The lineup has been set for Washington’s March 12 presidential primary.
Republicans will choose between ex-President Donald Trump or one of four rivals: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, or biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
For Democrats, President Joe Biden will appear on the ballot alongside two longshot rivals: the self-help author Marianne Williamson and U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota.
The candidate names were formally submitted by the state Democratic and Republican parties to Secretary of State Steve Hobbs’ office before a Tuesday deadline.
Voters will receive primary ballots in the mail after Feb. 23.
Under state law, voters can participate in either the Democratic or Republican primary on March 12, but not both. They must sign a statement on the ballot envelope declaring a party affiliation in order for votes to be counted.
Those declarations are not binding beyond the primary; voters in November will not have to declare a party affiliation and can vote for any presidential candidate.
The presidential race is sure to come into sharper focus well before Washington voters weigh in.
The 2024 primary season kicks off next week with the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, followed by the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary.
Washington’s primary will land a week after “Super Tuesday,” when more than a dozen states, including Texas and California, will hold primaries or caucuses.
The vote outcome here will determine how many delegates are awarded to candidates before the Republican and Democratic national conventions this summer, where the parties will formally nominate their choices for president.
Barring a dramatic change, the Democratic race seems all but settled with Biden seeking reelection.
Trump, who is facing multiple criminal indictments, has led his would-be Republican rivals in polling nationally, with DeSantis and Haley trailing substantially and others not showing any momentum.
Trump’s eligibility to run for president has been challenged in many states over his stoking of the Jan. 6. 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, based on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which bars people from elected office if they “engaged in insurrection” or aided insurrectionists.
The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled Trump cannot appear on that state’s ballot. The Maine Secretary of State made a similar determination. But both controversial decisions are being legally challenged by Trump allies.
In Washington, a federal judge in November dismissed a handwritten lawsuit challenging Trump’s eligibility filed by Jennifer Laitinen, a Spokane Valley resident. The judge’s ruling said such a challenge was premature as Trump was not yet certified to appear on Washington’s ballot.
In an interview Tuesday, Laitinen said she intends to refile her challenge now that Trump has been placed on the ballot.
Even if candidates drop out of the presidential race before Washington’s primary, the names will remain on the ballot, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
In 2020, thousands of voters in the state’s Democratic presidential primary voted for candidates, including Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, who dropped out just before Washington’s primary. Biden narrowly beat Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders here that year.
The presidential primary is the only election in Washington that requires voters to make partisan declarations. Unlike many states, voters here do not register by political party, and the partisan declaration requirement for the presidential primary has proved controversial.
In 2020, then-Secretary of State Kim Wyman, a Republican, publicly refused to sign such a declaration on her own ballot in an act of protest.
