the Republican primary in Michigan on February 27, receiving 68% of the vote, compared to 27% for Haley.
The victory gave a clear indication of Trump’s standing in Michigan before November, but on Saturday a majority of Michigan’s GOP delegates will be rewarded.
Michigan Republicans were forced to split their delegate allocation in two after Democrats, who control the state government, moved Michigan into the early primary states, breaking national Republican Party rules.
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Associated Press writers Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan; and Summer Ballentine in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed.