Candidates for GOP Presidential Primary Announced

Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have each secured a place on Connecticut’s April 24 presidential primary ballot, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill announced at a press conference this morning.

Minutes after Merrill’s announcement, state Republican party Chairman Jerry Labriola Jr. invited the four candidates to make campaign swings through Connecticut.

“Our 28 delegates to the Republican National Convention are very significant and I would certainly urge the candidates….to get into Connecticut and compete for our delegates,” said Labriola, who attended the press conference in Merrill’s office at the Capitol.

Four other northeastern states are also voting on April 24: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York and Rhode Island. “So it is a bit of a regional primary,” Merrill said. “And the way things are going in the Republican nominating contest so far, it could be a very significant and delegate-rich day in a competitive race.”

Labriola noted that Connecticut has the same number of GOP delegates as Iowa, yet because of the Nutmeg state’s late primary, it receives far less attention from the candidates.

But the unsettled nature of the contest this year could prove a boon for the state’s Republican voters, he said.

“This is a great opportunity for our geographically small state to be a big player in the national stage and I want to encourage voters to get out and vote,” Labriola said.

“As I think you’ve all witnessed, the race…has a certain unpredictable component to it,” he said. “It’s a horserace.”

Even a few days ago, it looked as though the contest might be settled by late April but  “that is proving not to be the case and we think…our primary on April 24 may in fact be very relevant,” Labriola said, adding that 13 states are voting after April 24, with the process wrapping up in late June, when Utah holds its primary.

Unlike other states, presidential candidates do not have to petition their way onto the ballot in Connecticut. Nor do they have to pay a filing fee.

Instead, Connecticut law stipulates that the Secretary of the State decide which candidates merit a spot on the ballot, based on coverage in the state and national media.

Merrill also placed Barack Obama on the Democratic primary ballot–so far he’s the only candidate but a challenger could collect 7,500 to force a primary.

Unaffiliated and new voters have until noon on April 23 to register as Republicans to participate in the primary. The deadline for registered Democrats to switch enrollment has already passed.

The presidential primary does not select delegates to the national party conventions. Instead, it determines the number of delegate positions. Connecticut’s Republican party awards delegates under a formula that gives the winning candidate all the delegates–provided he or she gets at least 50 percent of the primary vote. If no candidate reaches the 50 percent threshold, some delegates are awarded on a proportional basis.